Pete Hart and his team got The Allen Trial just right again, the established team attracting a full entry and providing a great days sport. Guys Hill and the Ubley Complex proved the greatest challenge and eliminated the higher classes from the results. Bill Bennett took the win with faster test times than Nick Cleal and Keith Sanders.
- Full Results
- Calvin Talbots Pictures from John Walker
- Giles Greenslades Pictures
- Michael Leete’s Pictures from Burledge
- Video Playlist
- Bristol MC Site
Gentle Introduction
Just up the road from the start Tog Hill provided its usual gentle introduction on a fine day for winter trialling, warm and mild but wet underfoot!
Once again Bitton Lane proved a bogey hill for sports cars. Of the eight Suzuki X90’s in Class Five only Brian Brown and Nick Deacon got off the restart without penalty. The open tops in Class Six struggled as well, neither Alan Wear (BMW Z3) or John Guy (Toyota MR2) having any more success.
Classic Sections
Guys Hill has a formidable reputation and as this year was to prove its thoroughly deserved. The slippery surface is made even more challenging by the tree roots crossing the track, oozing sap as a lubricant to spinning wheels. Classes 1,2,3 and 5 were the lucky ones, the others had to restart!
The section wasn’t that easy for the non re-starters and only David Haizelden, Nick Cleal, Bill Bennett, Mike Wall and Keith Sanders reached the summit.
Those watching reckon Tony Young made the climb of the day, successfully restarting his Class Four Beetle to go clear, a feat only achieved by Josh Moss, Ben Johnson and Carl Talbot.
The rocky track at Travers, on the way up to the Ubley Woods sections, took its toll across the classes but all the leading contenders went clear.
Muddy Sections and Blinding Sun at Ubley Woods
There were four sections in the Ubley Woods complex where the mist had finally given way to a sunny day. There was a lot of mud though with some restarts for classes seven and eight.
It was the restart on Ubley Woods Four that did for the aspirations of Josh Moss and Carl Talbot, the only class eights that had remained clean to that point. It was possible to go clean though as Nick Farmer proved.
So there were only three sheets as competitors arrived at the Chew Valley lake rest halt. Nick Cleal (Peugeot 205), Bill Bennett (MG J2) and Keith Sanders (Reliant Scimitar). None of the remaining observed sections should be stoppers for experienced competitors so the remaining Special Test was going to be decisive. The position after the first one in Ubley was Nick 28.1, Bill 28.4 and Keith 32.0
Tubbys Torment Test at Burledge Decides the Trial
Although Burledge is now normally closed to motorised vehicles Pete Hart has retained its use for The Allen Trial.
Before the section came the Tubbys Torment Special Test. Although it had the usual format it needed special attention as line B was slippery and there was a nasty step. Keith Sanders was fastest of the three clean sheets on 18.7. It wasn’t quick enough to overtake Bill Bennett though. His time of 20.3 put him 0.2 seconds in front of Nick Cleal. All he had to do now was to stay clean and he would win the trial overall.
The Burledge section was just up the track where the restart was the challenge. This only impacted on class 7 where Dudley Sterry lost the win when he had clutch issues and pulled away before the flag dropped. Burledge aslo saw the demise of both the BMW’s in Class 3, both Sarah Holden and Martyn Copplestone breaking their transmissions.
More Classic Sections
With Big Uplands inaccessible all the classes attempted Little Uplands which didn’t present any problems. Neither did Mill Le which left only John Walker to finish the trial. This long section didn’t claim many failures but provided its usual delightful finale to another enjoyable Allen Trial.
| Class | Driver/Car | Marks |
| Overall | Bill Bennett (MG J2) | 0 |
| 1 | Nick Cleal (Peugeot 205) | 0 |
| 2 | John Bell (MG TB) | 3 |
| 3 | Phillip Thomas (Ford Escort) | 2 |
| 4 | Tony Young (VW Beetle) | 4 |
| 5 | Keith Sanders (Reliant Scimitar SS1) | 0 |
| 6 | Andrew Rippon (VW Beetle) | 4 |
| 7 | Murray Montgomery Smith (Marlin) | 6 |
| 8 | Josh Moss (Gregory Special) | 5 |
Added 10 December 2014
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