Tag: Ross and DMC

Kyrle Trial

This year’s Kyrle lived up to its reputation as a rough, tough event. Rain the previous week had made the sections ultra-competitive and they certainly sorted out the men from the boys. Overall victory went to Peter Fear from the home club in his Dingo special who dropped 5 marks. Falcon’s Ian Davis chased hard for the lead all day, ending up losing 9 for 5th place overall and Neil Bray won a very competitive class four.

Neil Bray assaulting Waterworks on his way to winning class four.
Matt Robsons interpretation of “normally seated” on Cockshoot.
John Parsons using V8 power in his assault on the bank.
David Thompson working off his lunch with a run at Bluebell.

Ten Falcon crews ventured West to the Forest of Dean for the Ross club’s end of term classic, starting from the services at the end of the M50. Apart from the MCC Falcon tied with Stroud for providing the most entries, which shows how strong we are in the trials world these days. Two of our newer devotees were running near the front of the field in class eight. James Lindsay had his type 4-powered Fugitive, while Ross Nuten bought out his ex-Geoff Margetts Dellow.

At breakfast Falcon members were anxious to glean reactions to the previous weeks March Hare. They were pretty positive and Dudley Sterry and Anthony Young seemed pleased with their awards. Shame yours truly mixed them up! I was able to give March Hare event reports to the people had taken part and was pleasantly surprised to discover how many people had already seen it on the Web. I maybe need to be a little more careful what I write in the future!

Scruitineering was a little painful if you were un-lucky enough to draw the wrong person. John Sargent was OK but the other guy was a bit excruciating, wanting to see things like Beetle batteries which is a long job as it involves removing the complete rear seat. All this was soon forgotten as the field got away under threatening sky’s, for the long run down to the first group of sections. Old Down was certainly new variation. Normally it’s the uphill exit track from Jack and Jill. This time it was a downhill observed section. You went down the hill to stop astride a line, then you had to back up to clear the line before proceeding down again. It was an interesting change and one we could consider for our own classic.

Jack lay in wait at the bottom of the steep descent from Old Down. This is a fearsome ascent through the trees without any fancy stuff like corners to complicate life. There was a deep hole a few yards from the start line and this was the end of the road for over half the entry. Ian Davis was the only Falcon to register a clean but Ross Nuten, David Thompson and Clive Booth all did well to get to the four and James Lindsay and Neil Bray weren’t far behind.

Jean was next on the agenda for classes 6,7 and 8. Nobody climbed it and Peter Fear dropped five, the only marks he was to lose all day. Ian Davis did better in his VW Buggy, getting all the way to the two to take the lead. The hill is a similar affair to Jack, but the start was on the track and there was a steep right-hander before the main part of the section, so there was no possibility to build up speed. This trapped David Thompson who under-steered straight on.

The lower classes tackled Jackson. The slope on this one was much gentler, but it was quite slippery and the ruts were very deep. It was an exciting full throttle drive, but didn’t have much affect on the results as most people cleaned it. By now the rain was falling steadily and this made the first special test quite slippery. The fast times were set by people who were able to spin turn around the bollard in the lane. The three point turners were much slower but didn’t put their bodywork at so much risk! The diff test was just up the lane. It was the normal rollers but it was far from a formality for some half dozen competitors who gave the organisers “cause for concern” and they said so in the results. However, as they were unable to carry out any further testing the let things stand at that.

Pludds followed the diff test. This is one of the Kyrle’s feature hills. Steep, straight and stony. A longer Simms without the spectators? There was plenty of grip, too much if you let the tyres down to much. Neil Bray and Matthew Sharrattt were the only class fours to clean it and from then on indulged in their own private battle for the class, leaving the rest fighting for third place. The yellow and reds had a re-start to spice things up. This defeated John Parsons, who probably had too much power and Clive Booth who probably didn’t have enough!

There was another long road section before the next group of three hills, buried deep in the forest. The rain had started to ease off but they were very, very slippery. Snompers was pretty straight forward but claimed the scalps of Ross Nuten and Murray MacDonald, Murray announcing that he was not having a good day. Tomlins Splash had alternative routes for the different classes. The blues and whites had a gentle, but rough track, the yellows and reds a steep smooth one. There were very few casualties, but one of them was quite a distinguished one, Julian Dommett failing for a four. Cockshoot had not been used on a trial for some years. The bottom was very rutted and rough. A slippery grass hairpin followed the ruts and the rest of the hill was pretty straightforward. Most of the class eight’s got up, but Ian Davis was a noticeable exception as he couldn’t get round the hairpin, dropping three and letting Peter Fear, Mick Workman and Adrian Dommett catch him and tie for a four man equal lead. The lower classes found it pretty difficult . Only two class fours got up, Michael Leete and Matthew Sharratt, and they both suffered quit bad body damage as they scraped up the side of the deep rut. Lunch was next, taken in a nearby picnic area, giving Michael a chance to see how the impact on the front wing had pushed in the double skinned panel in front of the A post.

