Without many of its Classic Sections the dry conditions provided plenty of grip and more than 50% of the entry came away with a medal after the breakfast timing penalties were scrapped.
The make up of the entry was interesting. With the influx of X90’s Class Five was the most popular and Class Seven was the exclusive province of Marlins and Lieges.
It was very misty as competitors left the souls M42 services at Tamworth on a misty morning. Unfortunately a motorcyclists was involved in a road accident soon after the start and taken to hospital. Several competitors stopped to help and decided not to continue with the trial.
Later numbers were held at the Carsington Water Control to control the flow into Haven Hill. They didn’t include Richard Peck, Lee Peck or Tim Cookman, who didn’t make the start. Richard’s brakes disappeared on the way to the start, the Mazda engine in Lee’s Kraken dies half a mile from home and Tim’s MX5 lost the diff on the motorway. Brian Partridge made it to Carsington but decided to head for home when his starter motor stopped working.
Haven Hill – All Classes, no restart
Without restarts or deviations Haven Hill was straightforward in the dry conditions. It was the end of Barry Redmaynes trial though. His Leige wasn’t running properly and at first he thought he had lost all his fuel. Eventually he found a fuel filter blocked with what looked like rubber particles. By then it was to late to continue and Barry retired after also finding a split bin the header tank.
Cliff Quarry – Restart for all Classes, deviation for Seven and Eight
In the dry conditions the restart wasn’t problematical, leaving the very tight turn for the higher classes as the main challenge. This isn’t easy and Dudley Sterry was one of several Class Eights to be penalised.
Haydale – Restart for all Classes
The route past the entrance to Deep Rake quarry but there was no Deep Rake or Black Harry on the agenda this year. Instead Handle was next on the agenda with Triple Editor Celia Walton in charge and a Special Test following immediately after. This is a well surfaced track and there wasn’t to much of a gradient for the restart so not too many problems.
Haydale Special Test
The A boards indicating the start of the first special test signified the end of the observed section, so no time to adjust pressures. There was an off track chicane that could have been nasty in the wet with the B boards on the exit corner, positioned so it was difficult to actually stop astride.
Calton – Restart for all except E and 0
Last year there was a big delay due to all the failures in the wet. No such problem this year in the dry.
Breakfast at Bull I’th Thorn
There was chaos and confusion at the breakfast halt. First competitors were arriving around an hour and a half early, such was the timing from Carsington. Inevitably there was not enough parking and it was fortunate there were no accidents as later cars queued on the busy main road.
Competitors were confused when the Chief Official announced they were “free to go” after taking an hours break. Some did and some waited for the scheduled time amongst much discussion about the wording on the route card which no longer said “depart at scheduled time”. The MCC made the pragmatic decision not to impose penalties here which was undoubtably the best decision under the circumstances.
John Looker was busy changing an tube split on Haven Hill and Eric Wall’s Dellow was parked without any numbers. Eric had repaired his Spare Wheel Carrier after the Lands End but it failed again, a few inches from the new repair.
Incline – Seperate Restarts for 1-5 and 6-8, No Restart for 0
After leaving the Bull I’th Thorn the route went into Buxton on the A515 and out on the A5004, passing the Old Long Hill section before turning into The Goyt Forest and joining a long queue over the reservoir dam.
This was the second year using this section so the organisers were a little more adventurous with restart positioning with separate boxes for the higher and lower classes. The yellow restart caused a few problems in Class Five and the experienced Mike Warnes didn’t get his TR7 away.
Corkscrew – 6-8 only with Restart
This twisty, narrow section was called Jenkins Chapel in the past and has a formidable reputation. However, the conditions this year hadlogh drawn its teeth and there were only a couple of failures.
New Litton Slack – No Restart
This gentle grassy slope overlooks the lost traditional Litton section and was distinguished by two things this year. First it was the only section on the trial to have no failures. Second the route instructions after exiting the track caused chaos causing many competitors to turn left at the end of the farm road rather than right where they should have gone.
