Kyrle 2006

Ross wins at Ross

By Claire Oakes

Kyrle winner Ross Norman in the Deere Special

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Ross Norman in his Deere Special wins the Kryle Trophy at the Ross & District Motor Club. With only 4 points lost on Ropers and the other sections were clears.

The trial set in the beautiful Forest of Dean, fine drizzle continued till the sun shone in the afternoon. Sun was too late for the later competitors and penalty points were soon racked up. As the sections turned into a mud of whipped cream The Kryle is like doing Riverton, Crackington, Tillerton, Simms and Litton Slack over & over. You certainly get your monies worth on this trial.

Retired was Dave Shurbsole with a cylinder head gasket blown, Sticker Martin shock absorbers broke, Carl Talbot suspension. Others were Steve Louks, Rick Neale and Derek Tyler. Andrew Brown who was having trouble with his Marlin on the Lands End withdrew the weekend before, must have been very disappointed not to compete.

Simon Groves had a rear puncture at Goldsmith Wood, but John Parsons could triple that here, as he had three nails in his front tyre! Ian Davis did well for the Falcon club as won the T.C. Longford Trophy. Keith Oakes & his Mrs. were there to make the numbers up & had a brilliant day out.

Well run & marshalled & the ladies at the finish prepared a delightful meal.

Claire’s Lands End

Claire and Keith Oakes took part in the Lands End in their Duttom Phaeton. Here is Claire’s report

Dry, warm and starless night made it perfect driving across the moors, no fog, thank God. The fun started for us at Michaelwood Services, when Keith found that a hose had disconnected itself from the heater, water every where. I bet Ted Holloway wished that was all that happened to him, instead of his Mini Enigma Spl falling apart a stones throw from Popham.

Felons Oak Smiles here, as I’m sure the restart has shrunk with the Vim in the wash. It was small last year but now it`s shrivelled from my big bloomers to the size of my daughters G- string. No chance of putting whole car in, perhaps it was a train buff setting out double O gauge lines.

Beggars Roost Cars were queued from the entrance to the section back to the Garage. Ed Nickel there as a spectator now as his dynamo packed up on his VW Buggy

A marshal said restart was higher up to try and stop 7 & 8s. News filtered down in the wait to go as far right as possible in the box. Thank you to that man who told us. As we approached the box I could see thick churned mud on the left. I shouted at Keith “go right” he did and we got away fine, just missing an over hanging branch.

Riverton Smiles left my face here, not the wait; we had that last year, but the second year of sitting behind a car, which doesn’t switch the engine OFF. Last year it was a VW, this year an orange Marlin. I have read that males unconsciously touch their bits

I think this lad was so high on testosterones by his constant vroom, vroom, the nearer we got to the section the more vrooms we had. Next year I will have a loofah ready to soak in quick drying cement to push up any offender’s exhaust pipe. Yes, I know I could have got off my butt and asked him to cease, but that would have meant getting my boots dirty! Neither navigator nor he has read the route card fully which states NO NOISE, but there again I didn’t realize how much noise I make until I saw myself on video shouting encouragement to the Dutton when driving up a section! Thank you for getting that off my chest, onto;

Roundswell Control. Carbon monoxide washed away by a nice hot cup of tea supplied by our son Allan who was marshalling at the control. Happy bunny again.

Crackington. Waiting at the ford at the foot of the hill we watched class 7 Andrew Browns Marlin fade & die on the climb, but a quick switch back on, he did a slick re start and he pulled away like a dream to complete the section.

Wilsey Down. Bravo to the person/s who thought of having a gazebo for the control point at Hallworthy Market top car park. This saved squeezing passed each other as control used to be just inside the café entrance

Hoskin. We nearly got to the red restart. I do feel that yellow restart being so low down the section the Dutton doesn’t have enough time to wind up from section begins.

Bishops Wood. Our favourite hill, I think not. This hill we have never got away from the restart. We flew pass the “A” boards over the plateau track and like a swatted fly splat into the glutinous mud in the box. Keith tried to get his back wheels as high as he could but the mud held us tight. I’m sure in the past years grass was there in the box?

Blue Hills 1 Smoking wheels, but got away

Blue Hills 2. Clean pair of heels.

Finished a great trial staying in Cornwall until Tuesday, as we celebrated our daughters birthday on Easter Monday at the Cross roads Lodge, who looked after us very well during our stay there.

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Chris Clarke’s Lands End

Last year Chris drove in Class 0, This time he tackled the main event.

The Land End seen from a competitors viewpoint. Regular correspondent Chris Clarke reports.

Following our timekeeping problems on the Edinburgh, we decided that tyre deflating & pumping was the biggest cause of delay and made some improvements to speed up the process as far as possible, helped by useful advice on the Classical Gas message board. More importantly, we had taken advantage of the Allen, Clee Hills & March Hare events to fine tune the coffee & biscuits routine with the rigour usually associated with GP tyre changes, so even in extreme circumstances we wouldn’t miss this vital ritual. As things turned out, both these preparations proved very useful.

Having left Michaelwood via the unofficial exit (the rebel in me enjoys this bit) we proceeded by the “great circle” route to North Petherton, completed the formalities, and tried the omelette & chips at the truck stop (recommended). Then it was off to Felons Oak and Stoney Street, which we completed without too much difficulty (at least compared with what followed). I don’t know if it’s deliberate, but all Classic trials seem to start with a couple of “warm up” sections like this, a very good idea we think and hopefully any organisers reading this agree, otherwise I expect a nasty surprise the next time.

The night driving across Exmoor is one of the best and most distinctive parts of this event. Although we know the area well from holidays in the area, it takes on a completely different atmosphere, with the arrival (and refreshments) at the Culborne Inn one of the high points. Tempered by the thought that you’re still less than a quarter of the way through; and ordering a double Scotch probably wouldn’t go down too well at that point.

