The Clee
used its familiar split route, albeit with some different sections. Clerk
of the Course Adrian Tucker-Peake had hoped to reintroduce Hungerford but
the exit track became impassable a few days before the event after an
errant piece of farm machinery clipped a bank, bringing down more material
than could be cleared in time.
The Long Mynd Loop wasn't a
problem for the Higher Classes
Seven and Eight started with
the "Long Mynd" loop which didn't present any problems to the main
contenders until Priors Holt 1 where Dudley Sterry was defeated by the
loose stones. Venturing out on the "Muddy Loop" the sump on Strefford Wood
1 didn't claim as many victims as usual and around half the 7's and 8's
got to enjoy the long blast.
The traditional Meadowley
section was next on the agenda. The ruts and tree roots only defeated
three cars but one of them was Simon Woodall who
dropped four. If Simon
had gone clean like his rivals he would have won overall, such is
trialling!
Seven and Eight Start to
Loose Marks
As the muddy loop continued the
7's and 8's started to loose marks. Pete Hart (Marlin), Adrian Marfel (Lancia
Special) and Mike Chatwin (DP Wasp) were all clean when they arrived at
The Jenny Wind. All three lost a single mark here to remain in a three way
tie for the lead. This was was followed by the new, and unpopular Jenny
Windout where Adrian lost 8, Pete and Mike only 7.
Mike Chatwin and Pete Hart
drop marks to Adrian Marfell on the muddy
Easthope 1
The results of the trial were
finally decided on the very, very muddy Easthope 1 which Adrian cleaned,
Mike dropped 2 and Pete 4. All the leading contenders cleaned the
remaining sections so it was Adrian Marfell in his Lancia powered rail
that won the Fray trophy, dropping nine marks, no doubt helped by having
the experienced Giles Greenslade in the passenger seat. Mike Chatwin was
second overall, dropping 10, Simon Woodall third on 11 and Pete Hart,
Dudley Sterry and Dean Partington on 12.
A Muddy Start for the Lower
Classes
The lower classes embarked on
the muddy loop first and didn't fare very well in the clag. In particular
Hilltop was a problem and nobody got more than a few yards, wallowing in
the mud for an 11 or 12.
James Shallcross was in a class
of his own amongst the saloons and older cars, winning Class 1 by a big
margin, in particular showing everyone the way on Strefford Wood 3 and
Easthope 1.
Terry Ball Looses his Boyne
on the new Pinstones Section
Keith Sanders won Class 5 and a
Boyne Trophy but Terry Ball lost his opportunity to do like wise when he
failed Pinstones. This new section featured two hairpins on grass. The
second one was very tight and competitors were allowed one reverse to get
round. It was still pretty difficult, especially for cars that are a bit
light on the front end. Sam and Mick Holmes won and all Beetle Class 4 and
Vic lockley Class 6
Back at the Finish for an
Early Bath
The efficient route and no
lunch break meant an early finish and cars were back at The Craven Arms
around 3 in the afternoon. So concluded another successful Clee Hills
Trial. Some great new sections and some not so good. However, based on
their past performance we can depend on the organisers learning from
competitors comments and continuing to improve their trial year by year
