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
Rob Holden was an excellent second in his BMW estate with the only other clean sheet apart from Dave’s. Dean Partington was third, keeping his Wheelspin Trophy hopes alive.
Rob Holden finally found some engine reliability, cleaning all the hills in his BMW but having to give best to Dave Haizelden on special test times
The ever popular Allen Trial took just four days to max out the entry in the main trial. There was also provision for Heritage cars to take part in a parallel event but as this didn’t attract any entries it looks as if Heritage is defunct. It was a damp start to the day which didn’t brighten up and ended with persistent rain.
The start at The Bull at Hinton. Lined up are three of Dean Partingtons DP cars competing on the trial. From left to right. The DP Falcon, trialled by Dean many years ago and recently re-acquired and updated. In the middle is the very familiar rear engined DP Wasp recently purchased and driven on The Allen by Paul Merson. On the right is Jack Selwood’s DP Ford, originally constructed by Reg Taylor. This is the car that took Mike Furse to a triple and Graham Marshall to ACTC championships. It still has the original 1500 pre-crossflow engine (Photo by Kieran Bartlett)
Tog Hill was just up the road from the start and there were some delays after about half the field went through as one of the Austin 7’s experienced problems and blocked the section. It wasn’t a happy start for Class 2 as Michael Wall’s Trojan had to retire on the following road section.
The restart on the polished stones on Bitton Lane challenged some of the Austin 7’s in a bumper Class 2 entry.
Not so Mick Holmes who got away smoothy in what I believe was his cars first trial. Mick’s passenger was son Sam, normally seen driving his very competitive Class 4 Beetle with Mick as his passenger.
Narrow wins for Tristan Barnicoat and David Haizelden
Tristan Barnicoat was one of three Solos to score a clean sheet, taking the Demar Trophy with a narrow Special Test Win over Rom Dobbs. (Photo by Paul Morris Motorsport Photgraphy)
In the car classes ACTC Chair Dave Haizelden (Reliant Scimitar SS) fought of the class 8 challenge to win the Penhale Cup, just one mark better than Charlie Merson in his Ford Special.
Kracken constructor Lee Peck was third car and came so near to a win but dropped four after going the wrong way after the restart on Wembsworthy 3.
Special mention to Nick Deacon for the only car clean on Rat Trapper.
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Dave became one of only a handful of people that have won a Classic Trial in both a Front Wheel Drive and Rear Wheel Drive Car having won the Tamar in 2003 in his Golf. Andrew Kearns was best Solo and Alan Wear best Outfit.
Peter Browne captures Dave Haizelden storming Angel Steps on his way to a resounding Overall Car Win on the Tamar Trial Click Here for more of Peter’s Photos
Videos by Kofi Farley, Duncan Stephens and James Smith
This years Tamar went down well with competitors with the hills having just the right amount of bite. Most of the sections were pretty dry but Angel Steps greasy.
After a poorly supported Exmoor Clouds entries were better for the Tamar with 24 Motorcycles and 35 Cars, a third in Class Five.
Class Eight had some difficult restarts. Dan Keat was the only class 8 to climb Tanks Terror where Dave Haizelden was the only other car to clean the section. Aaron Haizelden dropped six here. If he hadn’t he would have finished on three, same as Dave but had a faster special test time!
Dave Haizelden dropped the only marks on his Tamar when he stopped at the three on Trehole but even here nobody on four wheels climbed higher.
There were two clean sheets amongst the Solos, the win going to Andrew Kearns on Special Test times.
It was a Class 1 victory on The Mechanics Trial. Dave Haizelden was the overall winner, dropping 11 marks, compared to Mike Workman on 14, although in fairness Mike had a lot more restarts in Class Eight.
It was quite dry in the Cotswolds so the results were determined by some fearsome restarts, especially for the higher classes, and the tricky Catswood sections with deviations off the tracks into the trees. All but 1 & 2 also had to run with very high tyre pressures, which must have contributed to the result. Stroud & DMC also ran a Clubmans event, mostly using the same sections but without the restarts. This was won by Ian Moss in his 1937 Ford Model Y who only dropped six marks, all on the impossible Don’t Blink section in Catswood.
Paul Allaway holds on tight as Dave Haizelden blasts his familiar Golf up Viaduct to clinch overall victory on The Mechanics Trial.Picture by Dave Cook.
Stroud had just over 40 starters for their non-championship trial, run in the same area as their Cotswold Clouds but with different sections. The second section “Alf’s Delight” was not so delightful, with many of the fancied runners failing its fearsome restart. In Class eight Mike Workman was the only one to get away in his Golden Valley Special. This was bettered by Class Seven where both Mal Allen and Julian Archbold were successful, delighting Julian in his newly acquired Marlin.
The Catswood Sections were Difficult
After some sections on delightful old roads came three sections in Catswood. OS 7, called Sapseds Big Surprise, saw Dave Haizelden loose his first marks of the day, dropping five after the section deviated off into the trees. Without having to restart Dave also cleaned the next section, Mini Hoskin, the only competitor in the main trail to do so. This showed just how good this driver/car combination is as none of the other non-restarters in 1-6 got less than a six.
Dave dropped six marks on Don’t Blink, the final Catswood section, the last he was to loose for the rest of the day. Tony Underhill retired here, his Triumph Special making horrible noises, later diagnosed as a loose flywheel on his newly rebuilt engine.
