Brian Colman ran Duncan very close though, also getting a clean sheet in his Dutton Phaeton, victory going to Duncan’s Austin Healey SS on Special Test Times.
Going into the final three sections in Binghams Wood Don Stringer (Austin 7), Steve Potter (Trojan Utility), Simon Robson (Liege), Martin Allen (Racecorp) and Jim Mountain (Dellow Mk1) were also clean. However, all but Jim failed to climb the notorious “Verduns Bank” on Beetle Drive and then Jim couldn’t get the Dellow away from the “Class 8 Stopper” restart on the last hill.
The crews lined up at Watling Street Cafe, just off junction nine of the M1, on 11th March. There were only two non-starters from the 43 entries (coincidently the same number as a NASCAR field) so 41 cars took the start after passing through the scrutiny of John and June Blakeley and Steve Willis.
The first section, with sponsor Murray MacDonald in charge, was in superb condition after the recent spell of wet weather, which had made it challenging for a first section, even in the absence of a restart. Almost everyone made it, except the lower slung class 0 cars of Ben Hardcastle (Skoda Favorit) and James McMurray (MG Midget) who struggled with the ruts at the top.
With Reg Taylor and Geoff Jackson in charge everyone behaved themselves and cleaned this short little section.
Once again the challenge of Water Tower was the muddy ruts at the bottom which were avoided by most people and again everyone went clean.
The first Special Test was nice and simple Start on Line A, go through Line B without stopping and finish astride Line C. Why can’t they all be like that? Mike Pearson (Dellow Mk2 Rep) and Brian Colman (Dutton Phaeton) were joint fastest with 11.24 seconds.
The observed section started up the stony track before, going down, through the upper gate and sharp right to follow the fence. At the top it was wise to stop and back down the first bit as Colin Sumner found when his Beetle tilted dangerously sideways. It didn’t claim many scalps but Ian Nute, Ivan Sharrock and Ben Hardcastle all succumbed to lack of grip on the grassy surface.
The club were very lucky with the weather. Edlesborough is very sensitive to the rain. Easy when its dry, totally impossible when its wet. For the March Hare it was just right. Both sections were very artificial in nature but were well marked with tape. The first started at the bottom of the hill and wound its way through the bomb hole before trip though the roller coasters at the back of the hill.
The bombhole proved a problem for the lower classes, the gradient and a bit of mud making grip a premium. In class two neither Kevin Coplestone (Singer) nor Ivan Sharrock (HRG) could get through but both the Tojans sailed up and went on to clean the section and Steve Potter got through the next one as well. In class three only John Groves was clean and in four Nigel Jones failed. Also in four the Roller Coaster proved to much for Aaron Homewoods Skoda which broke a drive shaft and Aaron had to retire. Yellows and reds had a restart in the roller coaster, this stopped a couple, including Mark Worsfold who dropped two, without which he would have won class eight.
The second section at Edlesborough used one of the established routes through the bushes with a restart for all except 0 and 2 at the end. Again most of the entry were clean although both the Suzuki X90’s stopped on the first bit. The re-start wasn’t friendly to rear engined cars and neither Nigel Jones nor Colin Sumner could get away.
The Herts VW Club were in charge of two very different sections. Section seven started with a very muddy climb through the trees before a tight hairpin and descent to a sandy restart for classes three to eight and a steep climb to exit the section. The restart wasn’t to prove much of a problem, but the earlier muddy part was, for those who didn’t give it enough welly, or had limited ground clearance. Those who failed here gave Burl Solmons some work to do with his recovery Land Rover.
Section Eight had to be re-routed because of a fallen tree. It was a nice long journey around the sandpit with different restarts for the various classes. Unfortunately it wasn’t marked very well, causing a problem for some who wrong routed. Sections like this need a fair degree of taping and I am sure Falcon will learn the lesson for next year. The restart for the higher classes meant the end of some clean sheets and Ted Holloway (Enigma Special), Nicholas Cross, Julian Lack and Roger Dudely (Marlins) and the Lieges of Stephen Kenny, Richard Irvine and Mark Endley all dropped six here.
After another straightforward special test came the deceptively difficult section, where the restart on the steep grassy bank was problematical for quite a few of the lower classes.
Although nobody realised it at the time this Special Test was to decide the winner between the two sheets as Duncan Welsh was three seconds faster than Brain Colman. Unfortunately former March Hare organiser John Parsons didn’t make it to Ivinghoe in his type 4 engined buggy. The engine had been loosing a lot of oil and finally nipped up so John had to retire.
A previously un-trialled section, on land owned by Mike Young, builder of the Racecorp driven in the event by Martin Allen. Mike has been taking a trialling sabbatical recently but expect him back on the hills in a Marlin soon.
The section was a long blast on grass, following the hedgerow. Well not so much of a blast for seven and eight who had a deviation and a restart. The hill was in prime condition, very sticky near the summit but well on if you got the throttle control right.
Ian Davis was in charge here and had laid out a restart on the Right Hand Bend. The ruts on this lane made it a bit marginal for Class 0 and both Ben Hardcastle and James McMurray had problems with ground clearance and failed. James was to do well to reach the finish in his MG Midget as it was on three cylinders for part of the event, diagnosed as a crack in the distributor cap, right by one of the contacts.
Neither Suzuki got away from the restart and neither did Ross Nuten who was really struggling with fuel starvation with his Dellow Mk2.
The first section in the Binghams complex contained the notorious “Verduns bank”, which only Duncan Welch climbed last year. The lower part wasn’t to bad (it had been eased the day before because of the wet conditions). However, above the cross track it was very sticky. The lower classes had a clean run at it, but none succeeded. Seven and Eight were denied a clean run as they had a restart in the goo. It looked impossible, but it wasn’t, as Duncan, Jim Mountain and Brian Colman all came out of the top. Supermen indeed as this was supposed to be the stopper of the event!
The lower classes had a clear run, with an easier route for Class 0 and only Ian Nute in the Suzuki X90 had problems in the mid reaches where Mike Pearson had cleared the fallen tree the week before.
Seven and Eight had the infamous restart on the tree route where positioning was everything and caught out 50% of the seven and eights.
The final section in the Binghams complex and the final section of the event was all about a very tight left hander. Most could go straight through, but not class eight who had to restart right on the bend itself. Even without the restart it wasn’t so easy for the lower classes and in two to six only Steve Potter succeeded. He cleaned this one last year as well. How long before we have a Trojan winning The March Hare?
Three in class seven were successful Brian Colman, Simon Robson and Martin Allen. Unfortunately Simon and Martin had previously failed Verduns Bank, but his success here earned Brian a clean sheet. The class eight restart was supposed to be a stopper, but neither Mark Worsfold nor Duncan Welch had read the script, got away and around the hairpin. This gave Duncan a clean sheet to tie with Brian Colman on the hills and win the event on Special Test times.
The finish was at The Bull in Redbourn High Street where Margaret Lawson soon worked out the results confirming that the popular Duncan Welch was the overall winner for the second year running.
| March Hare Trophy | Duncan Welch (Austin Healey SS)) | 0 |
| Best Falcon | Simon Robson (Liege) | 6 |
| Best Novice | Ben Hardcastle (Skoda Favorit) | 80 |
| Class Winners | ||
| 0 | Don Stringer (Austin 7) | 6 |
| 2 | Steve Potter (Trojan Utility) | 6 |
| 3 | John Groves (Escort) | 28 |
| 4 | Anthony Young (VW Beetle) | 12* |
| 7 | Brian Colman (Dutton Phaeton) | 0 |
| 8 | Jim Mountain (Dellow Mk1) | 6 |
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