Tag: Carl Talbot

Carl Cleans Northern

A proper Northern Trial. Mud, Snow, Good sections and a warm welcome.

Carl Talbot won The Northern Trial on 15th February in his Morris Trialsmaster with a clean sheet. Despite the weather there was more than the usual amount of grip on most of the sections. The event was closely fought between the leading Class Eight contenders. Stuart Bartlett came so close in his ex Adrian Linnecor Datsun Sunny powered Cannon, just failing to get past the one marker on Ullister Hill. Dean Partington dropped nine on the comparatively straightforward “24” which cost him the event as he was fastest on the Special Tests.

Stuart and Kieran Bartlett are a picture of concentration as they restart their Cannon in the slime of Sandale on their way to second overall (Picture by Mark Milne)
In Car on Darling How with Michael Leete

        Cumbria had escaped the flooding that has bedevilled the south since Christmas. However, there was a lot of rain and high winds in the days leading up to the event and Fellside where forced cancel The Lords Seat in Winlatter Forest when the Forestry Commission condemned the access track because of a fallen tree. There were quite a few non starters and 26 motorcycles and 23 cars gathered at the excellent new start venue in Wigton for efficient and friendly scrutineering and signing on. 

        Julian Lack didn’t make the journey north. After spending all day rebuilding his Lieges diff the Suzuki Jimney’s gearbox cried enough on the road test. 

        A couple of people were having problems in the car park. Colin Perryman’s Skoda Rapide had been running perfectly in the week leading up to the event but was now reluctant to run on all four cylinders. Bernie Pugh, one of those behind the new Durham AC Classic Trial, was having problems with his Reliant Rialto and decided not to start. Not a great advert for a car that was on EBay the following day!

        The ruts on Carlislegate Lane were tricky 

        There was no visit to Allhallows Colliery this year so the rutted Carlislegate Lane was the first section, approached by and a nice bit of green-laning which could be a future section. There was a bit of a queue for the hill which gave competitors sight of the depth of the ruts when Hal Branson grounded his Marlin. 

        Wythop Woods 

        After a long climb on forest tracks there was the usual long queue for Routens Romp, with views of Bassentwaite Lake through the trees despite the drizzle. Queues here are somewhat inevitable as competitors take well over two minutes to climb the hill, even if they go clear. There was a restart for class eight, which didn’t trouble them, followed by a muddy deviation through the trees for everyone,which wasn’t very Suzuki friendly and none of the X90’s got through the mud. 

        The lower reaches of Brown’s Challenge looked like a mud bath but there was plenty of grip for those that got their pressures correct. There was a deviation off the track at the end that several didn’t spot and both Charlie Knifton and Fred Mills were penalised one. Clears had to turn at the top and come back down. Michael Leete made a real mess of this and needed a tug from the Land Rover which bent the Beetles steering and drove part of a stump between the rim and tyre. The event lost two of the Yorkshire contingent here when John Bell retired his MG TB. John Rhodes also called it a day when an after market A arm spacer broke on his X90. John and passenger David Toff were able to make a temporary repair and limp home. 

        After a surprisingly forgiving Little Cock Up competitors exited the Wythop complex via Lothwaite Side where the Yellows and Reds had a rocky restart which caught out most of Class Seven.

        Low Burthwaite Side was a nice new section

        Fellside came out with a new section on the yellow road after leaving the woods. A narrow rutted track it started muddy and dried out towards top where the gradient became more severe. There were no restarts but it proved quite challenging and only Stuart Bartlett, Charlie Knifton, Carl Talbot and Dean Partington went clear. Colin Perryman didn’t make it this far as he wisely decided to give up the battle with his misfiring Skoda and went spectating for the rest of the day.

        Whinlatter Forest 

        Back on the road the route climbed towards Whinlatter Forest where the temperature dropped and competitors were greeted by snow. The wonderful “Darling How” started proceedings here, another very long section. Its in two parts, separated by a cross track after which its rocky and rough for a while and this caught out some of the less experienced competitors. 

        After Sheepfold came Ullister Hill . Stuart Bartlett didn’t get past the one marker where the stone surface gives out at the top which left only Carl Talbot (Morris Trialsmaster) and Dean Partington (DP Wasp) with clean sheets. The top of Ullister Hill is very tricky as the ruts give out and its very difficult to stop the front of the car sliding sideways down the hill. This happened to Chris Maries, leaving his X90 precariously poised and it took a very special Land Rover to extricate him safely. Charlie Knifon was having problems with his Scorpion as the alternator had stopped charging so he was hoping to finish before needing to use his lights. 