The next section, Beggars Roost, is part of Colin’s folklore as both his father (in the 1937 event), and more recently his brother, have attempted it. The weight of family honour was resting on his shoulders as we approached, while I was just concerned that we had been told to read the failure instructions before starting. As it was we were pleased to clean the section, but not before some nervous moments in the area of the restart box. Before anyone asks why we, in class one, worry about the restart area, I must record that we very much appreciate not having to deliberately stop there and long may this dispensation continue. The flip side is that it usually consists of either a jumble of razor sharp boulders, a mirror smooth sheet of rock or a bottomless mud pit, and to get maximum advantage from the concession you seem to have to drive as fast as possible through it – quite exciting.

The build up at Beggars was nothing compared with Riverton, where we had to wait for some time. This would not be so bad, as there was time for a chat or a nap, but explanations for the delay kept filtering back – cars stuck in impossible positions, marshals having to stop them falling over precipices, crews running out of oxygen at the section ends board, etc. Finally, it was our turn and we have to say, this is the best section we have ever attempted, the length, sharp corners, straight bits to build up speed and the feeling of satisfaction when we (very unexpectedly) arrived at the top. After that there had to be a let-down and sure enough we just ran out of grip some way up Cutcliffe Lane. We were also still very late and not sure how near to the end of the field, so we had to press on through Sutcombe, Darracot & Crackington. It was satisfying to see so many people spectating and the cheers and encouragement are much appreciated, especially as we clawed our way through the muddy restart area at Darracot. However, the worst moment of this part was at Widemouth Bay, where I ambled into the car park in second gear and nearly got stuck in the sand – could have been very embarrassing.

Lack of grip (or the skill to find it) was the problem again at Hoskins, if the spectator’s encouragement was all it took we would have continued into earth orbit at the top, as it was we stopped just short of the restart, possibly weighed down by the excellent lunch we had just eaten at the Wilsey Down Hotel. Grip was not a problem at Bishop’s Wood where the plan was to build up speed on the straight lower section and across the track, so as to clear the two ramps; and thence to the finish. As it was the straight was longer than I remembered, so the speed was very high, the view of VW bonnet as we cleared the first ramp was not very helpful as to steering and the track slopes a fair bit so we hit the next ramp too far left and just slid out of contention, straight through all the carefully placed restart markers – sorry.

Finally Blue Hills, where we prepared by finishing the last of our refreshments at Perranporth. Last year we disappointed the spectators by taking the class 0 soft option of the old hill, but this year there was no avoiding the main event. As you descent to the start, the view of the hill opposite with ant like cars bumping over the ruts is pretty daunting, but we were encouraged by getting round the first part (Blue Hills 1), although looking at Michaels pictures there was a lot less margin than we thought at the time.

For the second part we got started well, but the car lost speed over the bumps, the little engine just couldn’t drag it any further and we stalled before the corner. Maybe a bit more skill with the clutch would have got it going again or maybe we just need a bigger engine, but there’s always next year and having spectated here for some years, just to arrive at the top as competitors (even with some help from the friendly winch) was very satisfying.

Lands End 2006

Tough Event for Class Eight

Good weather, big delays at Riverton, Hoskin very tough for class 8

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Dave Cooks Photos

Start – Falcons Ed Nikel didn’t make the Plusha start as the dynamo on his VW Buggy failed on the way down. Ted Holloway wasn’t a great deal luckier. Ted made it to the start OK but didn’t get very far as he had a hub collapse on his Mini Special only 50 yards up the road.

Felons Oak – This short little “hill” is all about the restart, which is reckoned to be getting trickier as it gets dug out. Although it claimed quite a few casualties, all the Falcon’s got away successfully.

Stoney Street – The section, which bypasses Porlock, was reckoned to be very rough this year. Peter Mountain would certainly agree. Peter retired when the rear axle-locating pivot broke on his Dellow Mk1. This was not a Dellow friendly hill as Richard Shirley also retired here with back axle problems.

Beggars Roost – Strangely there was no restart for Class 8. Simon Groves lost his triple here when he failed to get away. Keith Oakes is down in the results as stopping but as you will see from Claire’s report he didn’t. Tony Smith didn’t get this far in his first Land End in his Austin Big 7. The engine went bang crossing Exmoor and he needed a tow from Roger Teagle in his Beetle to reach civilisation at The Culbourne Inn. We also lost Mike Telford in the night when he had to retire the “Tucker Nipper Special”, built by former clerk-of-the-course H. W. Tucker-Peake for his daughters who won a triple with this famous old car.

Riverton – There were big problems for the bikes again this year. A number of riders hit the deck and it took a lot of time for them to remount and get going. Things didn’t improve much when the cars came along and some had to wait very nearly three hours in the queue, which came close to blocking the road.

After the debacle with the bikes the field became split when Tony Divey got stuck and there were big problems in towing the Tiking three wheeler out of the section. The thinning Dellow ranks were further depleted when Mark Worsfeld broke a half shaft on the section. Then Neil Bray claimed a baulk when he was stuck behind a car with a puncture. It had to be fixed on the hill because the recovery vehicle was down stream of the incident. This took a lot of time as the car kept rolling off the jack.

While all this was going on the lady of the manor from nearby Riverton Mill decided to walk her dog up and down the section, dishing out a verbal assault on passing competitors as she did so, claiming they were hooligans damaging her back garden and that she know nothing about the trial. The delay at Riverton was good for one competitor. Ian Moss had been having problems with his Escort sliding all over the road ever since Stoney Street. The delay gave him time to get underneath, finding a broken U bolt, which he was able to replace with the help of some of his fellow competitors.

Cutliffe Lane – The hill was reasonably dry this year but it is pretty steep and defeated.Simon Robson’s Liege. Likewise most of the class one’s and five’s failed, including Peter Manning and Barrie Parker.