Bluebell lay just across the road. It started with a very steep, slippery bank, surmounted by only the best of the class eight’s, plus super hero’s Julian Dommett, Adrian Marfell and Giles Greenslade. Most of the others in the lower classes dropped eleven, including Neil Bray, allowing Giles to gain the lead in class four. Adrian Tucker-Peake was marshalling on Cuddleigh Bank which was a very strange section, consisting of a long straight run up a flat muddy track before assaulting an impossibly steep bank. Waterworks was another strange section, weaving through the trees on a slippery camber, always assuming you could get up the steep bank at the start, which most couldn’t. This was probably the toughest hill of the trial, only five people cleaning it, including the incredible Julian Dommett in his side valve Dellow. Ian Davis was one of the un-lucky ones, dropping him from overall contention.

The trial was starting to draw to a close now, but not before another gem of a section, Lane End. If Pludds is a long Simms then Lane End is Darracott with teeth. It starts with a series of hairpins, leading to a straight, rutted sunken lane, all very slippery and pretty rough. Once again most of the class eight’s didn’t have to much trouble, apart from James Lindsay who couldn’t coax the long Fugitive around the hairpins at the bottom, Neil Bray got up OK but Giles Greenslade didn’t, and this allowed Neil to regain the lead in class four. Unbelievably David Haizelden climbed out the top in his Golf, making some people wonder if this machine has four wheel drive! 

High Garlic lay at the top of Lane End, severely curtailed this year, emasculated as Anne Templeton used to say. This didn’t present any problems so it was on to the two Deep Dean sections to close the trial. This is the site of the famed “Robsons wall” but there was to be more entertainment this year as almost everyone had problems lower down. A few of the class eight’s cleaned it, but not Ian Davis who couldn’t get round the hairpin at Robson’s wall, dropping him back to fourth in his class. Outside of class eight there were only two cleans, the incredible Julian Dommett and David Haizelden who got up in his amazing Golf. For the rest it was a smoky end as they spun to a stop on the rocks, in full view of spectating competitors as they waited to watch before heading back to the finish at Ross on Wye.

1st OverallPeter FearDingo5 marks lost
Class 1 & 2David HaizeldenGolf Gti36
Class 3Paul BartlemanEscort36
2nd in Class 3David HealeEscort38
Class 4Neil Bray (Falcon)Skoda34
2nd in Class 4Matthew SharrattBeetle40
Class 6Nigel AllenBeetle18
Class 7Julian DommettDellow Mk 19
Class 8Mick WorkmanGVS Mk 17
2nd in class 8Adrian DommettFord Special s/c7
3rd in class 8Ian Davis (Falcon)VW Buggy9
4th in class 8David ForeshewGVS Mk II9
1999_kyrle_resultsDownload

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Kyrle win for Adrian Dommett

Five Falcons took part in the Ross clubs end of term frolic in the Forest of Dean. It had been raining heavily during the week and the hills were in prime condition. It was mainly sunny on the day, but there were a few showers. These made the running order important and affected the results quite a bit, catching David Alderson while he was waiting for Water Works, and he couldn’t get up the bank on to the main track. If he had David would have been the overall winner. However, we had the consolation of a well-earned class win by Neil Bray, after numerous punctures.

Neil Bray stuffs his Skoda into Simon Robsons wall on Deep Dean 2

Neil Bray’s first challenge was to get his Skoda through scruitineering and with John West in charge this was no mean feat! It’s John who advised Dave Nash that the Skeetle was a class eight, even though it complies with the rules for seven and there are some far more extreme motors in the class. (Yes I know this is supposed to be an event report, but your favourite column has to keep it’s reputation for controversy and have a little stir now and again. Perhaps we could have some letters on the subject!)

   Once we were underway there was a long road run to the first group of hills, starting with Burnbrae, which had a diversion for blue and white. Even so it was no walk over and Murray MacDoanld couldn’ t negotiate the slippery hairpin. Simon Robson got round OK and cleaned the hill, his celebrations echoing through the trees! Neil made it, as did Frank Burton’s Skoda, but Giles Greenslade’s was the only successful Beetle.

