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Although it was a wet night the sections themselves didn’t present to many problems to most competitors. That was to change after breakfast. Both Wooston Steep and Simms cutting the medal count. It was Class 5 that scooped the pool when it came to golds. As none of them went clear on Simms it didn’t count in their results.
The sections didn’t trouble too many people during the wet night, although Simon Woodall might not agree after being penalised for running back on Clinton. Come the next morning things got tougher and Woosten Steep and Simms combined to reduce the medal count.
As usual classes 7 & 8 had to tackle the full hill at Wooston after a very muddy restart. This made for a difficult challenge, especially for the early numbers and very few made the summit.
Simms was next and the old hill was on form this year and less than 20 cars crested the summit although there were some spectacular attempts and broken machinery. Simon Groves gave a spirited performance before the bottom pulley cried enough and disintegrated, much to the relief of bouncer Tony Underhill who was suffering from all the tyre smoke! Brian Alexander was another who came to grief when the diff failed on his Suzuki X90.
Things were running a bit late when the later numbers got to Slippery Sam and found the marshals had gone. However, the MCC credited them with a clean so it didn’t adversely affect their results.
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Our sixth venture into Class 0 with the MCC. This time we were in our new toy, an Eagle RV
Caire Oakes Reports
Keith and Claire tackle Sandy Lane in their Eagle RV (Picture by Dave Cook)
The daylight Class 0 sections from Chris Bonnetts Salamander Sports
It is our sixth classic event in M.C.C “O” class. First time in “O” class was 2009 Exeter (2010 cancelled ) in the Dutton Phaeton, which was a delightful “O” class trial. We had a new toy for the Edinburgh“O” 2010, an Eagle RV Kit, which left me feeling deflated for a long time after the event. To many negative reasons to write about 2010 Edinburgh, but I think, one were in with-draw-al for the “Green Goddess” and class 7, but we were glad to be in the Eagle on our journey in a constant down pour travelling back home the next day. So, when Exeter was drawing closer I wasn’t getting any build up of emotions, excitement and anticipation the sort you get as a child when Christmas eve had finally arrived. Sad I know, but that’s how it feels for me when D-Day approaches for trailing. Each to their own enjoyment in life.
Departed with an open mind from “Oakes Castle” at 20-00hrs prompt and returned by 20-10hrs to collect documents that are needed for signing on! Perfect evening drive via A45—A46—A429 to Cirencester and finding a petrol station on route selling at £1.24 and without having to follow the main trail route from Cirencester we arrived at Haynes Car Museum at approx 23-30. We timed it right to join the queue of only five in front of us for scrutinising and about the same number of competitors queuing for food. Its a nightmare at Haynes for the main trailers when they all start pile-ling in to queue for refreshments. The congestion, the heat due to layers of clothes…….the prices. Back to the Eagle for some “shut eye” for 45 mins and I had no problems nodding off with the click-clicking of the flag pole wire on the pole. Folks will have to listen to Michael Leetes’ video to know what I am writing about. Its mind over matter and I haven’t got a mind, so it doesn’t matter! As I’m dozing it starts to rain and the pitter-patter on the roof of the Eagle sends me soon asleep.
Refreshed, our trial starts at 01-14. Verdun Webley with Arnold Lane 513 in a Ranger, are fellow compatriots in the Falcon Club and they are the car in front of us. Verdun told Keith he was stopping to get petrol at Sparkford Services and for us to go on. We took great glee in telling him of our pit stop earlier. Verdun must have gone back to Milton Keynes for his fuel as we didn’t see him again until Exeter Services. We found out later that he had to queue for fuel plus payment and this does eat into the travel time, though ample time is allotted for this. Just over a gentle forty mile drive to Musbury Control, a delicious coffee was made for me by the very helpful and friendly garage staff. Having grey hair and a face that looks like a pair of old gym plimsolls with a vacant expression, I think the staff wasn’t taking a chance, in case I broke their brand new machine and did it for me. I don’t blame them, as I’m renowned for putting a voodoo on anything electric. Two miles from control to our first section Emmettes Lane and we don’t know why we were the first car. We didn’t inflate our tyres after each section as this saves time but we were also relieved that a travelling marshall 526 Brian Osborn with John Fry in a MGB Roadster were behind us, to be our witness that we were not speeding to each section. Brian told Keith that the Eagles` near side front light had gone and this gave me an insight what it must be like for a motorcycle with their single illumination climbing a section.
From section one to Exeter Services we did seven section and one special test in a total distance of forty six miles all in the dark ……brilliant. At the top of Sandy Lane Section 6, we saw Dave Cook (photographer) who looked surprised to see competitors so early and quickly swung into action and started taking pictures. As soon as we got to Sidmouth, Keith parked at the Esplanade to replace the bulb. We just trundled our way to every hill, which suited us and still no other cars in front and a void of twelve behind back to Brian and John. It was just us two competitors and an official travelling behind Brian in a Dellow blowing steam all the way to the start of day light at M5 Services….where was everybody? As we had to leave Exeter at our scheduled time, Verdun was back in the pack. Just Verdun, Keith and Brian and still no other competitors, where were they? The trial began to feel like our own private event with a few motorcycles from the main trial. Later that afternoon Verduns` Ranger started with a high pitched scream from under its bonnet, followed by steam exiting every orifice of the Ranger. The marshall said to him “when you’ve made the tea, mine has two sugars”. Electric hiccups (and I hadn’t been near it to put a spell on it) other minor mechanical gremlins plagued the car, but they managed to get to do all hills and finish.
Windout Section 8: We descend a steep track to a stream, which we had to cross. With the melted snow and the strong blustery gale we had in the night, the stream was now a small fast flowing river. Once again I was glad to be in the Eagle as I think if we were in the Phaeton I’m sure we would had water inside the cockpit. I would like to know how the new comers coped here.
More water driving at Fingle Bridge. We pass the bottom of Fingle Hill and follow the now swift white water River Teign to drive over a waterfall that is rushing down the hill-side to cross our track, and as it spills into the river it takes more embankment with it, thus narrowing the track to Hitchcombe Section 9: Hope later competitors got through ok.
Here were family members Allan and Pru, who cheered us on our way to the top. Unfortunately I don’t think Brain cleared the section, but results will tell when published.
Once again a warm welcome at Ilsington Village Hall by the locals who provided very appreciated home made food. After five weeks, no biscuits, sweets, slabs of chocolates, cakes, trifles, Christmas cake, puddings of any description, of life’s little essentials had not passed my lips, I thought now was the time for a reward…..and yes I did enjoy the large slice of lemon drizzle cake…..yummy. The local school had put on an art display of cars and motorcycles and left a comment book for the competitors to leave their remarks.
That was appreciated too by the trialers.
Penhales Plantation Section 11: This is the escape route for the main trial failures. With all the wet draining from Simms onto Penhales, a torrent was flowing rapidly down the approach to class “O” re-start. The Eagle dug her talons in to get traction to claw her way up to the box and she pulled away cleanly. After driving through rain and rivers the Eagle was still reasonably clean, and as we tootled to “O”s last section towards Teignmouth, to cross over the River Teign, I knew then that we were not going to get away scot-free and stay clean. We had entered red soil country! French’s Section 12: When we arrived I thought there had been a bank robbery as people scurried and climbed into the back of a 4x 4 and drove off lickety-split up the section! Yes, we had arrived before the marshalls were in place. Jovial laughter all round, then behold, the first two motorcycles in “O” class arrived…hurray, at last they made it! A new hill and a concrete drain to drive over (the same as those in Lenda lane) on a sharp left hand ascending bend to negotiate over rounded rocks. At least they weren’t the sharks teeth of Great Hucklow! These were capped!! Again I wondered here how newcomers coped.
