Tag: 18 April 1999

March Hare Mini Classic – Murray wins his Own Trial

Yes, sponsor Murray MacDonald won Falcon’s first road going Classic Trial after a daylong dice with Giles Greenslade, who resurrected his Sunbeam for the occasion. The class eight’s were handicapped with some tough re-starts, victory going to Dudley Sterry after a close battle with Anthony Young in his new Buggy.

March Hare winner Murray MacDonald being presented with his trophy by Hazel MacDonald, the sponsors wife!
Dudley Sterry delighted Falcon’s with his determined driving in his wonderful MG
Clive Kalber just leapt at the chance to give the “Runner Bean” a run back where it was born.
Like Dudley and “The Bean” Clive Booth was a competitor in the March Hare’s of the sixties and seventies. Here he corners in fine style at Kensworth.
Robin Howard had his first Classic Trials outing in his new Dutton Sierra.

The sun certainly shone on Falcon Motor Club for what was billed as a “Mini-Classic”. It wasn’t just the clerk of the weather that was on Falcon’s side. There was a handsome group of the trials elite to do battle with the Bedfordshire countryside. The organisers had hoped to have sections comprising some old tracks mixed in with visits to some of the clubs traditional PCT venues. Unfortunately the tracks had to be dropped in the rush to get a route approved, as they were all found to be adjacent to “black-spots” and although PR revealed no objection from the locals there wasn’t enough time to negotiate the use of the access roads. 

    The entry assembled bright and early at Brickhill where the first two sections were located. Anthony Young’s new VW Buggy was the main centre of attention. Its certainly some machine, the frame is made of light alloy, all plastic coated for protection. Most of the suspension comes from the States or is beautifully home-made. All drilled to reduce the un-sprung weight. A two-litre VW type one engine provides the motive power. The surprise is that it’s mid-engined, driving though a genuine Hewland trans-axle. Some tool! Nestling nearby was another formidable machine, no less spectacular, but a rather more familiar sight. Dudley Sterry had bought his MG J2 along, returning to do battle with the March Hare and try to regain the Falcon Trophy after an absence of some twenty-five years. There was another very welcome machine from way back then. Clive Kalber had come all the way up from Cornwall in the Runner Bean; the Capri based Ford Pop constructed by John Tucker-Peake in the early seventies. Other well known Classic drivers included John Bell in his Escort and Giles Greenslade, whose father Dennis was another March Hare competitor all those years ago. Giles wasn’t driving the familiar Greenslade orange Beetle. He was giving his old Sunbeam its first run in class three for many years. Giles dragged it out of the garage in the week, gave it a quick service and it was ready to go. He stepped back, took a look and didn’t like what he saw; the old car was far too tatty for such a special occasion. So it was down to the local DIY for a couple of cans of Dulux so it could look its best on the day! 

    The first Brickhill section started at the far end of the wood. It began with a straight slippery climb up to the tree line where it weaved around the trees before a re-start just before the hump at the top. This wasn’t the difficult bit. The problem was at the bottom. It needed a fair old bit of welly to get over the mud to the tree line where the grip started. A number of people were caught out here, including Robin Howard, giving his Dutton Sierra it’s first outing. Everyone survived this first hill and the field went on to the second Brickhill section. This started with a blast up the gully, turning left at the sandpit to climb the steep bank. The ruts in the gully were bread and butter to Classic regulars but a bit of a shock to the debutantes. They were the downfall of both Reliant Kittens. First Ken Martin put the fan through the radiator. He cleaned the section OK but the steam at he top indicated an early trip back to Farnborough for Ken. Along came Dave Smith, going like a good ‘un before “crack”, the axle case split in two and there was a second Kitten in the dead car park. But not for long, Dave sportingly offered Ken his radiator and they soon made one good Kitten out of the two broken ones. Ken continued with the trial, ending up second in class. 

    It was up with the tyres and out on the road for the run up to Edlesborough. There was quite a queue for the regularity section here, lucky for Giles Greenslade as it gave him time to fix a puncture. You had to drive at 7.5 miles an hour for 1,320 feet. The intellectuals, and those with schoolchildren as passengers, quickly worked out this should take two minutes and most of the entry crossed the line within a few seconds of this. However, the test did have another effect, it caused a bit of a queue and spread the entry out for the rest of the trial. There had been some rain the night before and grip was at its usual premium at Edlesborough. The first problem was getting to the start of observed section three and Dennis the landowner was there with his tractor to give a helping tow where needed. There was a tricky re-start at the end and only Murray MacDonald and Giles Greenslade, running at the back of the field, emerged with clean sheets. The next section had a sharp turn in the bomb hole. Murray and Giles cleaned this as well but this time they were joined by Simon Robson, John Bell and Ken Martin, making up for lost time in his repaired Kitten. 