Sutcombe & Darracott – Neither of these wonderful old hills were to cause many problems this year.

Crackington – Not to difficult this year. It was pretty dry and there had been little or no doctoring. The field was really spread out by now and after the bikes came there were only four cars in an hour, presumably because of the Riverton problems. Dudley Sterry recorded a fail when he over-ran the restart line. This was to cost him The Field Trophy as he was faster than Paul Bartleman on the special tests.

Ross Nuten cleaned the restart here but suffered from fuel feed problems thereafter and finished up failing four hills. Earlier Ross was one of many to get fed up waiting in the queue for Riverton and skipped the section. Andrew Brown had been suffering from engine problems during the night and his Marlin stuttered to a brief halt before Andrew gathered everything together and did a special class 7 restart to “clean” the hill.

Warleggan – Passed without incident.

Hoskin – This fearsome Camel Vale Hill was true to form. The blues and whites had a clear run but only the best built up sufficient momentum to carry themselves up the slippery higher reaches. The problem is in the area of the class 8 re-start. The groove in the ruts is extremely slippery and polished and a lot of momentum is required to get through this area.

The poor old class 8’s really struggled and only the supermen succeeded. I witnessed both Paul Bartleman and Dudley Sterry clean the hill. They stopped way over to the left, one wheel between the ruts and the other up the bank. Some people tried the same technique the other side but the camber drew them back into the ruts and wheel spinning failure. Eric Wall got the technique right but even he slipped back into the groove and spun to a halt. The results also show that Robert Williams (Buggy) and Geoff May (Dellow) also succeeded. Falcons Neil Bray incurred his only fail of the day here and the results show Neil as winning class 8. However, this is a mistake as Dudley was faster on the special tests.

The yellows had a restart lower down. It was easier to get away, but even if you did get going it was necessary to build a lot of speed to get through the difficult area higher up. Few succeeded but some did and Roger Bricknell and Andrew Martin made it look positively easy! Mark Tooth (Beetle) and Mal Allen (Marlin) both trickled away beautifully from the yellow restart, building speed without any wheel spin. Unfortunately, both of them decided to boot it just when they reached the slippery bit, they didn’t have enough momentum to get away with it and spun to a halt.

The Front Wheel Drive Cars didn’t have a restart but this was nerveless a tough hill for them. The amazing David Haizelden just flew up, no wheel spin and the car just floating over the bumps. Paul Allaway made it as well, not so elegant and the poor little Astra was on the rev limiter but still a clean. Mike Collins tried the same but lost traction and failed just after the class 8 restart. Unluckiest crew were Alan and Ian Cundy who got almost, but not quite to the top in their Golf and failed just inches from the section ends board.

Bishops Wood

Again, this had the nasty restart where the section crosses the track. Good positioning was required. Neil Bray was delighted to get away in Primrose after his passenger, daughter Jade, shouted to him to stop high in the box. Following instructions Neil got as far forward as possible. His back wheels were almost on the line but most importantly the front ones were on the flat bit and he pulled away without any problems. Simon passenger son Matt shouted a similar instruction but Dad knew best, Simon stopped low and failed.

Blue Hills 1

There was a restart on the cobbles for all classes except 1, 2 and 5. This caused a lot of problems and even those who succeeded had a struggle. Frankly, the results are a bit doubtful here. Most people really struggled and there appears to be different interpretations of who was clean and who wasn’t. Both Neil Bray and Simon Groves were credited with success, even though its doubtful they maintained forward motion as they climbed over a huge rock! While Simon Robson had a fail when he appeared to be clean.

Blue Hills 2

The section is very short now and it’s all about the artificial bit through the cutting. Unfortunately, the bank on the outside proved to be a launching ramp and a couple of people turned over. These included Anne Whellock (Austin 7), Mark Hayward (Dellow Mk2) and a couple of chairs. Fortunately, there was no serious injury to the crews concerned but the motorcars may take a bit longer to repair. Although Anne’s Austin 7 was quite badly knocked about, she set out to drive it home on the Sunday but was defeated when it started to overheat quite badly and had to summon the recovery truck. Sadly, the preliminary results for the hill looked very strange and the MCC have gone back to the drawing board to re-look at them, which will affect the awards.

Wrap Up

On balance a good Lands End. Yes, there were the problems at Riverton and criticisms of “Mickey Mouse” restarts at Bishops Wood and Blue Hills 1. It was also a shame about the results. However, the Lands End is not an event for pot hunters, its about the experience, the emotional ups and downs as you ride or drive through the night. The children waving as you go through the villages. The satisfaction the next day when you realise what you accomplished. The organisers did a good job and we should all be grateful for their work.

Chris Clarke’s March Hare

Chris Clarke has driven in several March Hares. This year he won Class One and kindly agreed to write a report on his trial

Is it my imagination, or are Classic trials starting earlier than they did last year? Anyway, we had to leave Bristol at the ungodly hour of 5:00am in order to reach the start on time. At this point it was snowing heavily and as we climbed through the Cotswolds, it got thicker and started to settle on the road, making both driving and the prospect of changing to the “trials” wheels & tyres when we arrived distinctly interesting. However by the time we passed Oxford it had stopped and we were able to complete our pre-event swap in dry and relatively warm conditions. As always the truck stop provided an excellent breakfast and we set of at 08:36 well fortified for the rigours ahead.

The first couple of sections could be tricky, with some deep ruts and in these circumstances, I think the FWD cars have an advantage because they tend to go where the wheels are pointing – although this still depends on the driver pointing them the right way in the first place. Anyway, we got through them without much drama and proceeded to the first special test.