We think we cleared all and after a soak in the tub at The Trecarn, and sorry it was I who wanted to eat out for a change. Allan and Pru did a reconnaissance in Babbacombe for a eatery in the afternoon and in the evening they took us to a quite Bistro they found and I gorged myself on a lovely fillet steak and trimmings. Then back to the hotel to join in with the throng of competitors to hear their highs and lows of the trial. I’m glad to say that Exeter was a enormous big high for me, roll on Lands End. As I’m getting older and the bones cant take the punishment, the drive home in the Eagle with a roof is quicker than the Phaeton, so I’m not so knackered after event, but there’s something about trialling in a open car!
I think I’m correct, but not a 100% sure that there is talk of a three-wheeler competitor who is thinking about not competing any-more in the three-wheeler, for causing holds ups on sections and embarrassments. I hope not, he has every right to compete and not to feel embarrassed if he feels trialers are getting impatience. Its nice to have nostalgic beautiful Shetland pony with all its charisma and appeal and to remind us of what this event is all about. Not every-body wants to see a thoroughbred stallion charging up sections all guns blazing. It takes all sorts of ingredients to make a good cake, not just best butter on its own. The pot here is calling the kettle black, for I have done many events in class 7. Those who know me have heard me screaming at the Green Goddess “ Come on baby!” I want so much to get to the top, but not to the extent of churning up the hill (others have to follow) sitting in a plume acrid smoke. As a navigator, if we get to sign off I’m very happy with my cardboard certificate, to state I was there and I did it. More talk at the finish that a large number in “O” class didn’t sign off, but at this moment in time until results are announced, I don’t know how many signed on.
To give you some idea of “O” class, enter, MCC Exeter Trial 2011 Class “O” on You Tube an excellent 12mins video. 2.35 into the film you will see the water following across the track at Fingle on their way to Hitchcombe, 7.40 the water coming down Penhales Plantation and 10.35 the concrete drain at French’s and their rocky ride to section ends. This is how I like trailing to be…..driving up sections (preferably with-out re-starts). This competitor drove the sections with respect for the hill, no bumping and goring, not going up the hills like a bat out of hell in clouds of burning rubber with his adrenalin so high, that wax pops out of his ears. Driver and passenger absorbing the beauty all round them as they drove at a sensible speed from Fingle car park along the long river bank to Hitchcombe. Is this why more cars are entering “O” class, as we want to do it more sedately to drive up the sections, and will it be spoilt by putting in a bucket full of re-starts?
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It was a very rainy night, a tough one for those in open cars and the bikers, who included Ted Holloway, riding in Class 0 on his MZ. John Parsons was nice and dry though, in his road car, as he couldn’t take the start after un-resolvable lighting problems with his VW Buggy.
The rain had cleared, for a while at least, as the cars tackled Meerhay, which although it wasn’t challenging is a very nice start to the competitive sections. Both here and at the next sections Gatcombe Lane the marshals had magnificent braziers going to fight off the chill of a cold night.
Into Bovey Woods and Normans Hump awaited, seemingly smoother on the upper reaches, at least for the early numbers. Things were spiced up a bit here for class three as they had to restart on the cross track, just like the yellows and reds. The section took its usual crop of scalps, including Brian Alexander, back behind the wheel after a couple of years marshalling Wooston Steep. Clinton was just up the track and wasn’t very Skoda friendly this year, costing both Aaron Homewood and Philip Mitchell their gold medals.
Waterloo was David Haizelden’s Waterloo this year, loosing his triple when he stopped on the old section, as did Nicola Wainwright. There were three more sections before the rest stop at Exeter services where Ted Holloway had retired, finding the road gearing of his MZ far to high for the off road sections.
Tillerton was as rough and rocky as ever, complete with its challenging restart for the higher classes. Mike Pearson was particularly pleased to get away as he had stopped in a difficult place.
There were delays at Fingle, some of the class 0 cars struggling with the ever deepening ruts on this previously smooth hill. Then came Wooston Steep, a fearsome obstacle for the early runners in the higher classes. The problem was the leaves and mud in the ruts and it wasn’t until Brian Colman came along in his Dutton Phaeton that the first car blasted up. Paul Bartleman was one of his unlucky ones, spinning his triple away in the leaves.
The lower classes turned off the track before the gradient steepened, this area really cut up and became a problem for the later runners with small wheels and Bill Rosten lost his gold here.
While this was going on Hitchcombe was proving a major problem for Class 0 and afterwards Mike Oakins emerged with the only Trio. Neither Fred Gregory or Verdun Webley were successful in their Rickman Rangers, Verdun having purchased his especially for the event and Fred loosing his Trio.
Simms had been resurfaced for the event, making it a little easier this year. Nerveless it was a wonderful achievement for Steve Potter to go clear here, his wonderful Trojan getting the biggest cheer of the day.
Only the rocky sections of Tipley and Slippery Sam had to be completed before the finish at Torquay to conclude a very good Exeter Trial.
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The forecast predicted a wet Exeter and the weather god did not disappoint. The rain started just before dawn and continued through the morning, making many of the sections pretty slippy. Simms wasn’t as challenging as it can be and there were more than sixty clean sheets between the bikes and cars.
There were a few notable non-starters. Both Peter Manning and Keith Pettit had medical problems and in class 0 Kevin Barnes found his Singers fuel tank leaking just before the start. There were some problems on the way to the start too. Ed Nikel had cooling problems with his Dellow and decided to remove the thermostat. Meanwhile Keith Oakes was hearing horrible noises from his rear end and was worried about the diff.
Meerhay was first on the agenda. It only stopped three cars, including Trevor Hardcastle and Nick Wollett in Marlin and Dellow respectively, both of whom were to retire later in the event. This is a long hill and its hard to recover any time lost through delays. Later numbers experienced up to an hours wait, just as the rain was starting!
After the very straightforward Gatcombe Lane, where even class 0 had a go, came the infamous woods at Bovey Downs. Unfortunately, Clerk of the Course Tim Whellock had to cancel Normans Hump on the eve of the trial as logging operations had made the section too much of a quagmire for the section to be used.
Clinton waited just up the track. This is normally regarded as easier than Normans Hump, but a tricky restart for class eight caught out Ross Nuten and both the Reg Taylor and Geoff Jacksons Dellow re-creations of Ed Nikel and Mike Pearson. From the same stable Geoff Hodge got away cleanly in the RDT, after earlier dramas when the horn failed at scruitineering and the bouncer knocked off the cut-out switch on the approach to Gatcombe Lane. Clinton didn’t prove to much of a problem to the non-restarters but it stop some of the Lieges. Bill Rosten was given a fail but this was corrected later so he’s still on for a triple.
Coming out of Bovey Woods Waterloo waited just across the road, but not before Simon Groves had to fix his first puncture of the day. This is one of those hills that is easy to fail unless you get everything just right. Barrie Parker had problems getting the big Audi 80 around the tight right hander which was shame as it was his only fail of the day. John Sawle retired here with gearbox failure, the Achilles heel on a Liege. Perhaps it didn’t take to kindly to the extra power from the supercharger.