Putwell – All except Class 0. No Restart on A, Restart 6-8 on B
The resurfaced sections were cleaned by all the four wheeled brigade but proved problematic the sidecars in Class D and a few of the solo motorcycles.
Hollinsclough Rest Halt
The mist had cleared and sunshine had arrived when competitors arrived for their tea and cake at Hollinsclough Village Hall for a rest halt and another discussion about timing. This was because the route instructions specified a 20 minute break but there was no penalty for early arrival or departure.
Rakes Head, Not Class 0, Restart 6-8
This short, sharp section lies just up the road from Hollinsclough Village Hall. The restart caught out quite a few, including the experienced Pete Hart (Marlin) and Peter Mountain (Dellow).
Excelsior Restart for all except 0
The restart didn’t take its usual crop of victims this year. There was a delay for later runners though after Mike Crews had the propshaft break on his TR7 and it took a while to clear the car from the section.
Moneystones – Class 0 Only with Restart
Marshalled by the outgoing Exter team of Tim Keeling and Anne and Tim Whellock this was one of two Class 0 only hills. It was very straightforward with only two failures, including the French crew of Jacques Veyer and Felicien Guillaume who are fast becoming MCC regulars.
Clough Wood
No the trial didn’t use Clough Wood as a section but the route did come down it on the way to the Clough Mine sections. There has been a lot of resurfacing and all the old ruts had gone on the part of the track that used to comprise the section. Even so it would be nice to get this one back.
Clough Mine 2 – Restart for all except 0
The first turn was tight and tricky but there was plenty of grip and outside of Class 2 where the Austin Sevens struggled there were few failures in the main field. The motorcycles in Class 0 had problems and John Plant lost his clean sheet with his X90.
Clough Mine 1 – Restart for Class 6-8
The restart was almost at the end of the section, where the gradient was at its steepest. A couple of the class eights were penalised for running back and Davod Jackson couldn’t get his FPS away. The Marlin/Liege Class 7 was more challenged with around 40% penalised and Trevor Wood (Liege) and Richard Houlgate (Marlin) lost their golds.
Dudwood 1 – 6-8 only, Restart for 7 & 8
Normally this is a muddy section, but not this year! With plenty of grip all the Classs 8’s stormed up as did most in Class 7. With their lower power to weight ratio the Class 6 Beetles all struggled and multiple National PCT champion Barry Parker scored the only clear in the class with his Toyota MR2.
Dudwood 2 – 0 to 5 Restart for all
This familiar section starts on a surfaced track, turning sharp right before winding through the trees on a mixture of sand and leaf mould. Triple contender Alan Cundy didn’t get this far, retiring after Clough Mine and limping back to the Bull I’th Thorn with hazard lights flashing.
Almost all the main trial competitor went clear but not so in Class 0 where around half failed, either failing to get away from the restart or running out of grip and stopping just afterwards.
Dudwood 3 – 0 only
The second class 0 only section was a gentle trundle round a grassy field and up a bank. It had to be treated with respect though as if you lost traction and started spinning the wheels that was it. Thats exactly what happened to some, ivluding Verdun Webley/Arnold Lane in their X90, veteran Reg Taylor in his Ford Ka and Hohn Bradshaw who lost his Blue Hills Tin in his Morgan 4/4
Dudwood Special Test
This long, glorious thrash finished the competitive part of the event and decided the Class Winners. Ubfortunatlt it also took away MCC debutant Sam Lindsays Silver when he was penalised in his ex Lee Peck Beetle.
The End
After all the early arrivals and departures at the Bull I’th Thorn for breakfast the car competitors were arriving on or after their scheduled time at the end of the trial. Inevitably there was a lot of discussion at the finish and on social media about the timing issues. When the provisional results were published most hadn’t realised their fears although there were some lateness penalties imposed for the second half of the event.
All in all an enjoyable trial. The organisers and most of the competitors wild have preferred not to have such dry conditions but even the MCC can’t control the weather.
It remains difficult to run a trial in Derbyshire and without Litton, Bamford, Haggside, Great Hucklow etc it is a very different trial to 10/15 years ago. But hey we may get Clough Wood back.
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