   Andrews Alley was a few hundred yards up the track. This steep and muddy horror defeated most of the  lower classes but was cleaned by the competitive six, seven and eight’s. The dreaded Jill was next on the route card. Fortunately for mere mortals logging operations had made it inaccessible, to be replaced by a milder affair called Jackson. This wasn’t a pussycat though, long, muddy and rutted, you really needed to keep the power hard on, there wasn’t any fear of going off course, the ruts saw to that! Simon ran out of puff and grip by the four but the other Falcons cleaned it OK.

   Then it was across the road to a special test marshalled by Simon Harris, who has competed on some of our PCT’s in a Golf GTi. Pludds was next, a steep rocky slope that defeated Murray and Neil. Simon made up for his Jackson’s debacle with a clean and so did Michael, despite a re-start, from which Mike Hayward bounced the Beetle away in fine style.

   The next group of sections lay at the end of a couple of miles of well-made forest road. It was easy to imagine Colin McRae blasting down here in a glorious four wheel drift. Dream it had to be as the spoil sport organisers had imposed a 15 mph speed limit! Neither Snompers nor Tomlin Splash troubled any of the Falcons, although Simon was docked six on the latter, presumably because he stopped! It’s now down to our Mr Robson to convince the organisers that he ground to a halt after the section ends board. If he does he will take the second in class award away from Matthew Sharratt.

   The half way halt at Wenchford picnic area saw some frantic work to put a new tube in one of Michael Leete’s tyres, punctured on the second special test. It was left to Neil to complete the job and as a result the pair left the stop near the back of the field. They were to drop further behind when one of Neils tubeless tyres left the rim on the slippery track up to Cuddleigh Bank and the bag jack kept slipping out from under the Skoda. The section itself was pretty horrific, very steep and slippery and only climbed by a couple of competitors, including our own David Alderson. David then proceeded to make the only successful climb of Lambswell to lead the trial. This was a really difficult ascent through the trees. It was very muddy and rutted but unfortunately not that steep at the bottom, allowing cars to build up a fair bit of speed. The problem was that there were some frightful bumps about half way up. They threw a couple of the faster motors out of the ruts and into the trees, including Murray MacDonald, to the detriment of the Beetles bodywork.

   By now the later numbers were seeing some rain and this caused a major problem at Water Works as it made the lower part pretty impossible. It trapped David Alderson, he couldn’t get up the first bank, dropping twelve, which cost him the trial. Lane End came next, appropriately named as is at the end of a long muddy lane. The route card said that the hill had reverted to the original three-hairpin climb on ruts and rocks. This was academic for many competitors as the first corner was very tight and muddy and they under-steered straight on into the trees. David got round OK, and went on to clean the hill, but the rest of the Falcons failed at the twelve and Neil Bray picked up another puncture in the process. The inflatable jack got another fit of the sulks, so Michael Leete’s trolley jack was pressed into service again. By the time things were sorted out the other competitors had gone by and the two Falcon crews were running last on the road.

   There was a sizeable delay at High Garlic and this gave Neil and Marc the opportunity to put tubes into the two dead tubeless tyres. The hill is another long, straight climb through the trees, with some nice deep ruts to keep you on the straight and narrow. Last year Murray had problems at the start and his Beetle slipped sideways to fail before the proper hill began. He did a bit better this year, but couldn’t make the summit and had to reverse down. The other Falcons did better and scored cleans.

   Deep Dean’s one and two provided the finale. “Two” is the one with the hairpin at the end with Simon Robson’s wall ready to trap the unwary. The hairpin was pretty slippery and it was hard to stop the car under-steering in the mud. It was possible to get round as David and Murray proved. Neil gave the Skoda everything as usual but to no avail. The front wheels skated over the mire and Neil and Marc powered the Czech wonder into Robsons wall. Then it was back to Ross on Wye to sign off and head for home. An enjoyable event, pretty well organised, tough but not as fearsome as its reputation. Congratulations to Neil Bray on winning class four and commiseration’s to David Alderson on the win slipping away at Water Works. But as David himself says, class eight is very competitive and I am sure Adrian Dommett thoroughly deserved his victory.

  • Kyrle Trophy (6 marks lost) – Adrian Dommett (Ford 100E s/c) 
  • Classes 1 + 2 (53) – David Haizelden (VW Golf GTi)
  • 3 (41) – Paul Bartleman (Escort Estate)
  • 4 + 5 (52) – Neil Bray (Skoda)
  • 6 (17) – Nigel Allen (VW Beetle)
  • 7 (11) – Roger Bricknell (Vincent MPH)
  • 8 (11) – Mick Workman (Golden Valley Special)
1998_kyrle_results_routeDownload

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