Neither Plyford or Higher Rill claimed many scalps, but those damn Indians are cunning and laid in wait in Otterton Woods for Colin Sumner (VW) and Ross Nuten who were ambushed on the Bulverton restart.
The breakfast stop at Exeter Services came next on the agenda. But not for Owen Ingram and Tim Williams who were still trying to extract their Class 0 V8 Marlin from the trees after the Stretes special test where it had slipped way off the road down a bank.
Tillerton was to provide Ian Davis’s toughest moment on the trial when he had to work hard to get off the class 7 and 8 restart and the marshals gave Ross a fail here for allegedly over running the line.
The speed Hill Climb at Fingle was enjoyed by all, but not so the battle ground that awaited for many at Wooston Steep. New charges for the traditional access track had forced Tim W to use a new approach, involving a steep and slippery descent. All competitors, including the class 0’s, even though they had a separate section, used this. It proved pretty hairy and finally Wendy Wood’s Class 0 Subaru Justy slipped over, fortunately without serious injury to the occupants. After this officials re-routed competitors down the normal exit road for blues and whites. There was two-way traffic until the approach went straight past the bank where the blues and whites emerged from their section, down the Class 0 section the wrong way to the normal starting area.
Classes one to six had their normal deviation to the left before the steep bank. Their section wasn’t too challenging, provided you took the correct route! A number of competitors didn’t, including the experienced Michael Collins in his Golf, who tried to go straight on up the steep bit before realising his error, exactly the same mistake as two years before! Falcon’s Ross Nuten also went wrong here, turning left instead of going straight on up the bank. These two were some of several, and although the instructions in the route card were clear it wasn’t so obvious where to go when you got there, so perhaps there should be arrows in the future.
The restart itself wasn’t difficult to get away from, the challenge was the steep bank after the deviation. The ruts were full of leaves and mud and the early numbers couldn’t find any grip. Each car went a bit further cleaning things out for those following, until finally Mike Pearson, a master at finding grip where there isn’t any, got through the difficult bit and reached the summit. It became easier and towards the end of the field, many in 7 and 8 cruised up like it was a motorway, although the Lieges with their comparatively low powered engines all failed. Had they not already retired it would have been interesting to see how John Sawle or Mark Worsfeld would have faired in their more powerful versions or Simon Robson if he had been running at the back of the field instead of towards the front.
Simms has definitely become easier after the repair work by Roger Ugalde and his team and it didn’t claim its usual crop of failures. The biggest cheer of the day went to Steve Potter who coaxed his Trojan to the summit. It is absolutely amazing what Steve and John Wilton do in their fantastic cars.
Only the rather rough sections at Tipley and Slippery Sam were left now. Both were easily on provided you had a suitable vehicle and took care but could still catch the unwary as Geoff Hodge discovered on Tipley when he misjudged the restart and wheel spin set in.
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Steve Curtis in his super ABS FreestyleDawn is breaking as Keith and Claire Oakes clear BulvertonMichael Collins enjoying his first ride as passenger in Adrian Dommetts WolesleyIf you look closely you will see Andrew Martin had no hands on the steering wheelDave Nash in his rear engined Reliant ScimitarMark Hayward in his super 1172 Mk2 DellowAndrew Rippon and family approach the Tipley restart in the ex-Jason Collins BajaBill Bennett at the top of TipleyEdward Stobbs on Simms
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.
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This years Exeter benefited from a lot of work on the sections, making them more palatable for many and Simms achievable for the mortal. Normans Hump was difficult but there were still 67 gold’s awarded.
It was a stormy night for the run down to Haynes museum. Rain and gusts of wind making driving conditions difficult and a tough night for bikers and drivers of open cars. A couple of the Falcons were lucky to make the start. John Parsons had found problems with the lights on his buggy, discovering that mice had gnawed their way though the wires and had a go at a CV joint gaiter as well! Neil Bray ran Primrose back and forth to work for a few days before the event to make sure everything worked OK. It was a good job he did, as the engine coughed and died. Neil eventually found the problem was with the Rotor arm and had problems finding a replacement for the special distributor that has to be used with side draft Webers.
Scriutineering generated a bit of excitement, with numerous competitors given tickets because their rear lights couldn’t be seen from one side, obscured by the spare wheel carrier. The first competitive section was Windmill Hill, which is of course the exit road from Sugg Lane, which in turn became the exit road from Windmill Hill this time. This didn’t present any problems and neither did the next section.
After Gatcombe Lane it was into Bovey Woods for Normans Hump and Clinton. Normans was challenging this year, especially for the higher classes who had to restart, as the box was positioned on the gradient after the cross track. This caused severe problems, either with getting going at all or failing to build up enough momentum to carry the car over the steep bit at the end.
This fate befell a number of people, including Ed Nikel, who got within half a length of the section ends board. Peter Thompson didn’t have a restart in his Opel but was another to come to a stop within sight of his objective. It was certainly possible though. Peter Mountain and Mike Pearson both got cleans in class eight but Ian Davis didn’t get to the summit and John Pasons was given a run back on the restart.
Class 5’s were denied the challenge of the upper reaches and deviated off with the ones and twos. Colin Sumner probably wished he was back in his Morgan. He had to do the full hill in his class four Beetle and couldn’t get out the top. Clinton was easier, with only the upper part of the section being used and the restart on the level so it didn’t trouble the scorer too much.
Across the road was Waterloo, where there was a long delay, even for the early numbers in the main trial, as the class 0’s were having problems with their section, known as Rockenhayne, which is the failure route for the main trial. One of the Mini’s had got stuck broadside across the hairpin and by the time it was extricated a long queue had developed. Then a car over-turned. Even when the class 0’s had gone there was still a problem as classes one, two and five were using the escape road as their section, and every time one came along the recovery Landrover had to reposition from one section to another, causing the minutes to tick by. When the queue got all the way back to the road the marshals sent some of the cars up the escape road to keep things moving and the section had to be scrubbed from the results.
Plyford didn’t stop anyone but there were more delays at Stretes, again caused by the Class 0’s who had difficulty with the leaf mould at the top and a few of them got well and truly stuck, a Beetle broke its transmission and a car turned on its side reversing back down. Things weren’t a lot better for the early runners in the main trial and the chief official soon cancelled the restart in order to get things flowing.
The first cars were over an hour late at Exeter services, but still had to have the full 60 minutes rest break, time enough for many to pop to the local supermarket for petrol rather than pay motorway prices. In Fred Gregory’s case he and Pete Stafford tried to insert a spare leaf into the nearside rear suspension of their Rickman Ranger as it was sagging and the exhaust was banging on the prop-shaft. The delays built up and running down the field Stuart Harrold and Chris Phillips were two hours late for their breakfast.
Tillerton was smoother than in recent years, but its still a difficult one and Peter Mountain ran back on the restart to loose his clean sheet. Fingle was its normal glorious self. A super blast round the hairpins with little chance of failing. Unless you had a puncture that is, like Dave Nash who had to resort to a tow from the rescue Land Rover when the wheel started to spin inside the tyre. Ian Bovill also had problems with his magnificent ISOC Sport, not surprising he had problems with the hairpins when you consider the wheelbase!
