The Harolds Tyres Trial 2006 by Alistair McVittie
And the
The summer months had seemed to drag as we all
waited with anticipation for the start at Dockray of
the 2nd part of the season. The venue was Michael
Toulmin’s lovely home set in the heart of the Lake
District and it was clear that Michael and Sandy
had been hard at work to make sure this was going
to be another highlight of the trialing year. This time
we had 3 days to look forward to and the weather
appeared to be on our side. As competitors started
to arrive on Friday night (and l believe some had
arrived even earlier!) the field was filling up with
Motorhome’s, Caravan’s and those brave souls
prepared to camp out. Meanwhile, much to Carol’s
frustration, we checked into the pub just down the
road from the site with a few other club members
looking for those wee comforts in life, like hot
showers! And cold beer!
Saturday saw a good entry for the practice day,
which this year was under the control of Geoff
Pickup. He and Michael had arranged a series of
hills at the bottom of the field to help the crews try
out the summer modifications to their cars and/or
rub the rust off their driving skills.
Disc brakes on the front of Crossle’s seemed to be
a popular modification during the summer, and we
welcomed Helen and Stuart Perren to the club for
the first time. They quickly found out that the black
art of trialing is so different from any other forms of
Motorsport, especially autotesting where they are
leading lights in the UK.
Michael had also arranged his own form of autotest
for those brave enough to attempt it, and another
perfect opening to the weekend was well under
way.
Sunday morning arrived and the field was quickly
filling up with competitors, and everyone managed
to pass scrutineering without much trouble, even if
Irvin and I tried, and failed, to raise some funds by
the selling of yellow tape for battery terminals.
Phil Yarwood and Michael had set up some
challenging tests on the hills opposite Michael’s
house, and after carefully crossing the road, we all
were keen to attempt to get those clear rounds.
It was quickly clear that the man to beat today was
David Martin, with Rollo, as he was like a man on a
mission, trying to win the trophy sponsored by his
own business. As ever, Bill Rhodes was not just
going to sit back and let this happen. However,
perhaps he was wishing that he had also changed
the front brakes on his car as he was seen flying
down one hill, with no means of stopping until he
completed a lovely Scandinavian flick at that bottom
(think his old rally driving skills saved the day!).
Robin Jager and Mike Lawn were also neck and
neck, with Mike quickly getting used to his new
Crosslé.
Our host Michael was also driving well and there
was very little between the top drivers at lunchtime.
Brian Gibson was having a good battle with his son
Richard, and Bob Packham, Barry Hogg and Ian
Evitt all challenging hard in class C.
It looked like it was going to remain really close for
the whole day, and then good old-fashioned
Cumbrian weather struck.
If you ever wondered why the grass is so green and
the lakes are so full in Cumbria, you quickly
understood when you are stuck in a trials car in the
middle of a monsoon. Boy did it rain! Richard
Waterhouse was seen hiding under the trees trying
to find shelter, but most of just got soaked to the
skin.
The effect of the rain on the hills plus a delay on Joy
and Jeff’s hill allowed the rain to really change the
grip (or lack of it!) on the hills. However, no one
could stop David and Rollo taking a well-earned
victory, and having witnessed him cleaning Lorna’s
difficult hill, he really deserved it, with some
fantastic driving.
Bill came second from Robin, with Michael and
Mike close behind. Great driving from Richard
Gibson saw him win B class but he was pipped
overall by his dad Brian who won Class C.
Big thank you to all the marshals for braving the
weather, most without waterproofs, and Phil,Gerald
and Eva for making the day run so smoothly.
On to Day Two: Phil….
Michael Toulmin’s innocuous statement on the
previous Friday night of: “We really haven’t had
any worthwhile rain at all” I thought rather brave at
the time as I believe that fate can be tempted. And
so it rained (most of it during the barbeque!)
Michael, as C of C for the day, had set out 8 hills,
though six only were to be used during each round,
enabling a switch at lunchtime. The previous day’s
entry of 30 had been trimmed somewhat by a
number of retirements. However, a still
respectable 20 crews set out for the day’s activity.
Hill 1 marshalled by Lorna Woodward was
probably the most innocuous looking of all six but
proved to be the only one to split early leaders
during Round 1 (with Mike Lawn, Bill Rhodes and
Richard Waterhouse being separated by only one
point.) Hill 4 marshalled by Jeff and Joy Barton put
paid to at least seven competitors, all collecting
11’s as a result of the overnight rain and the use of
a 3” pump from the beck on the previous day.
Round 2 saw the same sections with only minor
tweaks, and the lunchtime leader was Mike Lawn
using the ex Mark Vaughan Crosslé to great effect,
with Bill Rhodes trailing by 1 point. Richard
Waterhouse was trailing still further, having
collected a six during one of the morning’s deluges
of Best Cumbrian Mineral Water on Hill 2.
However, Richard was leading the B class, level
with Chris Maries holding up the C class banner.
The short lunch break saw the sky clear a little and
the competitors took to the hills again.
The third round saw Bill Rhodes nudge ahead of
Mike with a miserly return of 1 pt, to Mike’s 5 pts
which set up a real dog fight during the last round.
Mike’s nemesis appeared to be Hill 2 marshalled
by his own beloved Linda (maybe this was the
problem). But it was Hill 5 which proved to be the
final decider, with Michael Toulmin having
switched a very muddy mid section completely,
forcing every driver to burn more and more
precious turf out, before trying to catch the trickle
back.
The final analysis saw Mike Lawn’s sound
investment pay off, taking the win by just the one
point from Bill. Richard Waterhouse took the B
Class and Chris Maries walked off with the C
Class. One particularly notable drive was that of
Brian Gibson who managed to beat son Richard on
both days.
I must not finish without reiterating our thanks to
Mike and Sandy, for their wonderful hospitality. It is
clear that people will travel many miles for just a
sniff of Sandy’s delicious fruit crumble. Special
thanks must go to to Douggie and Jackie for a
superb barbeque, despite the weather, and of
course, to the marshals who constantly had to
weather the storm this weekend!!!
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