Simon had a narrow victory. After dropping five in Meadowly Wood Simon slipped behind Dean Partington on the observed sections. However, Dean lost three marks when he failed the excellent, but infamous, Longville Special Test, giving Simon the overall win by one mark.
There was a new Clerk of the Course this year, Simon Woodall and Jonathan Toulmin handing over the reigns to Adrian Tucker-Peake who had Graham Austin to assist him. There were some changes to the route. No Alez Oop, as agreement couldn’t be reached with the landowner. This meant taking the long way round to the Priors Holt sections but this was more than compensated for by the lower classes having Castle Hill introduced for the first time.
Adrian kept the double loop system, where the route is two circles, forming a figure of eight with the start in the centre. The entry is split according to class. So 7 and 8 do one loop first while the other classes do the other. It’s a bit more complicated as class 0 have some unique sections and omit some used by 1 to 6, while 7 and 8 also have some unique sections. Why am I telling you this? So you understand that as a competitor in class 4 I didn’t see all the sections and this report starts at section 10!
There was no Penhale’s Puzzler Special Test this year so Classes 0 to 6 started proceedings at Section 10 – Flounders Folly, while 7 & 8 went over The Long Mynd via Castle Hill to Rattlinghope, although they bypassed the new section itself. Flounders Folly is a slippery affair though the trees with a more difficult route for the higher classes which stopped all of them. There were a few cleans for the lesser mortals, including the amazing David Haizelden in his Class 1 Golf.
Section 11 – Harton Wood – John Sergeant was in charge here, for this track through the woods, which was Class 0 only this year, although John was able to give a wave to the other competitors as they drove by the foot of the section. Richard Andrews and Nick Woolett both went clear in their Dellows and it was shame that Nick had failed in the gate area at Flounders Folly as they were to be very close for the rest of the day.
Longville Special Test – Adrian Tucker-Peake reintroduced this old favourite, which was to decide the winner of this years trial. This section is as much a restart as a special test. After going all four wheels over line B you have to reverse all four wheels back before going forward again. The problem is this is on a slippery slope and its very difficult to get going forwards again. Drivers have to decide how far to back down past the line. Go a long way back and it takes time but you get to clear the section. Back up just a bit and you will get a good time, if you get away. If you don’t you get a 3 mark penalty. This is exactly what happened to Dean Partington and it cost him the trial.
James Shallcross was another one of many to fall foul here as well. That was a shame as he was running David Haizelden very close on the other sections. Its only a matter of time before James triumphs over the all conquering Dave.
Section 12 – Easthope 1 – This is in the same complex as Ippikins Rock and Majors Leap. It’s a muddy track with some pretty deep ruts, despite some work by the club during the winter. There were only four clears, all in class eight, Simon Woodall and Andy Curtis in their VW Buggies, Dudley Sterry in his venerable MG J2 and Dean Partington in his self constructed Special. Outside of class eight most people came to a stop when they ran out of ground clearance, somewhere between the seven and nine.
Section 13 – Ippikins Rock – Only the lower classes tackled this nice little section which is all about a very tight hairpin right. There is usually a restart here, but Adrian T-P had dropped it this time. That made a difference as only a couple of cars in Class 0 dropped any marks here.
Section 14 – Majors Leap – Only attempted by the reds and yellows this defeated all of the Class Sevens and many of the class eights as well. Four of the top five in class eight went clear, Dean Partington being the only exception in his DP Wasp.
Section 15 – The Jenny Wind – A well known section which has been used on The Clee for many years and was trialled before the war. After the sharp right hander its straight up if you can. For most it was a reverse back down but both Pete Hart (Marlin) and Tris White (Hillman Imp) had the ultimate experience of seeing the exit track at the top. Dean was the only one of the top class eights to fail. He stopped at the two and well done to Giles Greenslade in Class 4 to better this with a one. We expect you to come out of the top next year Giles!!
Section 16 – Harley Bank – This used to be a wonderful long track but the old route has become too easy after council re-surfacing. There are now three different sections. The Class 0’s get to run straight through the old section which they all cleared. 1 to 6 used the same track but had a horrible left had hairpin in sticky clay and nobody got around.
Classes 7 and 8 had a different route. The eights also had a nasty hairpin on their route and all failed. The Sevens had things a little easier and Mal Allen (Marlin) and Steve Kenny (Liege) joined Pete and Tris in going clear.