This looked completely straightforward on paper, but such are classic trials that someone had chosen to liven it up by placing “gate B” at the top of a steep grassy slope, at about the altitude of an Everest base camp. However we were encouraged by Martin Halliday’s very tidy and successful drive in the Fiat Panda and set off full of hope only to run out of grunt about ¾ of the way up the slope. It would have been possible to take the corner at the bottom faster and maybe that would have done the trick, or maybe the slope of the hill would have carried you to far from the correct course to succeed, or maybe……

Two sections had been set out at Eddlesborough, the first being an interesting series of ups & downs, with a tight corner between each. Regular readers of these articles will recall that last year we lost an argument with a tree here, so we felt we were justified in being prudent, but of course we eventually lost momentum and stopped frustratingly short of clearing the last steep climb.

This year the organisers had assembled the Brickhills trials construction set slightly differently. The first section seemed to go on for ever but never got tight enough to seriously trouble the Golf, or the navigator, unlike the second, where we go to the top of one rise; became totally disoriented and by the time we had worked out the correct route managed to demolish a marker. Unfortunately, we started the post section analysis before we had got through the gully after the finish, made a complete hash of it and nearly buried the car at the bottom.

We like to support local vendors and my only criticism of the final instructions (and this concerns food, so is serious) was that it was not clear enough that there would be refreshments available at the lunch stop. Unaware of this, we had made our own arrangements, and despite the inviting cooking smells, we knew that to return home with our better halves lovingly crafted sandwiches uneaten was asking for trouble, so we had to miss out on that one.

The special test at Ivinghoe was the scene of a classic farce last year as we recorded what must be the “longest test time whilst avoiding a fail” on record. This year we were forewarned, as the car in front passed “line B” and then spun round and nearly through the hedge. This bought a memorable understatement from the marshal that it was “a bit tricky over there”. Onto the section where we had the pleasure of watching the Trojans attempt it, they are wonderful vehicles from a different age. We were pleased to get as far as we did on the steep bit at the start of the section, but again stopped frustratingly close to the summit.

The last three sections were in the same wooded area used at the end of last years event and my crib sheet noted that, on that occasion, we were successful on both. I don’t know whether keeping records of this sort can invoke the “Murray Walker” factor but this year was a completely different story. On the first, we slipped sideways at one point and were trapped by a small but deadly tree root. The second was better, but, continuing the day’s pattern, we lost control and demolished the very last marker. It’s always been my belief that, if you re going to fail, it’s best to do so in a spectacular and memorable fashion, and the last section provided a good example as we chose to hit a tree right in front of the photographer. My apologies to the official who had chosen to stand in a perfectly sensible location that no-one could reasonably threaten, but even with a lower ratio gearbox, it’s hard to keep the Golf’s momentum without seriously theatrical arm twirling and eventually we just ran out of room.

Our thanks to the officials and marshals, who worked very hard throughout the day (some seemed to be in three places at once and most had to reassemble some route markers damaged by car no 3) and had again put in a lot of effort to create the instructions, negotiate the use of land and all the 1001 other things that must be done for an event of this sort. Once again the March Hare provided an enjoyable and varied days classic trialling.

March Hare Trial

Duncan’s day

Duncan Welch won Falcon’s March Hare Trial dropping six marks, the same as Thomas Aldrian in his Austin 7 Special.

March Hare Winners Duncan Welch and Phillip Strickland

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Dave Cooks Photos

Twenty Four Crews lined up at The Watling Street Café, just of Junction nine of the M1, on 13th March. There had been 27 entries James Diffey had broken his glorious Bresica Bugatti and two of the Lieges non-started including Stephen Kenny who had a bad boot of flu and didn’t relish the long journey down from Lancashire.

It was dry again this year so there was plenty of grip. The challenge was the rutted area at the top where the lower slung cars needed to be cautious in the interest of their under sides. Ted Holloway was the only failure when he got his rear engined Mini Special sideways and wedged across the track.

No problems here and everyone went clean.

Once again the challenge of Water Tower was the muddy ruts at the bottom which were avoided by most people and again everyone went clean.

Next came a special test at Kensworth. Duncan Welch set fastest time. This was to be very important at the end of the trial as it was to decide the event.

Dry conditions meant the sections could use the full extent of Edlesborough which is not possible when it is wet. The first section explored the ups and downs through the trees at the back of the hummock with a tricky restart for classes 7 and 8. This caught out both Fred Gregory and Roger Dudley who were to battle for 2nd in class 7 all day.

The second section utilised the steep bank at the far end before going up one of the tracks through the trees, back down again before a restart and going on through the trees. The Front Wheel Drives and the Trojans had problems with the bank at the start. Thomas Aldrian stormed up in his little Austin 7 and most of the others made it OK as well, vindicating the organisers decision to re-use this route after many years. In the Class 7 battle Fred Gregory got away from the restart, but Roger Dudley failed and so did Richard Irvine in his newly completed Liege.

John Parsons had problems setting out the Brickhill sections as the ground was still cut up from the 4 x 4 boys. Both were easily on for most of the entry provided they didn’t understeer off on the tight sandy turns.

The early numbers were able to watch the action by the later numbers as this was also the lunch break. Unfortunately there were a couple of retirements here. Christopher Jones didn’t continue with his Wolesley Hornet and Keith Pettit retired with clutch problems.

Ivinghoe setup the leadership race for the second part of the trial as a number of clean sheets went by the wayside and only Jim Mountain (Dellow Mk1), John Groves (Escort) and Thomas Aldrian (Austin Seven) remained on zero. The section was preceded by a special test and Jim Mountain presented his credentials for a win by setting the fastest time both on this one and for the two together so if he remained clean the win would be his.

Unfortunately Clerk of the Course Arnold Lane had to call off the new Ostrich Hill as the Ostrich’s were on heat! Nearby the established Hawridge Lane was there to trap the unwary. Ted Holloway failed the restart and so did roger Dudley, dropping him behind Keith Oakes and Fred Gregory in the Class 7 battle.