    Cliff Morrell was waiting at Kensworth. There had been last minute problems when the hills had to be changed to preserve the grass in the far field. However, Cliff laid out a couple of good sections with his trademark of a tricky turn just where the gradient steepens. The first hill went up the side of the fence. It was very slippery, defeating everyone but Dudley Sterry and Clive Kalber, who both made superb climbs, Dudley’s blower howling in joy as he crested the summit. Clive wasn’t so fortunate on the next section, which went up the track behind the old barn, turning sharp right through the gate with a re-start in the cross ruts. These caught out quite a few people, including Clive and Neil Bray. 

    Mile Tree Farm was new to many people although it is the home of the CSMA’s annual trial. This was a long roller coaster section with many up’s and downs. Over half the entry failed to climb the final bank, including Giles Greenslade, which put Murray MacDonald into a three-point lead before heading out on the second circuit, which led back to Edlesborough. The two sections here had not been changed much since the morning, but the surface was much drier and grip was easier to find so the only failures were those who made silly mistakes, like Simon Robson, Fred Gregory and Colin Stevens. Sorry boys! 

    Back at Kensworth Cliff Morrell had made a few subtle changes, not many, but just enough for half the entry to fail the first hill again, although the second one was much easier. John Bell didn’t get this far as he was stopped at the side of the road with a hole in his diff casing. He wasn’t very pleased as he had broken his second “un-breakable” Fack on the Cotswold Clouds and it looked as if the damage on this third one had come from within. The second visit to Kensworth had also affected the leader board. Murray MacDonald had spun to a halt on the first section, dropping three and putting him back to equal first with Giles. He was to regain it back at Mile Tree though as Giles was one of many to be penalised nine when he bellied out on one of the humps, putting Murray into an unassailable lead. These humps were a bit of a handful for some of the lower slung cars and John Yorke did a bit of damage to the front of his Skoda. 

    Later numbers returned to Brickhill to do their thing in front of the early finishers. The penultimate section was a very long weave through the trees. It was pretty tight but still on for most people, except James Lindsay who wedged his Fugitive on one of the bends. The final section was another trip up the gully, followed by a nice blast round the sandpit, to finish off a really super day. Murray MacDonald was the worthy winner, although he acknowledged the class eight’s were handicapped with some tough re-starts and a high tyre pressure limit in the morning. Giles Greenslade had put up a good fight in the Sunbeam but the day had a final twist for him as the diff on the Sunbeam cried enough just half a mile up the road on the way home.

Anthony Young in his incredible new Class 8 machine. It has mid engined   2-litre VW power and a Hewland gearbox!
David Sheffield at Edlesborough 
Ken Martin at Brickhill
Michael Leete blasts his Beetle through the mud in the final section.
st OverallMurray MacDonaldVW 13026 marks lost
Best FalconClive BoothDellow Rep36
Best NoviceKeith OakesDutton51
Class 2/5Rob CullMG Midget33
Class 3Giles GreensladeSunbeam9
2nd in Class 3Ken MartinReliant Kitten33
Class 4Simon RobsonSkoda39
Class 7Clive KalberFord Pop “The Runner Bean”21
2nd in Class 7Mike FurseRacecorp27
Class 8Dudley SterryMG J215
2nd in Class 8Anthony YoungBuggy18
1999_march_hare_resultsDownload

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Murray’s March hare

by David Alderson

Clive Kalber at Edlesborough in Falcon’s favourite car
Fred Gregory and Pete Stafford at Kensworth

Having tested the waters with a successful single venue ‘classic’ regulations trial last year, Falcon Motor Club ventured forth again on the 18th of April extending the event to four sites just south of Milton Keynes linked by a pleasant 65 mile road route. Generous event sponsorship from Murray’s Independent VW-Audi Discount Store enabled the club to put together a tidy little trial. Add the cancellation of Silverton MC’s Championship Exe Valley trial, and Falcon was able to assemble a star-studded entry of thirty-two for their first serious attempt at a road trial for many a long year. Assembling for the start at Home Farm, Great Brickhill, competitors and marshals alike were able to enjoy sizzling bacon butties dispensed with a smile from the club’s own catering caravan whilst scrutineering and signing on formalities were completed.

Mike Furse in his Racecorp led of into the first two sections amongst the trees and gullies of the sandy Home Farm site. Surprisingly enough, despite the available grip, Section 1 took maximum penalties from eleven of the entry whilst Section 2 also contrived to extract marks from seven hapless souls. Out onto the public highway for the start of the day, the route meandered along the back lanes to Leighton Buzzard and then on to Edlesborough for the first special test and second pair of sections. For those unfamiliar with the Herts, Beds, Bucks area let me explain that it is not particularly hilly but is blessed with an assortment of sand pits and clay pits. The sand is extracted for various commercial uses whilst the clay is used to feed the areas traditional brick making industry. Situated on the lower plain below the Dunstable Downs escarpment, Edlesborough is a knob of chalky clay covered in patchy scrub and gorse bushes. The site is notorious for its complete lack of grip when wet and that is how competitors found it on the morning of the March Hare after the previous afternoons heavy rain!