Fingle was the scene of Nick Ikin’s first MCC retirement in 14 years of competition. Halfway up the car started making horrible noises and then it stopped steering. Nick kept going but after a couple more bends the car ground to a halt, lying on its belly. A critical eye-bolt had broken and it took considerable manhandling to get it onto a side track. Nick managed to rob a similar eye-bolt from the rear and block that corner up with a block of wood. This enabled the car to roll back down the hill to await the RAC.
The MCC had been concerned they would be able to use Wooston because of PR problems with the exit road. Fortunately these problems were solved and classes seven and eight were able to tackle the steep hill after the fork. Michael Collins had a go at this route as well in his Golf and was well on his way to getting up the hill when he realised his mistake and had to back down. This was a shame as his fail cost him a gold and probably the FWD All-Stars the team award as both Paul Allaway and Dave Haizelden went round clean.
The restart caused problems for the early numbers and apart from Ian Davis the Falcons either failed to get away or couldn’t build enough momentum to keep going when the gradient was at its steepest. John Parsons made a valiant attempt but his wheels were spinning as he came away from the restart, he tried to back-off but lost speed on the steep bit and finally stopped. Ed Nikel made a good climb but again his wheels were spinning too much and he stopped on the upper reaches, high enough for the marshals to push him out the top.
Running further down the field Mike Pearson made his climb when there was more grip but there was little doubt he would have cleaned the section anyway with his smooth driving style. Peter Mountain was smooth as well in his Mk1 Dellow and cleaned the section. The climb of the day was made by David Wall in the family Dellow. He pulled smoothly away from the restart, accelerated away and was still increasing his speed as he passed the section ends board.
The lower classes were denied an assault on the main track and deviated off to the right as usual, with only class six having to restart. It wasn’t too much of a problem for most but neither of the Trojans had the momentum to get to the fork and nor did Derek Reynolds in the DAF who came to a halt with an un-believable scream of the drive belts. Ted Holloway had to retire his rear engined Mini here after failing the restart.
The MCC road gang had spent done a lot of work on Simms during the summer, including bringing a Ready Mix truck along the exit track to the top of the section. So the organisers were concerned when a couple of weeks before the trial they heard their work had been damaged by a 4×4 invasion. Roger Uglade visited the week before and pronounced the section OK to use and on the day most competitors thought it was much smoother than the late few years.
The old hill is a tough one, even though the restart for the higher classes gave them more of a run at the gradient than usual. Stuart Cairney was spectating on Simms, reporting that the results showed a number of failures as clearing the section! These included Dave Nash who’s MGeetle couldn’t make the gradient and neither could Fred Gregory. Barrie Parker also came to grief here with the big Audi 80. This was shame as Falcons multiple PCT champion was otherwise clean. There were organisational problems as the summit marshal didn’t record who got to the top of the section un-aided. So anyone who got to the A boards was given a clean.
In class 5 Peter Manning didn’t clean the section but got past the A boards in his Midget to win class five. Keith Pettit wasn’t so lucky in his venerable Frogeye Sprite which was a pity as he had faster special test times. Like Dave Nash Keith had no less than three punctures during the event. Ed Nikel and Peter Thompson were both thrilled to clean Simms. It’s a tough section though and both Peter Mountain and Simon Groves had to retire with broken cars. Simon’s half shafts snapped as he bounced over the step, captured on video by Stuart Cairney, as was Dick Bolt who suffered a similar fate. Peter Mountain had the A frame sheer off the axle on his Mk1 Dellow. This damaged the rear of the gearbox and the prop-shaft and was glad to have a steel transmission tunnel to keep the flailing UJ away from his vitals. There were soon problems in recovering the car as the A frame was digging in the ground preventing Peter coming back down but it was soon accomplished with the many bodies that are always at Simms.
The trial was drawing to a close now, with only two sections remaining. Tipley was just over the road from Simms and was quite rough as usual. The gradient isn’t to severe though, so drivers can chose their line and it didn’t stop many, although it did catch out Colin Sumner in his shocking pink Beetle, quite a change from his usual Morgan. Slippery Sam was the final hill and only claimed a handful of victims this year as it didn’t’ have its usual re-start.
The days activities were concluded by the usual club supper at the finish venue which was enjoyed and appreciated by All. MCC President Gerry Wollcott presented last years premier awards although he lost his struggle with an ineffective PA. The general conclusion was that this was good Exeter which finished on time despite the delays during the night.
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Awards were at a premium on a tough Exeter Trial held in excellent conditions. It went down well with competitors despite some of the sections being pretty rough. The only real complaints seemed to come from car competitors in classes one, two and five who were denied an attack on Waterloo and Tillerton and the harsh judgements made once again on the Slippery Sam restart.
Dave Nash hustles the MGeetle into retirement with a slipping clutch on the Clifford Special TestPeter and James Mountain coming to grief on the Tillerton re-start. Michael and Mike rounding the corner to take the easy way up Wooston (picture by Derek Hibbert)Nick Ikin on Simms (picture by John Lees)Dawn breaks as David Wall leans Dudley Sterry’s rather special J2 around the corner at the top of Passaford LaneTeam Falcon changing the diff on Primrose. That’s Alan and Ian Cundy’s Golf in front, they were very happy as the only class one car to come out the top even though they
Start and run to Sparkford
It was clear and bright as competitors assembled at the three starts for the run down to Haynes Motor Museum at Sparkford. The route card had a recommended route but very few Popham starters turned off the A303 for the tour of Salisbury Plain and Devizes. Most just kept straight on with the aim of some shuteye in preparation for the day ahead. There were exceptions though, and Clive Booth and John Alssop preferred the scenic tour. Having returned to live in Ross-On-Wye Stuart Harrold had his first Cirencester Start and was rather surprised at the efficient and professional scruitineering after years of a more laid back style elsewhere. Down in the West Country none were more disappointed than Brian Alexander when he couldn’t even get to the Trewint start when his Fiat’s brakes locked solid. The only reported problems on the run in came from yours truly. Michael Leete arrived at scruitineering to find he had no petrol cap, having left it on the bonnet at Sparkford services just up the road. A quick about turn to the filling station Michael started to search the forecourt to no avail before a friendly motorcyclist shouted out he had seen it lying in the road about half a mile away! Scruitineering left the MCC confused over Dave Nash’s class 7 MGB and a list of remedial work for Ed Nikel’s ex-Matt Willmore, ex- Mike Pearson Buggy.
Sugg Lane
It was good to see the MCC using this nearby Hill, now discarded by The Lands End in pursuit of a politically correct shorter route. The Class 0’s had a go at this one as well, sharing a common road-book and mostly a common route. After descending Windmill Hill, used as a section last year, there was a long 40-mile road run through Axminster, crossing the track of the Seaton Electric tramway, before the next section. The tiredness was starting to creep in by now and there were many nodding heads and swigs of Red Bull on the way.
Gatcombe Lane
Another gentle section for the entire field although it claimed one of the magnificent Trojans and John Salters Vincent who retired soon after.