The lower reaches of Beetle Drive followed the route of last years Falcon’s Folly, on reaching the cross track though it continued up into the trees up a new bank discovered by Verdun Webley during the January working party and cleared with his chain saw by Mike Pearson. The bank itself was covered with leaf-mould and 7’s and 8’s had a restart just before to slow them down. Car after car failed the bank and it looked impossible until Duncan Welch came along and stormed up. This put him in an equal lead of the trial as Jim Mountain, John Groves and Thomas Aldrian all failed here.

The second section in Binghams Wood was changed only slightly from last year, complete with a tricky 7 and 8 restart on a tree root. Higher up there was a new deviation for 3 to 8 and they also had another restart right up at the summit. It was the restart on the tree root that was to prove difficult. The four leaders all succeeded and so did a delighted Fred Gregory, Peter Crawford, Roger Dudley and Keith Oakes. For the others it was curses, tyre smoke and a deeper hole for next year!

The lower reaches of the final section started by going up the bank that it went down last year. Crossing the track it then wound up a new track, created with Mike Pearson’s chain saw, sharp left and then exited alongside a disused compound. The left hander was very tight and there was an “impossible” restart here for class 8.

The left hander proved a real challenge. It was possible though and was cleaned by a varied selection of cars, starting with Steve Potter’s Trojan then Roger Dudley, Keith Oakes and Thomas Aldrian. John Groves failed to get round so there were now three cars tying for the lead on six. Along came Jim Mountain who like all the preceding class 8’s couldn’t get away from the restart. So it looked as if overall victory would go to an Austin Seven. The problem was that Duncan Welch hadn’t read the script, stopped on the line and just pulled away, turned the corner and went on to clean the hill.

This stunning performance put him in a joint lead of the trial with Thomas Aldrian on 6 marks, so it would be down to the special tests.

Back at the A5 truck stop the computerised results showed that Duncan was fasted on the special tests and won overall. Jim Mountain won class 8 for the second year. Keith Oakes won class 7, with Roger Dudley just pipping Fred Gregory for second place.

Looking Back

This was a very exciting March Hare with tremendous drama during the second half and the result decided on the last hill. Particular mention must go to Verdun Webley who assembled more than 50 marshals on the day; To Mike Pearson who worked very hard to create the new sections in Binghams Wood only to be to ill to participate on the day; To The local Herts VW Club who provided a marshalling team at Brickhill. Thanks guys.

Overall Winner	Duncan Welch (Austin Healey SS))	6
Best Falcon	Roger Dudley (Marlin)
Class Winners
0	Martin Halliday (Fiat Panda)	29
1	Chris Clarke (VW Golf)	32
2	Thomas Aldrian (Austin 7)	6
3	John Groves (Escort)	17
5	Peter Manning (MG Midget)	18
7	Keith Oakes (Dutton Phaeton)	12
8	Jim Mountain (Dellow Mk 1)	12

Cotswold Clouds 2006

Ian’s Imperious Imp

Local man Ian Moss won a closely fought Cotswold Clouds on special test times, tying on three with Andrew Martin and Bill Bennet Behind came Dave Haizelden, Simon Groves and Bryan Phipps all on four. The class 8’s were well out of things with their tough start line on Highwood 2. To many the moral victor was Kelly Thomas who cleaned all the hills but failed to complete the second special test properly.

2006_cotswold_clouds_results Download

Dave Cooks Photos

Stroud’s long running Cotswold Clouds rejoined the ACTC championship this year and was well and truly over-subscribed. Some of the reserves came to the start but were turned away, notably Harvey Waters who spent the day spectating after his long journey up from Cornwall.

The route followed a well-trodden path, via a nice easy Crawley Wood, through Dursley to Crooked Mustard, or Breakhart as it was once appropriately known. The dry conditions meant there was plenty of grip and it wasn’t until Roland Panes came along at number 10 that the usual big crowd of spectators saw their first failure.

As Andrew Brown said last year the hill is more a triumph of engineering over driving for the nimbler class eights with their high power to weight ratios and ability to chop and change direction at will. For the rest it was very important to get the line right as there is a big step on the inside off the final right-hander. For any except the class eights going that way meant certain failure. Even if you did avoid the step Crooked Mustard still demands a good power to weight ratio and Giles Greenslade was the only Beetle to go clean. In class four both Ian Moss and Bill Rosten mastered the conditions. The question was would the fragile Imps hang together? In class one the amazing Dave Haizelden humbled many “more suitable” cars as he flew up in his VW Golf.

There was plenty of entertainment for the spectators. Harry Butcher was definitely the star of the show, getting near to vertical as he “wall of deathed” around the left hander, losing speed and nearly toppling over as he tried to repeat the performance on the following right hander, oh so nearly stopping before getting it all back together and clearing the section.

Some of the Escorts were spectacular, throwing themselves at the section but with very little control, getting a bad line and failing in the process. Well done to Richard Hayward, Kelly Thomas, Tristan White and Simon Groves for using their brains, driving fast but smoothly, taking a good line and going clean.

A rather dry Axe didn’t present any problems but Nailsworth Ladder certainly did. The lower classes were allowed to blast straight through so the step didn’t present any problems, apart from Stuart Deacon who broke a half-shaft, couldn’t get the end out and ended up having to change the diff, missing a couple of sections in the process.

The yellows and reds had a restart right on the step. Giles was the only big Beetle to get away and two thirds of the sevens and eights failed. Amongst the Falcon contingent Ian Davis was the only one to succeed as neither Geoff Hodge, Keith Oakes or Peter Mountain succeeded. Talking of Peter it was nice to see Mike Young, the builder of Martin Allen’s Racecorp, in the passengers seat.

At Ham Mill the deviation was used again, with a cunningly positioned restart, right on a sharp corner where the ruts dragged the inside wheel up against a bank. This caught out even the experienced Simon Woodhall and Adrian Dommett amongst others.

