- Best Overall Dudley Sterry MG J2 – 5
- Class
- 1 David Hazelden (Golf) – 16
- 3 David Heale (Escort) – 11
- 4 Murray MacDonald (VW 1302) – 9
- 5 Dennis Greenslade (Reliant) – 20
- 6 Gary Browning (VW Beetle) – 24
- 7 Roger Bricknell (Vincent) – 6
- 8 Adrian Dommet (100E Special) – 7
It was a was an early start, and a long drive down the M5, for Murray and Hazel MacDonald and Michael Leete/Mike Hayward in their VW Beetles, to the start at the Halfway House Inn near Cullompton in Devon. It wasn’t so far for the third Falcon, as Fiat enthusiast Brian Alexander only lives a few miles up the road.
Brian’s wasn’t the only Fiat taking part. Alongside him there were two more Fiat 850’s, not a coincidence though. One was Brian’s spare car, the other the one he used at Brickhill, and still in PCT trim. Brian had lent the car to a neighbour for the day, in thanks for helping out with preparation of his Fiat fleet. The third Fiat also had an Alexander connection as Brian was its previous owner.
Just down the road from the start was an hours delay at the start of Section three. Yes I did say section three, as the first two were cancelled. It was to be one of those mornings. There was another hours delay at second hill and then it was on for a near two hour wait at sections five and six which were then cancelled while Nigel Allen’s passenger was helicoptered out with a suspected broken leg! So, it was gone two o’clock when the Falcon trio got to the third observed section which was number seven! There had been problems though. Murray had punctured getting out of the cancelled section and Brian was struggling with his Fiats gear selection.
Sections seven and eight were pegged out in a slimy wood. The first one was easy enough for Murray and Brian but as Michael is in class six he had an alternative route through a deep water filled hole, followed by a steep muddy bank which he couldn’t negotiate. The following section twisted around though the trees, then darted up a steep bank. Murray did very well here and got up to the four, taking the class lead in front of Giles (son of our hero) Greenslade.
The next section wasn’t really a hill it was a River! From the start all you could see was a marshal standing on the opposite bank and pointing up-stream. It started out OK, but it wasn’t long before the water actually got into Murray’s car so that tells you how deep it was! After 50 yards we re back on dry land. All the Falcons and Brian’s collection of Fiats made it OK but a few competitors didn’t, and ground to a halt with wet bottom’s. Great stuff.
Westacott was originally to have been a special test but was changed to an observed section at the last moment. It wasn’t difficult and the whole entry cleaned it. This was followed by Iron Mill, another muddy track with deep ruts, and a re-start which caught out quite a few cars. These included Brian, who was now getting very concerned about his gearbox, although the rest of the Italian collection was doing just fine.
Kennels was entirely different, a muddy wind through the trees with a tricky re-start. Michael and Brian didn’t get much beyond the first corner but Murray showed the way. He got of the re-start OK but not much further and dropped five. Along came Giles Greenslade who got to the four, putting him level with Murray again.
Bidgood Lane turned out to be the hill they call Port Lane on the Exmoor Clouds. This is a really fantastic section. It starts in the village and looks innocuous. Once you get going it soon changes character, getting steeper, muddier and more rutted. It’s very, very long and it takes a fair old time to get to the top and even longer to reverse back down again! All the class eight’s cleaned it, and so did Murray and Giles. Michael nearly made it but didn’t attack the last step with sufficient momentum and ground to a halt. He was very disappointed but didn’t feel so bad when the results showed that our hero himself had also failed at the two marker.
The final observed section was called Doddiscombe. There’s a bridge over a stream just after the start. The blues and whites were allowed to use it but the others, including Michael, had to go through the stream and up the bank the other side. The early number and the super-heroes didn’t have to much of a problem, but it wasn’t so easy for mere mortals running at the back of the field. Michael and Mike looked at the obstacle was some trepidation but decided to give it a go. Down the steep slope went the Beetle. Into the stream, then boot it and try to get all the yellow perils 50 bhp into action. Up the other side it shot. It slowed, Mike bounced, the wheels span, the Beetle clawed its way up, it was just going to make it. No, it stopped, keep the power on, bounce, sway, anything, everything. It was to no avail. The car had slipped sideways and dug its way into some soft soil up to its axles, so deep it was only just possible to open the door.
Crew and Marshals tried everything to extricate the car to no avail. They couldn’t push it out forwards and it wouldn’t go out backwards either. After ten minutes or so it was still stuck and the official in charge of the hill came down to see what was up. It was Tim Wheelock! He rapidly sized up the situation and departed. Presumably to fetch a JCB so he could bury car and driver! No, he soon returned with extra help and the Beetle was eased back into the stream to do a 3 point turn. After some persuasion it was then coaxed back out the way it came. Michael was very grateful and henceforth Tim Wheelock will be called “a very nice man” in this column!
That was nearly it. Just a funny regularity section to end the day. But it wasn’t very funny for Brian as his Fiats transmission finally called enough. Murray, Giles and Matthew Sharratt had equal scores on the hills and the regularity section but Murray and Hazel got the class with a fast tome in the special test. Then it was off for the long drive home. The Beds and Herts crews getting back around mid-night. Definitely an adventure.
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