Normans Hump
With the class 0’s diverted away the competitive triallers entered Bovey Woods for the first show-down of the trial. They found Norman’s had plenty of grip but was very rough with lots of loose rocks. Dave Nash was in immediate trouble as he found the MGeetle didn’t have enough power for the gradient. Running the mandatory 15psi for class 8 Stuart Harrold expected to be free from punctures but arrived at the top to find the sidewall ripped out of his nice new tyre. Stuart Cairney was another one to puncture here although he didn’t find it until he got out onto the tarmac road, only to find the wrong socket on the extension despite having checked it in the morning! Jonathan Laver spun his wheels at the start and they kept spinning all the way to the top but he just made it out of the section. Dave Sargeant struggled with his engine, which he just couldn’t keep on the cam and he bogged down for a fail.
Clinton Bottom
I think this is the long version and was straightforward this year with no restarts and plenty of grip. Unlike Normans Clinton has corners and it can get a bit confusing coming over a hump and seeing tracks going in different directions. Jonathan Laver was a bit gentler with the right foot here and cleaned it without any trouble and so did a delighted Stuart Cairney.
As usual though there was lots of activity on the road just outside the woods. Dave Nash was taking the opportunity to find out while the MGeetle was down on power, discovering that the ignition timing was about 20 degrees out. Dave’s problems weren’t over, as no sooner had he got going than a tyre went flat.
Waterloo
This is one of those hills that hasn’t changed much but has got much more difficult in recent years. The organisers seemed to recognise this and diverted classes one, two and five up the escape road, called Rockenhayne, with the class 0’s. Mind you quite a few others joined them as many competitors struggled to find grip on the loose services just after the 90 right. Fred Gregory was one of them when his exhaust came loose.
Stretes
The class 0’s were allowed to tackle this one which indicates it wasn’t too difficult, in fact its been used as a special test in recent years.
Higher Rill
The next section was only a few yards up the road with Mark Tooth in charge. Unusually it had a downhill start which meant you had to be a little careful not to under-steer into the bushes on the first corner but otherwise it was simple enough.
Back Lane
With the Class 0’s doing this first section in Otterton Woods under the eagle eye of the Dellow Register it wasn’t too difficult. They soon diverted back onto the main road while the more competitive classes wound their way through the trees to the next section. The route included that very difficult left hand hairpin at the bottom of a muddy descent. Peter Mountain was one of those to have trouble with this and bent the Panhard rod on his newly restored Dellow Mk1 on the process of the multiple reverses necessary to get round.
Passaford Lane
John and June Blakely were in charge of the start, which was positioned on the start of the hill itself so there was some concern about getting away. Fortunately almost everyone found enough grip for a nice muddy blast up through the trees.
Exeter Services
With no servicing in the car park quite a few competitors disappeared up the road for a bit of maintenance after handing in their control card. Michael Leete changed tubes on punctured wheels while Fred Gregory had a look underneath his Rickman Ranger as it was making horrible clonking noises. Fred and Steve Boakes soon saw that the UJ on the propshaft was on the way out and decided to retire and do some spectating rather than risk further damage on the hills. After fixing his punctured tyres, which were devils to get off the Rim, Dave Nash had a look at his slipping clutch. He couldn’t do anything and decided to press on. Earlier Dudley Sterry and David Wall were spied under their J2’s bonnet adjusting the clutch ready for the serious stuff in the second half.
Tillerton
After last year the organisers had hoped to do some repairs to Tillerton to make it a bit smoother. However, the best laid plans of mice and men go wrong sometimes and the work didn’t get done so it was scrubbed for classes one, two and five who were getting a bit disappointed at missing out on the action. With Angus Stewart on the start as usual things ran pretty smoothly and the hill didn’t claim that many scalps although Clive Booth lost the headlamp bezel from his Dellow Replica but was quite delighted to have somebody hand it back to him later in the event.
Fingle
The old hill was as enjoyable as ever but didn’t trouble the scorer too much. Perhaps next year it could be a special test. Start online A and stop astride line B. Perhaps next year line A could be the start of Fingle and Line B at the section ends board!
Hinchcombe Special Test
The first special test was on the approach road to Wooston Steep, alongside that rather nice looking fast flowing river. It was dead straight and pretty simple. Start on line A and stop on line B. Pretty easy though. Well no, just ask Ian Davis, revelling in the power of his new engine, who overshot the line in his VW or Stuart Harrold and Chris Phillips. On braking the Troll shot right, demolished the finish line boards and ended up with three wheels over the river bank. It took eight people to lift the car back on the track and at one point Stuart thought it would roll sideways into the river!
Wooston
Cars were going in more directions than Piccadilly Circus hers. The class 0’s went up a gentle little track to the left before the main hill. Personally I think that was shame because the Class 1 to 6 route was pretty easy, even for the class 6’s who had a re-start. The real men in classes 7 and 8 had to assault the steep bit and this ended the hopes of many including John Parsons who had been going really well up until now. The hill wasn’t Buggy friendly as Ian Davis also spun to a stop although later in the day Simon Woodhall proved it could be done. A Dellow Replica seemed to be the car to have as both Mike Pearson and Clive Booth sailed to the top in fine style whereas both Peter Mountain and Ross Nuten failed in their Mk1’s and Mk2’s respectively and Eric Wall was given a run back on the restart in his Mk1. Not surprisingly none of the Liege’s made the summit on this power-sapping slope.
Clifford Special Test
The second special test didn’t have the drama of the first one although it did involve a bit of shuffling backwards and forwards. Oh how I wish the special tests on a trial all followed the same format, or better still get rid of them all together. The MGeetle ended its trial here when Dave and Julie retired with a slipping clutch.
Simms
There was a different route to Simms this year with a compulsory stop in Islington Village Hall on the way so competitors could contribute to the church restoration fund. The hill itself was in fine form, finishing many of the clean sheets. Running towards the front of the field Clive Booth and John Alssop sailed up in their Dellow Replica but shortly after Mike Pearson ground to a halt in his similar car, as did Geoff Hodge in the third car from the Reg Taylor stable. Simms was Buggy friendly than Wooston and both John Parsons and Ian Davis stormed to the summit although later on Simon Woodhall was to stop in his big-engined version. In class 1 Alan Cundy only had to get to the A boards in his Golf but cleaned the whole section nerveless. None of the FWD Allstars came out the top but they all got to the A boards for a clean on Simms and a gold medal although Michael Collins broke one of his drive shafts in the process. Class three was spectacular, both David’s Heale and Turner taking the corner in glorious four wheel drifts on their way to cleaning the section.
In class four Giles Greenslade was the only Beetle to get to the top. Michael Leete lost his clean sheet here; all the others had come to grief on earlier sections. It looked as if Giles would be the only car in class four to clean the old hill until Adrian Booth came along and stormed up to put a smile on his face after a disappointing run through the night. There were very few cleans in class 7. It was possible though as Clive Kalber proved in his venerable Ford Pop. Only a couple of Marlins succeeded but Andrew Martin had no problem in his Dutton Melos. It was difficult though and even Roger Bricknell failed!
Slippery Sam
Thee was controversy her last year and it was to be repeated with Run Backs on the re-start being awarded to both Clive Booth and Stuart Harrold, costing both of them gold medals, the same fate befalling Nigel Moss for jumping the flag in his Troll.
The Finish
Most competitors arrived at the hotel in reasonable time. Very convenient for Ed Nikel’s passenger as brother Richard from Northampton was able to watch his local side play Torquay! The club supper was a nice occasion but a little to informal as everyone would have appreciated a few more words from the hierarchy and the opportunity to see some of their fellow competitors receive their awards. In conclusion the 2004 Exeter was a very nice trial, spoilt only by some unhappiness over the interpretation of the restart rules. It has probably saved the MCC a few bob on triples at the end of the year though!