Bulls Cross Claimed Some Experienced Scalps
Coming out of the woods came a a section at King Charles Lane before a restart at Bulls Cross, situated right on a nasty rock step. This claimed a few victims, including the experienced Pete Hart (Marlin) and Eric Wall (Dellow mk1). Eric was having a bad day on the restarts having failed the Grassy Wood Lane earlier in the day.
Broken Cars on the Greenway Sections
This year there wasn’t a section on Greenway Lane itself, as the track was approached from the top. Anyone wondering why soon found out as it was very, very rough after considerable water erosion and it must have been very difficult for the lower slung cars to get to the sections. They were both grassy and didn’t impact on the results although Stuart Deacon broke the diff on his Escort, changing it to finish the trial. Luke Baber wasn’t so lucky with his Peugeot, coming down Greenway Lane on a rope behind mark Hobbs Land Rover, although shown as a finisher.
Viaduct was Dry this Year
The trial finished on Viaduct as usual, the ruts not proving a challenge in the dry conditions. The event seemed to go down well with competitors. The clubmans section was well received and it was nice to see Ian and Josh Moss take that category in their Model Y.
Class
Driver/Car
Marks
Overall
David Haizelden (Golf GTi)
11
Clubmans
Ian Moss (Ford Model Y)
6
1
Nick Cleal (Peugeot 205)
18
2
David Wall (Austin Seven)
21
3
Phil Tucker (Ford Escort Estate)
24
4
John White (VW Beetle)
23
5
Colin Biles (MG Midget)
42
6
Gary Browning (VW beetle)
25
7
Mal Allen (Marlin)
20
8
Mike Workman (Golden Valley Special)
14
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David Haizelden was won The Allen Trial with one of six clean sheets. Victory going to the Green Golf on special test times. Take nothing away from David though, as getting a FWD Golf on 13 inch wheels to the summit of Burledge is a fantastic achievement and he earned a well deserved victory.
Pete Hart, Mark Tooth and their team had a full entry, and ideal trialling weather, for The Allen which maintained its well established format. All the sections, with perhaps the exception of Nanny Hurns, being run on real old roads, with no Mickey Mouse stuff marked out with tape.
Togg Hill was a nice easy starter before venturing back across the M4 to Birch Hill. This starts on a nice stony surface before venturing into deep, glutinous, mud as the track goes uphill alongside a field. The problem is that there is quite a camber, dragging the cars against the side of the bank where the ruts are deepest. The early numbers were at a definite disadvantage, as were class eight who had a restart. It was necessary to build up a fair head of steam to get through the mud and Duncan Welch was one who didn’t have the speed to get through.
Ground clearance was a big factor as well as speed, and none of the sports cars in class 5, or Stuart Cairneys Imp made it though to the summit. Stuart had the misfortune to get a puncture and got wedged against the bank, necessitating a Land Rover tow as did Andrew Brown later on. The most spectacular climbs came in class two. Adrian Dommett and Bill Bennett just stormed up, but climb of the day was Jeremy Flann, whose passenger bounced the little Austin Seven up at about half a snails pace!
Bitton Lane was all about the usual slippery restart, for all, accept classes one and two, on a corner surfaced with polished stones. Dave Nash and Neil Bray couldn’t get The MGeetle away but at least this time it was down to them rather than the bad advice they had received from Michael Leete on Birch Hill! Andrew Brown was another to fail here as was Morgan man Rob Wells having his first outing in a Troll.
The infamous Guys Hill was next, with separate restarts for yellows and reds, and a straight run through for the others. Only three re-starters got away and went on for a clean. Gary Browning managed it in class six, which saw Giles Greenslade debuting his Nigel Allen built 1835 Beetle and discovering how much harder it is than class four! Duncan Welch was the first class eight to attempt the hill and used a little too much right foot. Paul Bartleman saw this and successfully trickled his Troll off the line for a clean climb. The only other car to succeed was Ian Davis in his VW Buggy, with the aid of a lot of bouncing, a change to second gear and a fair amount of tyre smoke. Clive Booth did well to coax his 1300 cc Dellow Replica off the line for a five which would put him a point ahead of fellow Falcon Mike Pearson at the end of the day.
Travers was another hill all about the restart for the higher classes where positioning was everything. Clive managed to get it just right to put him ahead of Mike Pearson who failed, although that position was to be reversed on the following Burledge which was very tricky this year. The ruts were deeper and the mud more slippery!
Paul Bartleman was the first car and had to act as a snowplough for those following. He’d got the Troll away from the restart OK but the mound between the two ruts was too much and he stopped at the three.
Burledge was another hill that favoured the late numbers because of the snowplough factor, but frankly anyone coming out of the top was a real hero, so a special well done to David Haizelden in his Golf. Also Adrian Marfell who was the only Beetle to get to the summit.
Nanny Hurns was its usual tricky self and Dave Nash was delighted to clean the section in The MGeetle, as was PCT expert Colin Weeks in his more conventional MG. Little Uplands put paid to Ian Davis’ hopes of overall victory as the Class Eights had an impossible restart and none of them got away from the line. John Walker was drew the trial to its traditional conclusion, in the dark for later numbers. It didn’t have any effect on the overall results, although Colin Weeks had the misfortune to fail.
At the finish six competitors had clean sheets, all of them in classes one to four, including both the BMW’s of Colin Perryman and Nick Farmer. So it was down to special test times. David Haizelden was fastest and was declared overall victor. Well deserved for getting a FWD car to the summit of the fearsome Burledge.
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
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