        Carl Talbot went into the lead of the trial on the next section, the seemingly innocuous “24”, when Dean Partington got his tyre pressures totally wrong and dropped nine. It is one of these sections that demands total commitment to get around the muddy first corner and Dean was far from the only one to come to a stop on the lower to mid reaches.

        Setmurthy Plantation

        There was a seven mile road run before the third and last forest complex where there was no snow and Telfs Challenge awaited. This is named after the late Mike Telford whose “Tucker Nipper Special” was being driven on the event by new owner John Hunter.

        The first problem here is a steep muddy right hand turn which stopped about half the entry. After this there wasn’t a great deal of gradient but the there was no hard surface under the mud and only four of the class eights went clear. 

        Next came The Black Hole, a wonderful straight climb through the trees with a restart for class eight. The rain must have washed away the usual mud as there was quite a lot of grip this year and about half the entry reached the summit. This is a hill you have to return back down and this caused a few problems. Mike Chatwin ripped the under guarding from his DP Wasp and Michael Leete had a root impaled between a heat exchanger and the sump guard. The Beetle was well and truly stuck as it wasn’t possible for the recovery Land Rover to get past and pull him up. There was nothing for it but to pull backwards and hope the root would break without causing to much damage. It did and Michael continued with the remains of the offending timber still wedged in place. 

        After the first special test came Watch Hill. The higher classes had a straight run at Upper Watch Hill while the Blues and Whites had to restart on Lower Watch Hill. Both started in an absolute quagmire and there were an awful lot of 12’s as most people couldn’t get off the start line, much to the amusement of Dave Cook who was photographing there.

        Sandale was tame this year

        After the second Special test only Sandale remained, with the rain stopped and the sun peaking out. The class 8’s had to restart which didn’t bother most of them and only a handful of the non re starters needed a tow. Perhaps this was fitting for the Northern’s signature hill as it had been a long day battling the conditions as well as the sections. 

        Back at the finish a nice meal awaited to round off the day, with the organisers having achieved the perfect result, Carl Talbot going clear and everyone else dropping points. The consensus amongst the competitors was that the organisers had got the trial pretty much perfect, a hard act to follow next year.

        ClassDriver/CarMarks
        OverallCarl Talbot (Morris Trials Master)0
        0Nick Smith (Marlin Roadster)33
        1Peter Masters (Toyota Starlet)101
        2Hamish White (Alvis 12/50 5D)43
        4Michael Leete (VW Beetle)12
        5David Golightly (Morton & Brett Board Racer)22
        7Roger Goldthorpe (Liege)29
        8Stuart Bartlett (Cannon)1

        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

        Clee Hills Trial 2006

        Adrian Marfell won the Clee Hills in his familiar VW Rail, dropping seven marks, all lost on Harley Bank Two. Adrian won on special test times from Carl Talbot who also dropped seven, two on Harley Bank 2 and five on Easthope 2.

        Adrian Marfell pictured by Dave Cook
        2006_clee_hills_resultsDownload

        Clerk of the Course Jonathan Toulmin retained the twin loop format for the MAC’s Clee Hills Trial. Jonathan and his team have a justified reputation for running an excellent event, in a highly professional way, and were rewarded by an excellent entry including no less than 15 cars in class two. There was no snow this year but the mist didn’t lift in some places throughout the day. 

        There were quite a few route changes because of bad ruts caused by over enthusiastic 4wd’s and Round Oak had to be cancelled at the last minute because of a sick horse. 

        Classes six, seven and eight set out from the start at The Craven Arms to embark on the western loop to battle for overall honours. First on the agenda was the Rattlinghope special test. I wonder if Carl Talbot realised that this would cost him overall victory at the end of the day when he was 1.5 seconds slower than Adrian Marfell. The leading runners went round the western loop clean, with only the new Priors Holt 1 section causing any real problems, with fails for both Peter Mountain and Keith Oakes. 

        The first observed Hills on the Eastern loop were on National Trust land with the two Easthope sections and Majors Leap. Adrian Marfell was the only car to reach the summit of the previously un-cleaned Eeasthope 2 that was first used in 2005. Most of the other Class Eights dropped either 4 or 5. The class 7’s didn’t fare so well and Andrew Brown was best with 5. 