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The 2003 Exeter ran very smoothly, despite all the rain the week before and being very cold on the night. However, some of the hills were very rough and will surely generate more debate on damaging sections. It was a very different trial depending what class you were in. The sevens and eights with high power to weight ratios thought it was easy, the lower classes thought it was hard!
Andrew Brown smoking to a halt on Simms (picture by John Mac)
Even on the journey to the start it was clearly going to be a cold night. Mike Pearson had bike competitor Richard Nixon in the passengers seat so he should be hardy enough! It was really nice to see David Alderson at the start. He was well wrapped up, as it was a bit cooler than Turkey! David was driving Peter James’s Troll. The plan was for Peter to navigate, but unfortunately he hasn’t been very well recently, so David had another passenger. Ed Nikel didn’t start as the Imp had a bad water leak that he couldn’t fix in time. Neil Bray appeared with Dave Nash in a very smart Skoda Fastback. It looked really super but why was it in class seven? The answer came with a peak under the bonnet where three point something litres of Mr Rovers V8 resided under the hood. It’s a very neat installation. All the external trim and bumpers are in place and everything fits neatly under the original silhouette. The suspension was raised quite a bit, although not as much as Neil’s normal “YEG” and he was soon to find lack of ground clearance to be a big problem.
The run down to the Haynes Motor Museum in Sparkford was classed as a Touring Assembly. This meant that competitors were free to devise their own route to the start. There were quicker ways to get to the start of the Trial proper than specified in the Route card and quite a few took advantage of this to get to Haynes early, fitting in some extra rest rather than go round the museum in the middle of the night. It was un-eventful for most, but not Clive Booth who hit a deer to the detriment of his Dellow Replica’s nose cone. Later numbers taking the official route regretted it when they arrived to find all the hot food had all gone!
Windmill Hill – The first hill may have had an unfamiliar name to many, but Lands End competitors recognised it when the got there, as it was the lane normally used to exit from Sugg Lane. It was dry and well surfaced so didn’t present any problems. Sugg Lane was different though, muddy with a lot of water running down the descent. This certainly kept the bikers alert, as did the cold on the forty-mile down to Bovey Woods.
Normans Hump – This was the usual hill, with the start line facing straight at the gradient, so there was no confusing stuff, like steering, to complicate life. That was for the cars, which could stay in the ruts. Life was different for the bikes. John Lees managed to stay in the middle for a clean climb, but this was easier said than done and most ended up in one of the ruts, whether they wanted to or not. Brian Sussex was one of many to fail this way although he cleaned everything else to gain Silver.
It was tough for the cars as well. The bottom part of the hill had very deep ruts with huge holes and a lot of loose rock. There was plenty of grip, it was just a case of how confident you were that your car would hold together if you went up at any speed while the underside was abraded away! Added to this classes six, seven and eight had their usual restart at the cross track. This reduced the possibility to attack the steep bit immediately after and this bought both Fred Gregory (Rickman Ranger) and Neil Bray (Skoda V8) to a halt. Ross Nuten had problems as well, he found his diff had locked up and he decided to limp home while the Dellow was still mobile.
Normans wasn’t kind to Imps and both Richard Tompkins and Stuart Cairney stopped when they ran our of ground clearance. It was possible to get up in one of Linwood’s little marvels, as Ian Moss proved when he flew up in his smart new yellow Imp. In class seven Simon Robson was the only Liege to get to the top. Most of the Marlins made successful climbs, but Verdun Webley fluffed to a halt with fuel starvation at high revs, a problem that was to bedevil him through most of the event and even riding mechanic Arnold Lane couldn’t cure the problem.
Clinton Bottom – Frankly I am not sure what version of Clinton this was, although it wasn’t the longest one as we started at least part way up the hill. There was no restart and after Normans Hump it was as smooth as a Billiard Table! It was still a problem though and Stuart Cairney was one of many failures. After Normans Stuart decided to pump the tyres up to 25 lbs and took off at maximum revs. He still found too much grip the car dropped into one of the many holes, practically stalling the motor and loosing so much momentum that Stuart stopped soon after.
Leaving the woods Stuart noticed an ominous clunking noise from the rear. Stuart checked the car over by jacking each rear wheel in turn and running it under load by applying the handbrake. The clunking noise could clearly be heard as soon as the handbrake was applied. Consensus was that one of the crown wheel teeth was damaged so he sadly retired from the event and went down to Simms as a spectator.
Waterloo – A few words of explanation for those that don’t know this hill. It starts on a gentle gradient with an open gate a few yards ahead. The only thing is that you don’t go through the gate, there’s a 90 right immediately before. Once round this blind corner a steep slope immediately confronts competitors. This was a real problem this year as there was a lot of loose material on the surface and grip was at a premium. It was the downfall of many of the cars, including Neil Bray and Fred Gregory, who to add insult to injury picked up a puncture on the escape road!
The initial slope also defeated the West Country class one trio of Michael Collins and David Haizelden in their Golf’s and Paul Allaway in his Astra. Along came Adrian Tuker-Peake a few cars later and he stormed up. It will be interesting to see if a second FWD cleaned the hill to make it count for the class.
Stretes – This was a nice simple hill with a special test at the top, which provided a welcome “rest” before the unknown quantity of the next hill.
Higher Rill (Sandy Lane) was only a few yards up the road from Stretes. It has not been used on the Exeter for some time. Tucker’s notes in the MCC book say it was “In use in 1931 for stop-and-restart (9 failed). Approaches too bad for 1965 event”. In 2003 the approach was interesting but the hill itself presented few problems.
Bulverton Steep – The route passed through Sidford for the second time on the way to the woods at Bulverton Hill for two sections. Bulverton Steep started with a sharp ninety-left on a steep gradient. This was muddy and slippery and it was very easy to under-steer off into the trees, as John Bennett in his smart Renault Gordini was to prove.
Derek Reynolds and Fred Mills at the top of Passaford Lane. Both of these crews came all the way from Tyneside to compete.Tony Branson and Sally Bolam at the start of Bulverton Steep
Passaford Lane – There was quite a run along the forestry tracks to reach the next section at Passaford Lane where there was delay for mid-field runners while David Spraggetts stricken Morgan was removed from the section. The hill itself wasn’t too difficult, even though it started to rut up at the top as the event went on.
Exeter Services – There was a nice run to the rest halt, with a marvellous view out to the sea at Sidmouth. There were dire threats of exclusion if anyone as much as looked at a spanner at Exeter Services, so many nipped out on the road outside, or went down to the lorry park, to check over the mechanicals, or in Fred Gregory’s case get some help changing a tube. There were problems for some as a Midget had gone up the bank and overturned just before the halt. It looked terrible as the car had no roll cage and the screen was flattened, but the crew appear to have survived with only a few scratches so the main damage will be to the blood pressure of the MCC committee!