After a dry wicked Juniper came Freds Folly with another restart to catch the unwary yellows and reds.

Merves Swerve attracted the usual hoard of spectators and with differential start lines and restarts presented a real challenge. Just getting to the restarts was a problem. As ever the start lines were such cars couldn’t really get a run at the hill. If they got away from the start OK non restarters could throw their machinery at the steep bank, leaping in the air and hoping to regain some sort of control on landing. It was all very hairy. Passengers had to hang on for dear life and Sara hit her head very hard in the back Simon Groves Escort.

It was here some of the class 8 challengers fell by the wayside. They had a very tough re-start, positioned right on the bank and Paul Bartleman and Ian Davis lost their clean sheet. Eric Wall may have failed Nailsworth Ladder but here he was master of intelligent positioning. Stopping his Mk1 Dellow well over to the left, minimising the rise up the bank and pulling away without any wheel spin.

The Highwood complex lay just up the road. There were two sections and two special tests and this is where the trial would be decided. The fearsome Highwood Two was where it all happened. All but one competitor lost their clean sheet. Only Kelly Thomas came out of the top to go into the overall lead of the trial. Simon Woodall was the only car to come close, dropping one in his buggy now repaired after its Clee Hills engine problems., with his Clee Hills enging problems repaired.

Kellys lead was to be short lived as tragedy befell her on the second special test where she stalled, couldn’t restart and had to be pushed over the line, incurring a penalty of six marks and costing her overall victory. This put Ian Moss, Andrew Martin and Bill Bennet into a joint lead, all on three marks with Dave Haizelden, Simon Groves and Bryan Phipps just behind on four. It ended this way as they all cleaned an easy Climperwell and the tricky Bulls Bank restarts. It all came down to special tests times and victory went to Ian by less than a second. Kelly’s problems pushed her down into 3rd place in class three. Class honours going to Simon Groves, making a hat trick of ACTC wins for the hard charging Ely driver.

Overall Winner	Ian Moss (Imp)	3
Best Stroud	Andrew Martin (Dutton Melos)	3
Class Winners
1	Dave Haizelden (VW Gold GTi)	4
2	Bill Bennett (MG J2)	3
3	Simon Groves (Escort)	4
4	Bill Rosten (Imp)	16
5	Stuart Roach (HRG)	12
6	Giles Greenslade (VW Beetle)	11
7	Bryan Phipps (Marlin)	4
8	Adrian Marfell (Buggy)	7

Clee Hills Trial 2006

Adrian Marfell won the Clee Hills in his familiar VW Rail, dropping seven marks, all lost on Harley Bank Two. Adrian won on special test times from Carl Talbot who also dropped seven, two on Harley Bank 2 and five on Easthope 2.

2006_clee_hills_results Download

Dave Cooks Photos

Clerk of the Course Jonathan Toulmin retained the twin loop format for the MAC’s Clee Hills Trial. Jonathan and his team have a justified reputation for running an excellent event, in a highly professional way, and were rewarded by an excellent entry including no less than 15 cars in class two. There was no snow this year but the mist didn’t lift in some places throughout the day.

There were quite a few route changes because of bad ruts caused by over enthusiastic 4wd’s and Round Oak had to be cancelled at the last minute because of a sick horse.

Classes six, seven and eight set out from the start at The Craven Arms to embark on the western loop to battle for overall honours. First on the agenda was the Rattlinghope special test. I wonder if Carl Talbot realised that this would cost him overall victory at the end of the day when he was 1.5 seconds slower than Adrian Marfell. The leading runners went round the western loop clean, with only the new Priors Holt 1 section causing any real problems, with fails for both Peter Mountain and Keith Oakes.

The first observed Hills on the Eastern loop were on National Trust land with the two Easthope sections and Majors Leap. Adrian Marfell was the only car to reach the summit of the previously un-cleaned Eeasthope 2 that was first used in 2005. Most of the other Class Eights dropped either 4 or 5. The class 7’s didn’t fare so well and Andrew Brown was best with 5.

Majors Leap was a toughie for the higher classes and a fair few dropped a full 12, including Falcons Keith and Claire Oakes in their Dutton Phaeton, putting them out of contention early in the proceedings.

After these three sections on National Trust Land it was back on the road to the Harley Bank – Jenny Wind complex. The slippery Harley Bank 2 section was one of the new ones used for the first time last year and Simon Woodall piloted the only car to get to the summit. Carl Talbot was best of the rest with a two, five better than Adrian Marfell, putting them equal on seven. This was to remain the score at the end, as both cleaned The Jenny Wind and Meadowley where Simon Woodall came out the top with a rough sounding engine. It promptly seized, and the VW Buggy needed a tow from Ross Norman to get back to the finish.

So overall victory went to Adrian Marfell by virtue of his special test times. Ian Davis came 5th overall, stopping mid way on both the Easthope sections and Harley Bank 2 and also stopping just short of the summit of The Jenny Wind.

The lower classes embarked on the Eastern Loop first. It started with a bang for classes three, four and five as none of them got away from their restart. Ippikins Rock was the decider for the lower classes. The section is all about that very sharp right-handed hairpin. In class three Nick Farmer couldn’t get the big BMW round, dropping 8 which was to give the class to Simon Groves. Class four was decided here as well. Terry Ball had been battling with the ex-Matthew Sharratt March Hare winning Beetle of Nicola Wainwright. Unfortunately, neither got around the famous hairpin but Pete Barr did in 1303 handing him the class.

On the Western Loop the steep new Priors Holt 1 was prove a problem to many cars, including Simon Groves who dropped four but still maintained his class lead. Adrian Dommett won Class 2 in his familiar Wolesley Hornet but all eyes were on James Diffeys magnificent Bresica Bugatti, which he drove into 2nd place in class with great gusto.