        Majors Leap was a toughie for the higher classes and a fair few dropped a full 12, including Falcons Keith and Claire Oakes in their Dutton Phaeton, putting them out of contention early in the proceedings. 

        After these three sections on National Trust Land it was back on the road to the Harley Bank – Jenny Wind complex. The slippery Harley Bank 2 section was one of the new ones used for the first time last year and Simon Woodall piloted the only car to get to the summit. Carl Talbot was best of the rest with a two, five better than Adrian Marfell, putting them equal on seven. This was to remain the score at the end, as both cleaned The Jenny Wind and Meadowley where Simon Woodall came out the top with a rough sounding engine. It promptly seized, and the VW Buggy needed a tow from Ross Norman to get back to the finish. 

        So overall victory went to Adrian Marfell by virtue of his special test times. Ian Davis came 5th overall, stopping mid way on both the Easthope sections and Harley Bank 2 and also stopping just short of the summit of The Jenny Wind. 

        The lower classes embarked on the Eastern Loop first. It started with a bang for classes three, four and five as none of them got away from their restart. Ippikins Rock was the decider for the lower classes. The section is all about that very sharp right-handed hairpin. In class three Nick Farmer couldn’t get the big BMW round, dropping 8 which was to give the class to Simon Groves. Class four was decided here as well. Terry Ball had been battling with the ex-Matthew Sharratt March Hare winning Beetle of Nicola Wainwright. Unfortunately, neither got around the famous hairpin but Pete Barr did in 1303 handing him the class. 

        On the Western Loop the steep new Priors Holt 1 was prove a problem to many cars, including Simon Groves who dropped four but still maintained his class lead. Adrian Dommett won Class 2 in his familiar Wolesley Hornet but all eyes were on James Diffeys magnificent Bresica Bugatti, which he drove into 2nd place in class with great gusto. 

        An excellent Clee, run under difficult circumstances this year. There is a rumour that this could be Jonathan Toulmins last event in the leading organising role. Lets all hope he changes his mind.

        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

        Carl’s Cotswold Clouds

        Carl Talbot wins Cotswold Clouds with the only Clean Sheet

        Carl Talbot’s Morris Trialsmaster paws the air as he pulls away from the Nailsworth Ladder restart
        2005_cotswold_clouds_resultsDownload

        Dave Cooks Photos

        Stroud attracted their usual full entry for the Cotswold Clouds. The route followed a familiar path, with just a few subtle changes, including, substituting Mackhouse with a new section called Wicked Juniper.

        There had been a lot of rain on the Saturday, which made the hills very slippery. This affected Crawley, put in to be an easy opener, but proved to be a problem for Murray MacDonald who found that his un-ballasted Mk2 Golf had very little grip and needed pushing to get going. After a similar experience on the lower slopes of Crooked Mustard, Murray and Hazel decided to call it a day and head for home rather than cause more hold ups. But watch out Dave Haizelden, he will be back. 

        During their inspection the week before the Stroud organisers had reckoned that Crooked Mustard was going to be easier than usual, but the rain on Saturday put paid to that. The first cars had a definite advantage as the rock steps were quite clean, but as the morning went on mud was drawn down from the banks making it more and more slippery. 

        As Andrew Brown says, “Crooked Mustard is all about taking the right line”. The flyweights in Class Eight had a definite advantage as their short wheelbase and ample power to weight ratio’s allowed them to revise their strategy if they got it wrong. Most succeeded, as did the buggies of Simon Woodall and Ian Davis. Two of the best climbs were made by father and son Wall. David storming up early on in the Canhi special and Eric making it all look effortless in his big wheeled Dellow, which has the smoothest, sweetest, engine I have ever heard. Geoff Hodge has quite a wide wheelbase on the RDT and with this disadvantage wasn’t able to correct a bad line and failed between the two corners. 

        Class Seven had a challenge. Their lower power to weight ratio and longer wheelbases meant they had to have a perfect line to succeed. Only four made-it, three Marlins and Derek Tyler in his Baja Beetle. Rick Neale was one of many to get the line wrong in his Dutton Melos, cutting the corner too tight to the sound of an enormous crack as the transmission broke.