Fred Gregory and Simon Robson qeue in front of the appropriate “Unsuitable For Motors” sign at the foot of Tillerton
Tillerton Steep – Classes seven and eight had it easy here, they had to restart! The lower classes had a clear run and could drive over the terribly rough and rocky middle section as fast as they liked, or their car would stand! Most had sufficient speed to get through but Richard Tompkins took things easy to spare the car and paid for his lack of speed with a stop. Fred Gregory, Neil Bray and Verdun Webley were among the re-starters to fail the hill and in Neil’s case he wasn’t to go much further. The car was handling really strangely after the hill. Neil found the nearside rear suspension-mounting bolt was half out, allowing the wheel to move back and forth.
By this time Michael Leete and Mike Hayward had stopped to help and with a lot of heaving, shoving and hammering helped Neil and Dave Nash get the bolt back in against the tension of the suspension rubber. A quick run up the road revealed the car still had a problem; the offside wheel was very badly buckled. Jacking the wheel up revealed a broken driveshaft and the V8 Skoda was added to the retirement list.
Neil Bray’s Skoda V8 Drive Shaft
Fingle – There was a diff test just before the section. The old hill itself wasn’t a problem but the corners were noticeably cut-up compared to usual.
Wooston Steep – Only seven and eight had to go up the steep bit this year. The problem appeared to be the slippery bit just after the re-start and this stopped quite a few. It’s a delicate balance between grip and bogging down and sadly Andrew Brown didn’t get it quite right on his new tyres. Stuart Harrold and Chris Phillips had plenty of grunt and plenty of grip in their Troll and accelerated all the way up to the hairpin right. Falcon’s Ian Davis, Mike Pearson and John Parsons all had successful climbs as well, but in class seven neither Simon Robson, Verdun Webley or Fred Gregory could get past the slippery section on the lower slopes. The lower classes had it easy of course, turning left and finishing just before the gradient really started.
Bob Thorpe and Colin Shepherd tackling the left hander half way up Simms!Nigel Hilling in his 1172 Pop.As a good Stroud member Andrew Brown didn’t back-off!Paul and Caroline Martin in their Marlin
Simms – Competitors had a chance to mentally prepare themselves for Simms with a 25 mile run onto Dartmoor. The old hill was in fine form again. It’s all about momentum here. Cars with a high power to weight ratio were able to build enough speed to blast over the step but those without enough speed found there was very little grip on the slimy, slippery rock. There were plenty of triallers here to watch the fun, including Duncan Stephens and Ed Nikel and retirees Stuart Cairney and Mike Furse. They saw a spirited and successful climb by Stuart Harrold, re-starting very high on the left, flooring the throttle and driving straight up the middle. There was a lot of leaping and banging before Stuart had to brake the Troll at the stop board. John Parsons in the VW Buggy gave it some of the same treatment but Mike Pearson’s more considered approach in his Dellow Replica wasn’t successful and he spun to a stop. This was annoying as Nick Wollett had a successful climb just before in his Dellow and Tim Wellock immediately afterwards in the Fugitive.
Ian Davis was on song and set for a clean climb when his throttle cable broke on the restart. He tried to get up on tick-over but this wasn’t possible so Ian had to slide down back to the bottom to fix it. When all was well mechanically he persuaded the marshals to let him have a go up the hill itself “for fun” and he drove up easily. None of the class Seven Falcon’s were successful, Simon Robson, Fred Gregory and Verdun Webley all spun to a stop and so did ACTC rights of way officer Andrew Brown in his Marlin. The saloon car classes’ struggled and Michael Leete stopped on the slab. It was certainly possible to clean the hill in class four as Ian Moss proved in his “new” car. He stormed up at a time when there was very little grip. Ian’s Imp was immaculate at the start but by Simms was showing some battle scars with stress-induced ripples around the rear wheel arches.
Tipley – After Simms it was left at the crossroads at the top and down the track to Tipley. The gradient isn’t too severe here and there aren’t any corners, this hill is all about its rocks. There weren’t any loose ones and although it was very rough it was possible to ease off and pick your way around the bad bits.
Slippery Sam – It looked innocuous at the bottom and the restart was pretty easy but boy were the corners at the top rough. They had really cut-up on the inside and there was a lot of loose rock as well. Unlike Tipley it wasn’t easy to select your own line and cars cleaned the hill to the accompaniment of crashing and banging as the rocks tried to hammer their way through the floor-pan! There was worst to come. Competitors are well used to the lakes of red clay on the exit road. However, the big problem this year was overhanging branches. Goodness knows what it was like on a bike, especially a chair with the bike on the right. Even cars running at the end of the field had to fend of the overhanging briars, which was very unpleasant in an open car.
So that was Exeter 2003. There was of course a Class 0, which is an excellent idea, taking in some of the less damaging sections of the main event, together with some unique sections, including the escape roads on Waterloo, Simms and Wooston. The whole thing was rounded off by the usual evening at The Trecarn Hotel, a very nice finish to the event where the sections were re-run over a glass or two
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With Foot and Mouth out of the way the MCC started the New Year with a splendid Exeter Trial. The conditions were near perfect, the hills were in good condition and Simms was in fine form to shatter the hopes of many Triple aspirants!
It had been very cold during the week leading up to the trial, but come the Friday the temperature rose above freezing and fog rather than frost was the main enemy on the run town to Tintinhull. Gatcombe Lane was first the first section on the agenda, despite fears that it may fall victim to F&M. A gentle cruise for the old timers but important for some of the class 0 competitors as it was their first ever trials hill.
Then it was into Bovey Woods for Normans Hump and Clinton. Norman’s Hump is my sort of trials hill, round the corner, trotter down and point at the sky! The re-start was quite high up for the yellows this year, but there was plenty of grip, so it wasn’t too much trouble. The problem was lower down where it was pretty rough and the ruts got deeper with each car, even trapping David Thompson in his Troll. John Parsons was running near the front of the field in his ex Graham Marshall, ex David Thompson Buggy but disaster struck on Clinton when something broke in the front end and one of the wheels folded back, leaving John and Dot with the problem of getting a three wheeler out of the woods to seek a recovery truck. Richard Tompkins, who had engine problems before the event and was running a new motor, was having his troubles and failed both of the Bovey sections.
Keith Pettit and Peter Manning were running towards the back of the field in Sprite and Midget respectively, reporting both sections were pretty rough by the time they arrived. Keith had a puncture on Normans Hump and Peter followed suite on Clinton. Both had more problems later. Keith with both the electric’s and more punctures and Peter had a rear shocker-mounting break but apart from Simms cleared everything.
Waterloo can always catch the unwary and Neil Bray didn’t get the first corner right and spun to a stop. Fred Gregory was going well in his Rickman Ranger, finding the soft suspension really allowed the back end to dig in and find plenty of grip. They were clean so far but the worry was they didn’t think they had signed in at the start!
Everyone tackled Stretes. No problem for full trials prepared machinery but a challenge for some of the class 0’s. This was the end of the road for Tony and Stephanie Boyle’s 1200 Beetle when the clutch gave out. They left the VW in a car park at Otterley St Mary and went to the finish for an early bath. Stretes also saw the end of Kevin Barnes when his Singer Le Mans stopped running properly and they decided to retire. As so often happens it then cleared up all on it’s own but they were too far on the way home to continue. Falcon’s Dave Nash was going well in his Skeetle, which now has a Type Four engine. This had been for an expensive re-build and Dave was still running it, so had transferred to Class 0, finding it easier than battling with all those Marlin’s!
