You have stumbled on a delightful box of tricks, Classic Trials & other perverse stuff from Michael Leete. MCC ACTC and other trials. VW Beetles, Dellows, Marlins, or even Suzuki X90's
Previous winner Nick Deacon was second in his X90. Kev Standard was best Motorcycle.
Paul Merson and Nick Sherrin on their way to a narrow Clee Hills win over Nick Deacon. Photo by Steve Shelley of ssshoot photography
With no Clee last year because of Covid there was an eager bunch of trialers gathered at The Squirrel in Ludlow for the first one day trial of the year.
The organisers set out to simplify this years event and didn’t use the Clee’s well known two loop system this time.
There were also some familiar sections omitted because of forestry issues. This didn’t stop the trial being a first class event with a lot of praise on social media from the competitors.
The Event was notable for scores being well spread out amongst the classes
Kofi Farley debuted his newly acquired MX5. (Vidcap from a Norton Selwood Video)
Launceston and North Cornwall MC had a surprising number of non starters for their single venue Classic Trial in Lew and Eastcott Woods. It was still a good entry though. The organisers had made good use of the land and the 20 sections went down very well with the competitors.
The Cotswold Clouds once again lived up to its reputation, attracting a full entry of 80 cars to tackle its challenging sections under the eyes of an extremely professional organising team.
Winner Aaron Haizelden, in his Class 5 Reliant Scimitar, was the only car outside of Class 8 to climb the notorious Crooked Mustard near the start of the event and thoroughly dominated the rest of the days proceedings. It was difficult, even for the specials, and only seven of them reached the summit. The old hill took its toll on the machinery and the dead car park soon started to fill up. Alex Wheeler had his front suspension part company with the rest of his Nova. John Cox broke the diff on his Porshe 924 and even Dean Partingtons ultra reliable DP Wasp broke its transmission as did Matt Johnstons Cannon.
Across the road at the top of Crooked Mustard lay the summit of Axe, another long standing section. Competitors emerged covered in the glutinous mud which laid in the sections deep gulley. This clung to the wheels and underside of the cars, slowing many of the cars in the lower classes, some to a complete stop.
Neither of the traditional sections at Nailsworth Ladder or Ham Mill across from the Bear Inn at Rodborough caused to much trouble but that was soon to change.
Bryans by Kevin Sharp
Bryan’s is an unsurfaced track in the woods and got muddier and muddier as the day went on. Some in the higher classes couldn’t even get to their restart let alone pull away from it. Aaron Haizelden picked up his first fail of the day here and even he only got to the two, one mark further than Dave in his similar car.
Aaron and Dave continued their domination when they cleaned the short, sharp, Merves Swerve, a feat only repeated by Ray Ferguson (Liege), Dave Middleditch in the Top Gear Dutton Phaeton and ACTC Secretary Bill Bennett in his MG J2, the only Class Two car in the event.
Having raised his recently acquired Beetle after the Exeter Lee Peck tackles the blast through the trees at Climperwell. Stroud had drafted in some heavy machinery before the event to improve the section. Photo by Calvin Samuel Click Here for more of Calvins Work
The innocuous looking Bulls Bank restart is there to trap the unwary on its polished stones and this year its victims included Mark and James Smith. You can view their on James InCar Video.
Wicked Juniper by Kevin Sharp
Jerrys the penultimate section, a very muddy climb through the trees. Then there was Talbots Terror with headlights necessary in the gathering gloom for the early numbers and in the proper dark for those running towards the back. Aaron Haizelden dropped one here but it didn’t matter, he was hands down winner of this years Cotswold Clouds.
The Midland Automobile Club had accumulated a formidable organising team for this years Clee Hills Trial. A veritable dynasty of trialling with Simon Woodall as Clerk of the Course, Pat Toulmin Secretary of the Meeting and Adrian Tucker-Peake as Chief Marshall.
Their event was classic modern Clee, retaining their unique twin loop system which helps finish the trial on time as it brings two hills into play at the same time but can make it a long day for the marshals. Continue reading “Nick Deacon wins Clee in X90”
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Matt and Hollie Wood were the fastest of the three clean sheets
Matt Facey eases his BMW away from the Burledge restart on his way winning The Allen Trial and securing the ACTC Wheelspin Trophy with one round to go
Once again Bristol Motor Club were rewarded by a supurb entry for the popular Allen Trial. 74 cars were entered, dropping to just under 70 starters from The Bull at Hinton. It was cloudy but dry day after a lot of rain recently which was to make some of the sections very muddy. Continue reading “Matt Facey wins Allen to clinch Wheelspin”
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It was a close thing, with Ray Ferguson just one mark behind
Roger Ashby and Gavin Lane in their steamer on Meerhay. Video Capture by Chris Briant Click Here for the Video
InCar with Ray and Hannah Ferguson in their Liege
Woolbridge had strong local support for their Classic Trial, including a Four Wheel Drive class running at the back of the field. The event was a mixture of traditional lanes supplemented by some grassy venues familiar to competitors who go to the clubs single venue events. These of course require a very different driving technique to the rocky lanes. Either trickle or blast, there is no in-between! Continue reading “Paul Merson takes narrow Hardy win”
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With wet weather leading up to the Event making the Kyrles ultra steep hills even more slippery than usual this years event was a very tough proposition.
Nick Farmer captures ACTC Chair Dave Haizelden battling with the mud and ruts on Badgers. As you can see in Nick’s video Dave oh so nearly came to a stop but kept the power on to clear the section and win the event.
Driving his familiar Reliant Scimitar in Class 5 Dave was headed by Gary Browning in his Class Eight Special until the penultimate section where Gary dropped 11 marks relegating him to second overall but hanging on to the class win. Continue reading “David Haizelden Conquers Kyrle”
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Some Tough Restarts made it a Tough Trial for the Higher Classes
Norton Selwood looks down and sees the offside rear wheel of the family Troll firmly jammed against a large rock on the Angel Steps Restart. Norton has taken on a number of roles with the ACTC including Championship Monitor and is the force behind the ACTC’s active Facebook Page. (Photo by Peter Browne)
Aaron was competing in a well supported Class 5 with his Reliant Scimitar, dropping 15 marks, one less than second placed Matt Facey in his Class 3 BMW. One point behind Matt came two more Scimitars in the experienced hands of Dave Haizelden and Keith Sanders. Continue reading “Aaron Haizelden wins Tamar Trophy”
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Sam Holmes and Ray were the only cars that had a clean sheet so the result came down to Test Times
Stuart and Kieran Bartlett are a study in concentration as they take on the challenge of Bluebell Wood, a Class Eight only section this year. Stuart and Sam Phillips were the only cars to go clear but the two Stuart dropped on the previous section at Brimham Wood dropped them out of contention for the overall win. Photo by Dave Cook. You can purchase prints and Hi-Res downloads for this and many other trials on Dave’s Website.
The Yorkshire Dales was again held in glorious weather but this years dry route wasn’t considered as rough as last year.
Both Ray Ferguson (Class 7 Liege) and Sam Holmes (Class 4 Beetle) ended the day with clean sheets with Ray taking the Premier Award on test times.
Fellow Liege driver Barry Redmayne was third but driving his Suzuki X90 in Class Five this time.
Dean Partington was on a clean sheet until the penultimate section, the Class Eight only Bluebell Wood, when he dropped six marks.
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