Section 16 – Meadowley Wood – Only the hard men were are allowed top tackle this, their last section of the trial. If you like mud, tree roots and deep ruts this is your hill. Class eight had to have a minimum of 15 psi. This handicapped them and only Dean and Paul Bartleman (Troll) came out of the top.
The 2nd loop, for the lower classes, the one that 7 & 8 started with, had a very different character. Much more picturesque, more rocks and less mud. It started with a wonderful new section called Castle Hill before climbing The Long Mynd. Unfortunately only the lower classes were allowed a go. There was only one failure but no matter, this was a really, really enjoyable section, very reminiscent of Axe on The Cotswold Clouds.
Rattlinghope Special Test – Adrian T-P and Grahan Austin had tried to spice up his delightful section by making it a regularity test. The Route Card told you it was 1/8 mile long, but you were only given the target speed of 7.5 mph , on the start line. Sitting here its easy to work out that the target time was exactly a minute. Around half the entry got it right and there were only two fails for an incomplete test, including none other than Dudley Sterry. Fortunately the six marks he lost didn’t cost him the trial win but if he had cleaned Meadowley it would have done!
Section 2 – Gatten’s Gamble – Starting in farmer Phil Harding’s yard the big disappointment was that the tank wasn’t there this year! This is another wonderful, long, up and over, Clee section with fantastic views crossing the summit. There was a restart near the top this year which claimed a few scalps before the muddy descent to the road.
Section 3 – Handless – Attempted only by Class 8 this was a new hill. It had a very greasy hairpin right followed by some good grip and a hairpin left. Dave Foreshew was in charge here, to see the three leading cars go clear with the others failing on one of the hairpins.
With Alez Oop off the agenda this year cars had to take the long way round to the Priors Holt Complex.
Section 4 – Priors Holt 1 – This is a steep, rocky climb that gets progressively steeper with tyre pressure limits for the higher classes. The leading class 7 & 8 competitors went clear but the lower classes found life much more difficult. In Class three the powerful Escorts of Dick Bolt and Andrew Martin went clear as did Terry Ball in his Beetle in Class 4. For the others it was a long and difficult reverse.
Section 5 – Priors Holt 2 – Deemed too easy for class eight the remainder of the entry enjoyed this long climb, very similar in character to priors Holt 1, but a little easier, hence a restart for some. This caught out a few experienced competitors. In Class three Andrew Martin dropped 8, denying him the opportunity to challenge Dick Bolt in his Duratec engined machine. Giles Greenslade bellied out here and with the points he lost on Priors Holt 1 had to settle for second in class to Terry Ball. At least Giles didn’t have to contend with the mud and ruts at the summit!
Section 6 – Priors Holt 3 – A steep climb with loose rock, demanding close attention to tyre pressures and throttle control. Thankfully there were no restarts this year and pretty much everyone got a clean to enjoy the trip through the forest at the summit.
Long Mynd Special Test – Nice timed rocky climb with a nifty descent where it was all too possible to overshoot the finish line.
Section 8 – Strefford Wood 2 – No this isn’t out of order! This was the entrance track for the Class 1 to 6’s attack on the main Strefford Wood section. It turned out to be a great challenge. Slippery clay and as it said in the route instructions “flat tyres and flat out”. There was a friendly Land Rover to tow you up to the main section if you failed, all in all a great replacement for the much missed Round Oak.
Section 7 – Strefford Wood – The team had drained the “Gunge Pit” this year but it was still a challenge. Classes 7&8 approached via the Gunge Pit. This wasn’t very Dellow friendly and Peter Mountain and David Bache both stopped here in their Mk1’s, as did David Jackson in his Fiat engined FPS. Once through the Gunge Pit the other Class Eights all went clean.
Class 7 found it a bit more difficult, but it was Marlin friendly, with Pete Hart, John Ludford and Mal Alen all getting to the summit, as did Andrew Rippon his Baja before he retired after Flounders Folly.
None of the lower classes got to the summit. Missing out the Gunge Pit most were defeated by the ruts at the bottom, caused by 7 & 8’s earlier attempts. This was no place to be without good ground clearance and none of the class threes did better than a 10. The FWD contingent did better, perhaps they were able to pick a better line? They all got to at least to the eight and James Shallcross had another good drive to better Dave Haizelden to just behind him in class one.
In summary another excellent Clee. Adrian Tucker-Peake and Graham Austin living up to the challenge of following Simon and Jonathan. The new sections went down well and they had addressed the criticisms of last years trial.
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