        Two Class six cars were clean. Gary Browning in the Course Opening car, which doesn’t count of course! and Mike Hobbs amongst the competitors. It looked all over for Mike when he cut in to tight on the right hander and lost a lot of speed. He recovered and got things absolutely perfect on the left hander but he had lost so much momentum it looked as if he would come to a stop. Mike kept his foot down, the Beetle swayed from side to side, and just found enough grip to be the only saloon to go clean. Mark Smith used all the power of his 2-litre motor to throw his Beetle at the left hander but it ploughed into, rather than around, the bank and he came to a halt. 

        Everyone was looking forward to class Four to see if Ian Moss and Adrian Marfell would get up. We will never know if Ian would have got the right line. His new engine proved too powerful for the transmission, which let go with a loud bang on the lower reaches and could be heard destroying itself as he backed down. Adrian tried his hardest but hit the step between corners two and three all wrong and it just wouldn’t go over. 

        Class three provided the biggest spectacle. Tristan White performed perfect walls of death on corners two and three only to stop when a plug lead came off. Simon Grooves tried a similar trick but it didn’t quite come off, leaving the Escort with a front wheel four feet in the air and needing a fair few bodies to hang onto it to stop it turning over while he backed down. Then Colin Perryman came along and broke a half shaft on his nice BMW so it definitely wasn’t a Class Three day! Steve Potter deserves an honourable mention, getting his Trojan right up to the third corner before running out of puff but getting a huge handclap from the appreciative spectators. 

        Nailsworth was a challenge for the re-starters in the higher classes as it was pretty slippery and they had to stop just before the step. The fact it was a challenge was revealed when none other than Dudley Sterry couldn’t get away. The lower classes didn’t have to restart, their challenge was for their transmissions to survive as they hit the step at speed and leapt into the air. Neither Colin Biles (Midget) nor Nigel Scotford (Escort) diffs survived. Simon Groves’ Fack stayed in one piece for him to win the high jump!

        Ham Mill incorporated the new deviation pioneered last year and this was where the restart was situated. It was very slippery lower down and Mike Chatwin and Robert Grounds bounced so much they lost their spare wheels. The re start wasn’t to bad for the class eights but was a challenge for the lower classes and Simon Groves and Verdun Webley couldn’t get away cleanly. 

        Mackhouse was omitted this year and a new section called Wicked Juniper introduced. This is in the same area near Stroud as the famous pre-war trials hill pictured in Austen May’s book, but is not the original section. The inspiration for the “Wicked” part of the name probably came from its location in Wick Street. Ian Davis reports that the new section was excellent, much better than Mackhouse. It had a long, steep, muddy climb up a track through trees until the four marker over bare earth. Many didn’t get past the initial bend and rise at the ten. There were nine clears including Ian, Simon Woodall, Paul Bartleman, Dudley Sterry, Tony Young and Brian Phipps in his Marlin. The new section saw the end of Bill Foreshew’s Trial when his GVS retired with a holed piston. In the lower classes Adrian Marfell got a long way up but eventually the engine bogged down and he stopped. 

        The action after lunch commenced with a special test followed by the familiar Freds Folly which has definitely got more difficult over the years. Class eight had to restart on polished stones which defeated Ian Davis and Robert Gregg who had to retire his Troll with a broken prop shaft. 

        Merves Swerve was back to the straightforward climb over the hump, without last years tricky deviation. It didn’t matter, the conditions were enough to make it difficult, especially for the class sevens. There were two restarts. The class eights were right up against the hump, the sevens a little further down. The extra distance to attack the hump didn’t do any good as it was so slippery none of them got off the line. There was some confusion on the restart as the marshal was standing on the class eight line and quite a few class sevens went up to this instead of stopping on their own line. In some cases they were allowed to back down to their line and have a go. This could have caused some dispute but in the end was nullified as none got away. Most of the top men in class eight got up, despite their restart, but none of the saloons apart from the amazing David Haizelsen could get over the big bump although Simon Groves came very close. 

        Highwood 1 was very slippery around the restart as usual, but was cleanable with a struggle. Highwood 2 had a high limit of 16 psi and some of the class 8’s struggled for grip. Ian Davis failed at the 9. Fellow Buggy driver Simon Woodall at the 7 and Paul Bartleman the 4. In Paul and Simons case these were the only marks they lost all day. Tony Young got right up to the two but had already failed to get off the Nailsworth restart. It was left to Carl Talbot in his Class Eight Morris Trialsmaster to prove the section was possible and he flew up to be the only car to reach Andrew Brown who was marshalling the top of the section. 

