Conditions were ideal. Dry and sunny on the Saturday but damp underfoot on many of the sections.
The weather was a little drizzly for the night run from Popham, Bristol and Plusha down to the convergence control at Bridgewater where Class 0 was to start, missing out the drive through the night.
Felons Oak was the first observed section for the main trial. The weather was dry now but this is not one to be taken lightly. It has become much rougher recently and the “box” had the boards very close together again this year, making it quite difficult to get either the front wheels or black wheels between. Straddling would mean a fail of course. Nick Bowler, Brian Partridge and Kevin Barnes were amongst those penalised.
Crook Horn Hill Special Test – With Stoney Street lost due to being reclassified this special test took over its position in the route card, taking place in the same woods near the village of Luccombe. It was a nice straightforward affair although Reg Salway, who was marshalling there, reckoned a lot of competitors didn’t perform it correctly.
The route bypassed the infamous Porlock Hill, winding its way down into a deep valley in the narrowest of lanes to a ford before climbing high onto Exmoor before rejoining the A39 and the holding control at The Culbone Inn.
The restart at Beggars was over on left again, on the loose stuff. It was good to see that the direct route was closed off with tape, directing everyone through the box. This prevented the debacle of last year when some competitors who didn’t have to re-start were penalised when they didn’t go through the restart area. Mike Warnes had his only failure of the event here in his TR7, caught out by the grip level and applying to little throttle.
Rodneys Revenge
There were a few crews having navigation issues and had problems finding Rodneys Revenge. Simon Robson was one and lost nearly an hour having to backtrack when he missed the turning off the A39. With a loose surface this forestry section favoured the later numbers, many of the early runners spinning out in the stones if they didn’t fly round the 90 left at the bottom to build momentum ready for the steepening gradient with restart to spice things up for class eight. There may even have been a localised shower of rain in this area! Nick Bowler wasn’t to have a great run elsewhere but was one of the early runners to emerge clean.
This hill has a very similar character to Rodneys Revenge, starting on a slope leading to a 90 left followed by a steepening long, straight climb on loose stones. In the case of Rodney’s Revenge its a 90 left and at Cutliffe Lane 90 right, otherwise very similar. Now the gate is no longer there its possible to blast round the 90 right but many didn’t and failed on the upper reaches with insufficient momentum.
This really is one of the most atmospheric hills on The Lands End, approached in the morning it has everything, a ford at the bottom, a rocky restart and a finish in the village itself with refreshments provided by the local ladies. It isn’t the most competitive section, provided you stop in the right place! This caught out a few drivers who should have known better, including Bill Rosten in his Imp and Falcons Geoff Hodge in the RDT. Former biker Roy Opie stopped here and retired soon after, returning home. John Aley reports in the MCC News of the Week that there was a fire that night, destroying Roys Marlin, his collection of bikes and all his tools. I am sure everyone will join Classical Gas in saying our heart goes out to Roy.
Darracott
The restart box was over to the left again this year, on a camber that drew you towards the centre of the track and towards the restart markers! Fortunately for many the marshals didn’t seem to penalise hitting these boards. This restart configuration wasn’t that easy to get away on. Positioning was everything and it caught out a few experienced drivers, including Harvey Waters in his Pop who lost his gold here, and the experienced beetle Drivers Terry Ball and Mark’s Tooth and Smith.
This wonderful Lands End section has lost some of its sting in recent years, are the cars and drivers better or haven’t the locals been doctoring it as much? This time it seemed to benefit from a heavy, very localised, shower on the upper reaches and a herd of elephants all stopping to defecate in the same place, exactly where the MCC sited the class eight restart. This certainly had the desired effect and kept the winch crew busy for the lower slung or less powerful cars. For the others who was a wonderful blast accompanied by the shouts of encouragement from the knowledgeable spectators who gather on the banks.
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