Michael Leete on the special test at Mile Tree Farm

Special Test 1 took the form of a quarter mile regularity set at 7.5 mph all on a loose slippery track incorporating both a ninety-degree right and ninety-degree left turns. Despite the notorious inaccuracy of trials car speedos five competitors managed to drop only one second penalties, the most distant attempt being some 34 seconds adrift of target. Straight into Section 3 on the aforementioned grass covered clay hillside. The Alderson Troll made the first attempt but brain fade caused an embarrassing failure when the Troll attempted to mount a bank, which could easily have been circumvented in the early part of the section. John Bell, another ACTC expert, followed suit in his Escort a few cars later. The section was sub divided at 12 – 9 – 6 – and 3. For a long time it looked as if three was going to be the best score. But right at the end of the entry both Giles Greenslade in his Sunbeam and event sponsor Murray MacDonald in his 1300 Beetle mastered the hill. Section 4, a little further over, had a restart for classes 7 and 8 followed by a steep bank, which proved impossible to climb from such a short approach. The other classes were more fortunate and John Bell made up for his previous faux pas by cleaning the section. Greenslade, MacDonald and Rob Cull, Midget, joined him.

Back out on to the highway, the route made its way round the back of Whipsnade Zoo to Kensworth, just south of Dunstable, for the third pair of sections on the steep grassy bank used so often for PCTs. A traditional climb up, drop down, then U-turn back up section was laid out with a restart on the last uphill leg. Only Dud Sterry’s MG and Clive Kalber’s ‘Runner Bean’ Pop managed cleans here although Ken Martin managed a three with his PCT prepared Reliant Kitten, as did Anthony Young in his new ‘Aly 2’ VW Special. The Macdonald/Greenslade duo joined them. Section 6 featured a hairpin back right obscured from the driver’s view behind a barn, followed by a restart. Both Clive Kalber and Neil Bray in the Skoda were caught out here along with George Francis in his very pretty Lancia Volumex powered Marlin running in class 8. 

A short drive through Dunstable and Hockliffe, back towards Leighton Buzzard brought the entry to the old worked out pits of Mile Tree Farm for Section 7 and the second special test. As the locomotives built up steam on the local narrow gauge railway adjacent to the site, trials cars were bounced and corkscrewed over and through the mounds and gullies of Mile Tree Farm. There were ten cleans on section 7 including the very smart Dutton Phaeton of Keith Oakes and Simon Robson’s Skoda. The traditional battle between the Falcon Skoda crews now leaning very much in Simon’s favour. James Lindsey also managed to persuade his long chassis Fugitive round for a clean but Giles Greenslade bottomed out the Sunbeam dropping three. The special test was a corker, more a timed section in the style of the MCC testing trial. Andy Curtis made the best time at 27 seconds in his Buggy but Simon Robson was on the same second. The next fastest were two seconds off the pace.

With the morning’s overcast clouds clearing and a drying wind lifting the gliders high above Dunstable Downs, the trial returned to Edlesborough for another crack at the previously slippery pair of sections. Joint Clerks of course, John Parsons and Mike Pearson decided to drop the mornings tyre pressure limits, 15psi for class 8 and 12 psi for class 7, allowing free pressures. Sadly this proved totally unnecessary as the site had dried out in double quick time, the result was a string of cleans on Section 8, only Simon Robson going wrong, with just Fred Gregory and Colin Stevens Duttons failing to get away from the restart on Section 9. The day’s second visit to Kensworth produced seven cleans from the up and down section with Mike Furse applying his intimate knowledge of the site to make the first clean climb. Mike has been PCT C of C here many times in the past and knew exactly where the grip would be on the restart. The Alderson Troll dropped another goolie here when the pilot lost his way amongst the marker posts! Everyone knew about the hairpin right on section eleven this time around so the organisers only managed to extract marks from Brian Sarney in his attractive class 2 Ford Y type tourer. Back to Mile Tree Farm for another roller coaster ride around the pits and the third special test, test two in the reverse direction. Making up for a lacklustre day on the hills, the Troll snapped round in 23 seconds for fastest time with Andy Curtis again following close on the same second.

And finally the trial returned to Great Brickhill for Sections 13 and 14 amongst the trees and sandy gullies. Despite double restarts for classes 7 and 8 on the last section almost everyone made it in to the finish with no further losses. As the Falcon catering caravan dispensed burgers, tea and coffee the results team beavered away in the club’s second caravan. Within an hour of finishing results were declared and awards presented. Class winners were Giles Greenslade, Simon Robson, Clive Kalber, Dud Sterry and Rob Cull. Best Falcon MC member was Clive Booth. The overall winner? None other than event sponsor Murray MacDonald! Well done Falcon MC, a pleasant day out which all competitors seemed to enjoy, already there are murmurings within the club for an even more ambitious route next year, perhaps some of the old, more traditional, Conquest trial sections can be resurrected?

1999_march_hare_resultsDownload

We have been publishing stuff about Classic Trials on the Web since 1995 and always appreciate feedback. Comments, Corrections, Criticism & Concerns are all welcome. You can leave a comment to have your say here on this web site or our Social Media