An excellent Clee, run under difficult circumstances this year. There is a rumour that this could be Jonathan Toulmins last event in the leading organising role. Lets all hope he changes his mind.

Exeter 2006

2006_exeter_results Download

Before Start

As usual, there were dramas even before the start, for some.

Simon Robson had replaced the new gearbox that broke on Bamford with one re-built from various bits and pieces that were laying around the garage. He also replaced the CWP and all the brake slave cylinders, finishing all this just hours before he had to leave for the start.

Peter Mountain had lots of trouble with his Dellow Mk1 during the week. The diff was very noisy and ne of the cylinders was running very rich. Fortunately Peter managed to get everything fixed, with lots of help from various experts.

Start

Fred Gregory was the first car in Class 0 to leave the Cirencester start, after drama on the journey from home when he had a puncture. With three spare wheels, it shouldn’t have been a problem, but his Rickman Ranger has locking wheel nuts and the key broke during the change. So Fred couldn’t afford any punctures in the other three wheels!

Simon Robson had found oil leaking from his newly replaced gearbox and had to borrow Simon Groves diff oil.

Haynes

Most competitors arrived early and many had taken the direct route permitted in the road book. Scruitineering was very efficient, but it was very dark in the car park and John Parsons had the misfortune to fall over a kerb, breaking a tooth amongst other things in the process.

Colin Sumner was having electrical problems with his Beetle. Despite changing almost everything it wouldn’t run properly. Colin limped around the first few sections, but running at the back of the field, he was in constant danger of being overtaken by the back marker and he retired.

Meerhay

It was nice to see Meerhay re-introduced as the first hill after being rested since 1992. It’s a long climb, prone to developing a queue, necessitating a holding control on the approach. Ross Nuten and some of the other Falcons were delayed here as a Reliant Scimitar was stuck on the hill. No, it wasn’t Dave Nash’s new car, but the standard V6 machine driven by Reliant restoration expert David Womack who retired soon afterwards. Ross has replaced the notoriously smoky engine in his Mk2 Dellow with a super new lump he sourced on Ebay. Bill Rosten stormed up but had to stop at the top to change a fan belt. The Imp was soon fixed and Bill went on to a gold.

Gatcombe Lane

Used even by Class 0, there were no problems.

Normans Hump

Into Bovey Woods for the usual two well known sections. Normans Hump was first. Classes 1, 2 and 5 only did the first bit, diverting left in the restart area where classes 7 and 8 had to stop, just before the steep bit starts. The others had to do the full hill but without a stop.

Pete Barr struggled in his class 4 Beetle but went on to clean the hill for gold. The upper reaches were a problem for many of the class 7’s, who couldn’t build enough speed after their re-start. None of the Liege’s had enough power here, even the supercharged version of John Sawle. Simon Robson was one of many who came so close to the top but couldn’t quire reach it. Neil Bray was penalised for a run-back which didn’t please him and fellow Falcon Ian Davis broke a driveshaft, which he managed to change, while observing a number of Marlins fail the hill through not building enough momentum after their re-start.

Clinton Bottom

Tim Whellock had chosen the shorter version of Clinton this year, with a restart for the higher classes, positioned on a steepish slope. MCC secretary Peter Lawley was delighted to clean the section in the ex-Ron Butcher Beetle as was Simon Robson in his Liege. Neil Bray failed and while Ross Nuten got away from the restart OK he lost grip a few yards up the hill.

Martin Allen had the misfortune to break the diff on the ex Mike Young Racecorp and wasn’t carrying a spare. Unbelievably a friendly local farmer not only towed him to his house but also leant him a diff and helped him change it.

Most of the non restarters got up without to many problems although Tristan White failed when his engine cut out. Clinton also saw the end of Dennis Greenslades Exeter when he retired the NSU 1000.

Waterloo

After last years problems when the class 0’s used the escape road as their section they were diverted elsewhere. For the main trial the bottom corner was there as ever to trap the un-wary and multiple National PCT champion Barrie Parker lost his clean sheet in the big Audi 80.

Neil Bray cleaned the section at the expense of a puncture and blocked the exit road as he didn’t have a club hammer for knock off wheels and had to adjust the brakes before he could get Primrose going.

Plyford and Higher Rill

These were both smooth easy climbs, even class 0. They saw the end of Greg Warren’s Exeter when he retired whis Ford Anglia Estate with mechanical problems.

Bulverton Steep

The only restart for the lower classes was in this wooded complex near Sidmouth. Adrian Dommett failed when he didn’t stop. Hopefully he didn’t blame a very cold looking Michael Collins making his debut as a trials passenger in the Wolesley Hornet. Ian Moss was reported as not getting off the start line in 3 attempts but was shown cleaning the hill for gold in the results.

Exeter

The compulsory rest halt gave the opportunity for competitors to catch up with each other and compare results. Derek Reynolds was still going after fixing a broken throttle cable, two punctures and a broken exhaust. Stuart Harrold and Chris Phillips were finding their Trolls engine down on power. They got off both Clinton and Normans Hump restarts but couldn’t come out the top of either. Pete Barr reported charging problems but went on to gold

Tillerton Steep

The lower classes had their first run at Clinton for a couple of years. They found the hill pretty much as before with some big rocky bumps that needed a lot of care to avoid damaging the car. There was no tyre pressure check here which was a shame as it was to be a crucial hill for the higher classes.

John Parsons and Keith Oakes had been going well but both lost their clean sheets on the restart, which is all about positioning. Neil Bray and Dave Nash stopped as well. Peter Mountain struggled, got going but was given a runback and David Foreshew retired with transmission problems

The problem for the lower classes was that not having to stop they could attack the fearsome rocks in the restart area as fast as they wanted or their cars would stand. It was to much for Colin Perryman’s lovely BMW when the rear suspension turrets collapsed and it looks as if the shell is a write-off. Simon Groves took things uncharacteristically easy but still incurred some damage when he scrapped the Escorts wings against the rocks.