        Climperwell was the usual trek through the trees. It had a comparatively easy restart but you had to stay in the ruts to avoid the trees and Ian Davis was one of many who didn’t to the detriment of his score. 

        The trial drew to a close with the restarts on Bulls Bank 1 and 2 which got more tricky as the day went on. Ian Davis failed the first one, in front of the marshalling Foreshew family but no problems for Carl Talbot who cleaned both to win the Cotswold Clouds with a clean sheet.

        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

        Mechanics Trial

        by Fred Gregory

        Fred Gregory and Pete Stafford enjoyed The Mechanics Trial

        Having competed in quite a few Cotswold Clouds, Pete Stafford and I knew that their Mechanic’s Trial was going to be a rough, tough event. We were not disappointed, and getting the chance to explore sections and tracks that we had never seen before, and had not been trialled for many years, heightened the experience.

        The day dawned wet and misty. We were running quite early in the field; at number seven, so we hadn’t expected to see clubmates Michael Leete and Mike Hayward, who were among the tail end Charlie’s. It was a good job we didn’t hang around for them, because they didn’t make the start, when the Beetles front brakes locked on only a few miles from home.

        Our adventure started even before the first hill. We were travelling in convoy on a long off road run-in to the first section when my Rickman Ranger got stuck. We were actually going down hill at the time and the car was well and truly stuck on its diff casing. We were stranded with our driven wheels practically off the ground. Clearly we weren’t going to drive off under our own power, so the ever resourceful Pete Stafford dived into the undergrowth to produce a strong tree branch that we used to lever the car off. Away we went towards the first section, not very far though, because just a few yards further on the track had been washed out. There was a triangular shaped gully up the middle with the sides at an angle of about 30 degrees. I tried my hardest to straddle it but the Rickman soon dropped in, to heel over at an enormous angle. Pete fell across on top of me but there was no choice but to keep my foot down. We scraped along with the side of the car wearing away as it rubbed along the side of the trench! We were not alone; one of the Moss Brothers in an Imp did the same, only he got stuck! I wonder how many other competitors followed suite?

        The section was a no-no, too tight a turn at the bottom for us. On to section two, not so fast though as there was more off roading. Our convoy found a Cannon ahead trying to reach the tarmac road un-aided. Teamwork got him out, plus our entire group of six or so cars. Carl Talbot got all the way to the four in his class eight Trialsmaster and Ian Moss wasn’t far behind him in his Imp. Most of the entry was like me though, grinding to a halt at the eleven!

        Some of the sections were sub divided, funnily enough we found these ones easier! The off-roading was great, the sections were often narrow, rough and challenging, absolutely marvellous stuff, never mind that two were abandoned.

        By the time we reached the last section, called “Viaduct” we were running first on the road. The start was on a flat, deep leaf-moulded surface then a muddy bit, through a gate onto a soggy field, climbing, then harder ground followed by steep mud with ruts and it was sub-divided. We gave it full power. Pete on full bounce mode even using 2nd gear it was touch and go at times, a brilliant section. We stopped in sight of the section ends board for a one. No way out, it was back down to the start, nearly half a mile away.

        While we waited for a way back to the road there was a medical emergency, a suspected heart attack. Nearly everybody had to leave to make room for an ambulance. We hoped the patient was OK but after the event we learned that he died.

        The section was cancelled and the entry wound their sad way to the finish. A tragic end but thanks Stroud boys and girls we really enjoyed our Mechanics Trial.

        Carl Talbot (Trialmaster)10First Overall, The Mechanics Trophy
        Michael Collins (VW Golf)161st Class 1
        Paul Bartleman (Escort)111st Class 3
        Stuart Deacon (Escort)172nd Class 3
        Giles Greenslade (VW Beetle)111st Class 4
        Ian Moss (Imp)172nd Class 4
        Rob Cull (MG Midget)231st Class 5
        Mal Allen (Marlin)151st Class 7
        Arthur Vowden (Marlin)172nd Class 7
        Bill Foreshew (GVS)151st Class 8
        Iain Daniels (Rebel)172nd Class 8
        2002_mechanics_results_route_reportDownload

        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