The weather was mild and didn't present any problems for
the run from Tamworth Services up to Derbyshire. Haven Hill passed without
incident, but the same couldn't be said for Clough Wood where there were
long delays because of radio problems and the marshals were only
letting cars go every two minutes. The section was wet and a bit rough but
didn't trouble the scorer a great deal.
Ed
Nikel was having electrical problems with his Buggy. Neil Bray and Dave
Nash stopped to help and Ed only finally got away when they ran a feed
direct from the battery to the coil. Neither Dave or Neil’s cars were
running right either, but were cured by changing the coil on the MGeetle
and tightening up the manifold nuts on Primrose. That wasn't the end of
the problems though, as Neil also found a hole in the exhaust, which had to
be bodged up to enable him to continue.
Deep
Rake was next, with no problems for the main trial. The same couldn't be
said for Litton Slack, which was just up the road. The higher classes had
a restart and there were A boards beyond. It was very damp when the first
Motorcycle competitors arrived, just after 5.30. The hill was quite
difficult and the bikes really struggled for the first hour, only two of
the first ten going clear. It got easier as time went on but at the hint
of rain the challenge soon returned.
The
first cars arrived at Litton around 8.45 and immediately found problems.
Alistair Queen (Skoda), Mac Taylor and Ian Ramsay (Marlins) all failing.
It wasn't until Brian Partridge came along in his Cannon and Stuart
Harrold in his Troll that the marshals saw their first clean. Like most of
the early runners in class seven Keith and Claire Oakes didn't succeed. It
wasn't until triple contender Andrew Martin (with Simon Groves in the hot
seat) came along that a "seven" went up. Fellow triple hunter Clive Kalber
was also clean, proving it was possible to climb the old hill in class
three. Sitting in the queue Bill Rosten was wondering if it was possible
for a class 4 to make it. In front of him Pete Barr made a great effort to
get to the A boards but Bill went one better and came out the top of the
section, although he didn't change into second like Colin Perryman in his
smart BMW! Just behind Neil Bray coaxed Primrose to the summit after an
amazing re-start.
Both
Nick Wollett and Mike Pearson got to the top in their Dellows. Mike must
have pinched a tube as he had a slow puncture for the rest of the day.
John Parsons had a successful climb as well and so did Nicola Wainwright
(Beetle), David Haizelden (Golf) and Paul Bartleman (Troll), so all
three were still on for a triple. The section was quite dry by the time it
closed in the late morning and most cars were able to get up, quite a
change from earlier!
Again,
there were delays a Litton, and at times car competitors stretched back
almost to the road. This time the problem was with Class 0 who tackled a
different hill but used the same approach track. Unfortunately many of the
Class 0's had problems getting off the line, delaying proceedings not only
for their class but also the main trial who were stacked up behind and
couldn't get down to their section.
Calton,
breakfast, Haydale and Haggside came before the challenge of Bamford. It
looked quite rough, but it was more a roller coaster before the steps than
big holes and there was plenty of grip. The Red and Yellow categories had
a restart right near the summit but failures from those that arrived here
were limited to the odd bod who forgot to use their handbrake and a few
who didn't read their route card and stopped at the A boards just before.
John Sawle was one who had handbrake trouble, which was a shame, as his
supercharged Liege sounded really nice. Now he has more power John is able
to solve the Liege tyre problem by running taxi tyres on 16-inch rims.
Amongst the other Liege’s only Steve Kenny and Mark Worsfeld were running
the newly permitted 15 inch rims. Mark was in class eight anyway because
of his Fiat 1200 engine.
The
problems at Bamford were down before the seat, on the steepest bit, and on
the start itself, which was situated on the left hand bend and was quite
slippery. Peter Thompson (Opel Manta), Dave Nash (MGeetle) and Myke Pocock
were amongst those failed on the lower reaches. Northern Trial organiser
Myke had had problems with his Skoda on the way to the start, but it was
running fine now. Maureen Chattle and Ross Nuten didn’t attack the bottom
part with enough verve and failed. Earlier they had also failed Litton
when a bolt securing the distributor fell out.
Great
Hucklow was next and was truly horrible. Peter Manning described the rocks
as Dragon’s Teeth. It was very, very rough, especially for the later
runners. There was very little solid material between the rocks and huge
holes developed. It was hard to decide who was worse off. The higher
classes who had to find a place to restart amongst the boulders or the
lower classes that were allowed to go straight through and hit them at
whatever speed they choose! Mike Pearson thought it was the most difficult
hill of the trial. He stopped in the lower half of the box and managed to spin
his way to the top and a
Gold! Neil Bray broke his diff here, which was inconvenient, but
not as heartbreaking as for Bill Rosten and Nicola Wainwright, both of
whose Triple hopes sunk into the huge holes. Their only hope was that none
in class four would come out the top, but there is always at least one and
Arron Homewood succeeded in his Skoda Estelle. The other four wheeled
Triple contenders all went clean with only a couple of sections to go!
Jim
Mountain, driving Peter's Dellow Mk1, was doing very well until Great
Hucklow when the engine died after the restart. They discovered the
problem was a loose King lead which must have caused the stalling, then
made contact enough to start the engine again. They got a puncture there
as well. The lead finally dropped off on the corner on the road before the
tea halt. The engine went much better after the offending lead was put
back firmly in its hole! After a nice run up King Sterndale, competitors
had a break for tea and cakes at Hollinsclough Village Hall before Rakes
Head, which dives left just up the road. There was a restart for the
higher classes to catch the unwary but most succeeded OK.
There
were a few anxious people on the approach to Excelsior, where there would
be a restart on polished stones on the final bend. Quite a few failed to
get away but all the remaining triple contenders were successful.
Including David Haizelden who lost his here last year. This was the last
section for the main trial. Only the Moneystones special test coming
before the finish.
The
Club supper was a nice end to the day. Competitors especially appreciated
a working PA, the first time many had actually heard the presidential
speech. Delivered in an appropriate fashion by Ron Butcher. Can the
equipment be transported to Exeter in January!
Page added 9 October 2006 and updated
by adding the report on 16 October.
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