Fingle

Peter Manning and Keith Pettit had lucky escapes after failing to go into the car park to let the tyres down, but still stormed up on 20 psi. Although the hill itself wasn’t too difficult the spectacular setting meant there were many photographers in evidence, to inspire the competitors who got to the top. When they got there they found snow in the hedgerows.

Wooston Steep

Stuart Tucker and Classical Gas Contributor John Salter were the first car, in the Billy Goat Gruff and couldn’t get off the restart as it was very slippery with loose stuff. The restart was to cause problems and Simon Robson was one of many not to get away. Mike Pearson had been clean until Wooston. They restarted OK, but with low revs, and failed on the steep slope. David Bache was just behind in his similar car on the same pressures. He gave it more revs and cleaned the hill.

The lower classes didn’t have too many problems with their route apart from a very overgrown exit track.

Simms

There was some snow on the route from Wooston to Simms but it had changed to rain by the time the mid runners arrived at the famous old hill.

As usual the section was thronged with spectators who saw a fair selection of the non-restarting lower classes get to the top. A spectating Mark Rosten-Edwards said the Cornish Escorts just flew up like it was the A30 but in class 7 the Liege’s didn’t have enough puff to cope with the restart, although John Sawle’s blown one clearly had more grunt than the rest. John Parsons route up the right made the crowd step back but Mark thought the class 8’s should have their own restart higher up. Certainly Simms wasn’t class 7 friendly this year and both Andrew Brown and Keith Oakes failed above the A boards.

Neil and Jade Bray were delighted to go clean in Primrose but Simms was to be unkind to Falcons Dellows and Mike Pearson, Ross Nuten and Peter Mountain all stopped just short of section ends. In class Five Peter Manning choose the right hand of Simms and believed this strategy paid off even though he failed a cars length from the top. Keith Pettit did exactly the same thing but Mike Warnes showed it was possible for a sports car and went on to gold in his TR7.

Wheelspin Champion Ian Davis compounded his Bovey Woods problems when a petrol pipe failed on Simms and he had his first retirement since 1991.

Tipley

There was no rest for competitors as Tipley waited just across the road with a very tough restart for the higher classes. This proved a tough proposition and a queue soon developed as car after car couldn’t get away. Simon Robson proved it was possible when he succeeded in getting his Liege off the restart, crediting his success to bouncer Matt. Fellow Class 7 driver Keith Oakes also went clean but at the expense of a puncture on the following road section. Barrie Parker got the big Audi well stuck on a section he considered to be very rough and choose to back out rather than try to go to the top.

Slippery Sam

There was a restart for Class 8 only on the final hill. Other than that class 7 had the same sections as the reds. Ross failed the restart and fellow Dellow driver Mark Worsfeld had the ex-Potter super-charged car seized its 1172 motor and he retired. Interestingly Mark had his cars set up by David Thomas who races a Capri in the same championship as Neil Bray. It’s a very small world.

Afterwards

Most competitors enjoyed the evening manifestation at the Trecarn, although President Ron Butcher lost his battle with the PA and some thought the new owners had taken portion control to far. The trial wasn’t over for Ross Nuten. Leaving the Trecarn on the Sunday Ross discovered a major weld on the rear A frame had broken. He and Maureen managed to bodge a repair for the drive home to Hertfordshire.

Claire’s Trialling Year

Happy trialing days of 2005

by Claire Oakes

Keith and Claire Oakes had a full and enjoyable trialling year in 2005. This is their story.

Keith getting advice from Michael during the Kyrle lunch halt

In the Kryle’s introductory notes it stated, our very steep hills near Monmouth will be “attacked” at the beginning of the trial. That was putting it mildly! When we had finished I felt I’d been in a war and staggered into the clubhouse in Ross-on- Wye shell-shocked! If you can imagine a metronome going at full belt, riding on the Pepsi Max at Blackpool and abseiling in a car to get from one section to another as the tracks were so steep for six hours or so. That’s the Kryle, no let up or rest. It makes the Lands End a stroll in the park! I was creamed crackerd, the Kryle is a must do trial, what an adrenalin rush.

At the lunch break Keith found oil on the sump tray. I thought oh no! Not a repeat of last year and have to retire. Keith thought it was an oil seal but managed to complete the trial. Due to time constraints only visual checks of the Dutton were made after the Kryle and all seemed ok (possible thought was seal leaked when hot. WRONG!!!). This was the start of an omen for the car on every trial we entered.

The Ilkley Trial took us to a part of Yorkshire we had never seen before. We were preparing to leave for the trial at 3am when Keith opened the garage door and announced he could smell our old friend “Gear box oil”. A few drops on the sump plate. I said “let’s go for it”, (I don’t mine coming back home with the RAC), and we had to keep topping up during the trial. Perhaps more serious than first thought! It’s true about Ilkley, glorious country side, people and of course the trial. A trial more gentle than the Kryle not so rough but also a must do event. This was the first time I used a tulip route card (it’s so easy) if thicko here understood it any pleb can! Glad we went, Keith won his class. This came as a shock to us as two hills we couldn’t even get off the start line! Falcon club member Ted Holloway in his Enigma Special had to retire on the fourth section out of twenty three due to gear box problems at Dob Park Splash, and then he had a long drive back to Bexleyheath London. If we do the Ilkley again I think we will stop the night before and after the trial as it’s a long drive home for us old pair.

Back home this time the engine & gear box were taken out, Keith found that the speedo drive core plug had fallen out!

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Before Start

Start

Haynes

Meerhay

Gatcombe Lane

Normans Hump

Clinton Bottom

Waterloo

Plyford and Higher Rill

Bulverton Steep

Exeter

Tillerton Steep

Fingle

Wooston Steep

Simms

Tipley

Slippery Sam

Afterwards

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