It was into the woods again for Bulverton Steep and Passaford lane. Ed Nikel was having problems with his fuel pump and stopped to fix it, arriving quite late at Exeter. The corner at the top of Passaford Lane caused problems for many but it was the bend at the bottom that was the downfall of Richard Tompkins. Last year he didn’t go fast enough and stalled out on the slope. This year he had too much speed and understeered into the trees.
Photos from Tillerton
Keith Oakes demonstrates as slips and slides on the upper reaches.Nice to get a pictute of a happy John Salter who has helped so much with pictures for Classical Gas over the years, even if he didn’t get of the re-start!The re-start on Tillerton presented quite a challenge this year. Like most of the Trolls David Thompson didn’t get away.Neither did Tim Wellock
The early numbers arrived at Exeter Services well ahead of time as there had been no delays and they were soon off to Windout, which is tarmac and didn’t present any problems. They came soon enough when the field arrived at Tillerton. It was smoother than usual. The restart moved had been moved lower down the hill. This should have allowed a good run at the big step but it was very slippery and caught out quite a few of the aces. These included Tim “Triple” Wellock and Dudley Sterry, neither of who stopped in the right place. It could be done though. Ian Davis got it exactly right, driving off the re-start in his Buggy without spinning the wheels at all. Most of the cleans weren’t so elegant. Mal Allen made it with a lot of smoke and so did Keith Oakes, after a really determined attempt. Tony Rothin’s face looked pretty grim when his Cannon didn’t move, but he kept his trotter to the floor, sawing at the steering wheel. The little car slid sideways back and forth, wheels spinning until the wheels dug down to something solid and it inched up the hill.
Ed Nikel stopped to fix some carb problems but his had luck just got worse and worse when someone side-swiped his car doing tremendous damage to all the panels on one side. Ed continued only to be forced to retire with a slipping clutch caused by problems with the release mechanism.
Fingle was the usual blast, which was a bit too much for Colin Perryman’s Skoda, blowing its engine in protest. Wooston Steep was a challenge for quite a few of the yellows as usual. There were cars going everywhere around here with an extra route for class 0 in addition to the two normal ones. Pepperdon was cancelled for class 0 so they just drove up the tarmac road.
The field regrouped at Islington Village and down the lane to the bottom of Simms. Class 0 branched off to the right here to tackle Penhale’s Plantation. The majority of the other classes were to traverse this track as well, as it is the Simms escape road! It was too much for Richard Hoskins Morgan F4, which lost bottom gear and needed a tow from a friendly Escort.
Photos from Simms
Simon Robson goes to the right to give the admiring spectators a close up view of his Leige.Peter and Carlie Hart didn’t have much time so just drove straight up the hill for a clean. I didn’t get the chance to ask Mal Allen why he decided to jump out of his Marlin just when it got to the interesting bit.Andrew Brown taking is ACTC Rights of Way Officer role very seriously, sacrifcing a clean in the interst of exploring a new route to the left on Simms.
Simms was on fine form this year and most car competitors floundered on the slippery step half way up. It was all about momentum. Unless you hit the step at a decent speed you just spun to a stop. There were some impressive ascents though. None more than Dave Turner whose BMW, blower whistling, stormed the summit at great speed. Pete and Carlie Hart were one of the few Marlins’ to succeed, much to the crew’s delight. Mal Allen got his Ford engined Marlin past the A boards but despite some very energetic bouncing couldn’t repeat his success on Tillerton. In class eight some of the famous names failed, including Ian Davis in his Buggy, Duncan Welch and most of the Dellow’s. Dudley stormed up in his MG and so did Simon Woodhall in his Buggy. Tim Wellock slowed and struggled in the ex John Parsons Fugative but kept his foot down and inched past the section ends board.
Bill Rosten and Terry Ball both got to the top OK but most cars in classes 4 and 6 didn’t. The Trolls didn’t have much success and the Leige’s didn’t fare any better. Simon Robson was faithful to the old John T-P doctrine of heading for the right hand side, over by where the spectators stand, but the gradient was too much for his fire pump engine. Interestingly Adrian T-P took the same line, one of the few cars to go that way. The Pop Asylum team, running in class seven, re-start and all, had a 100% record on Simms and went onto Gold, although Clive Kalber was driving Tommy’s Melos as his ex Tucker-Peake Pop was languishing at home with engine problems.
There were a lot of people spectating on Simms this year. They saw plenty of action with a chair turning end over end and a Dellow plunging down backwards with brake failure. One spectator got a bit more involved than he planned when Ken Payne lost control of his Golf and ploughed into the spectators on the right, running over someone’s foot, the poor unfortunate was helped away afterwards, presumably for medical attention.
Only Tipley was left now, a hill that had not been used on the Exeter for many years. It was just as rough as ever but competitors were spared the Torbay re-start. It ended Verdun Webley’s trial when his growling prop shaft finally broke and he had to be towed the final few miles to The Trecarn. The general talk at the bar was that the 2002 Exeter was a thoroughly enjoyable trial with a couple of very difficult sections in the form of Tillerton and Simms. In summary it was great to be back!
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Got car MOTd 3pm Friday and for the first time in a while actually managed 4hours kip before setting off for a 01.03 start from Popham (ever mindfull of the recent discusions…) which made a heck of a difference I must admit.
Although I thought I’d read the route card properly, like many others I failed to spot the fact that only the route from Haynes onwards was compulsory, not the route from Popham to Haynes museum. As it happened we didn’t miss any slots this time but with the fog as it was I would have probably opted for the 303 if I’d realised.
I have just swopped my emission type Dellortos for non-emission Dellortos allows much more adjustment of the bottom end which is usefull for PCTs). Although it seemed to be running OK I knew it was a bit rich down the bottom but had other preparation to worry about so thought it would be OK; which it was until we had dawdled our way for the last few miles to Normans. By then the plugs had sooted up and we couldn’t get off the line due to the resultant missfire. Same thing on Clinton but we were invited to roll back and take a run up and consequently got to the top albeit having already failed – this blast seemed to clear things and from then on we went OK.
Tillerton seemed as rough as ever around the restart area which we fortunatley don’t have to stop at and on the road section soon after this we stopped briefly when we saw Ed Nickle parked up having had carb problems then somebody side swipeing his Imp and I gather he toubles were still not over as he eventually retired with a slipping clutch which apparently was caused by a problem with the thrust mechanism.
Comparing notes with Richard Tompkins later on we both agreed that Windout, with no restarts this year, was great fun in an Imp and a bit of a hooligan’s delight being all tarmac with slippery hairpins!
Colin Perryman blew his Skoda’s engine on Fingle. On Wooston steep I was a little suprised to pass two ‘section ends’ boards till I realised that after our section had ended we joined the class 0 route at the fork just after the short steep downhill bit.
And so to Simms – I was determined to have a good shot at it and mindfull of the earlier problems changed the plugs before the attempt. We had a real good go at it but I probably went too far to the left, hit a rock with the rear wheel, punctured and stopped.
I attach a pic of the wheel which is the worst wheel damage I have incurred with the Imp. My tyres were nowhere near flat and well into double figoures at xx lbs(!) and the mind boggles at the force required to damage a rim like that with one hit.
Bill Roston was the only Imp to clean Simms, I believe, on his way to Gold. Tipley was quite rough and very slippery but without the restart which causes all the failures on the Torbay trial. Overall a really enjoyable event after the lay off which was still competitive without the restarts for us girlies!
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Classical Gas 