The 8 th Plum pudding Sporting trial

 

The 8 th plum pudding skakedown trial was held at the chalk pits near halniker on the A272 In surrey. This site becoming a regular haunt for the trial, The site is a mixture of some chalky slopes, some wooded areas and some smaller areas that are a bit fiddly. Craig Bazley and Bill Watson laid out 7 sections for the good entry of 25 drivers. Sections were wide enough not to trouble anybody with dragging the posts, and yet still tricky enough to test the A class drivers on the higher areas and subtle enough to give the novice class a decent day out. Another of Bills arrangements was to organise brilliant sunshine all day. So warm in fact that most drivers were in t-shirt and fleece's

This trial, rearly is becoming the flagship event of the 750 championship for 750 drivers. As usual there is a friendly atsmosphere that percolates down though the event. I guess its something to do with the enthusiasm that Craig and his team exudes. Now talking of Craig, he of course is doing a fantastic job in the club in organising the trials. And I would say to all 750 club members to give him a hand this year with organising the events.

There were a lot of new faces at this trial, which can only mean that the 750 club are doing something right. John Bundock was double driving with Monty Peters, Paul Faulkners passenger Gerry Clear was also having a go double driving with Paul. Another double drive was Ann Anderson and and M brockhurst. Ann being the 750's lady driver for this season, It was Anns first drive and scored a whopping 259 points making her last in the running, But as you know we all have to start somewhere, and Ann gave it her best shot, no doubt she will be a regular 750 entrant this year and start to get some more confidence in driving, then the scores will drop I'm sure.

Ian Wright was out in his new car giving it a workout, and although still needing some cosmetic work to be done seemed satisfied with its performance. This car is a new breed of Sherpa's. A totally unique design that the car has no chassis as such, all of the running gear is bolted to the engine and transmission, and also features indipendant rear suspention.

Paul Faulkner had to retire on round 4 due to a front wheel collapsing, which was a bit of a shame as Gerry missed out on finishing as well. Other retirements were Sam Archer in round 3 and Kevin Filmer in round 4

Non starter Was John Naismith, who for some reason didn't even make the meeting, let alone the start line.

Section one in woods to the left, not rearly causing any problems thoughout the day other than Kevin filmer who stuck at the 8 post on round one but managed to get his act together for the rest of the day.

Section two again in the woods, caught everybody out at the 9 and 10 gate, all except for A class driver Paul Faulkner and Novice class driver Roland Carson. This defiantly was Rolands bit of glory on the day, but throwing it away on section seven with a silly 9 scored.

Section three was the last one on the left hand side, this had a crunch point at gate 7, This needed a fast trickle over the stones and shiney mud to get over it, any wheelspin and it was all over. once you were past this you were on for a either a 2 or a 1.

Section four, this was a combination of techniques needed, the first part of the section requiring a steady drive with no wheelspin, just letting the car steer round the gates, the second part of the section was a quick sprint and a final blast up a muddy bank, This final part gave you certain 3, and a clear with a bit of commitment and the right gear. This was Monty Peters hill of doom, on the last round dragging the 4 pole for no good reason and rearly costing him winning the trial

Section five along the right hand side, this picked up loads of different scores thoughout the day, and stood the test of sorting the drivers out in their class, After lunch in round 3 it was only the A class drivers that cleared the section. B Class driver Bill Hicks not rearly getting any joy on this section and scoring a 10 on round one.

Section six along the back on the right hand side, No- one getting hung up here, but at the first climb to the 7 and 8 pole, this needed a good amount of revs at the right time to get some decent momentum going. In rounds 1 and 2 it only caught a few drivers out, but in the afternoon a change to the final part of the section took a few scalps.

Section 7 tucked away in the right hand corner, was the fiddly one of the day, a real tight little section though the trees requiring a carefull use of the space and for sure a carful selection of the right gear. This little section caught out paul Filmer on round one with a massive 9. And also tripping up A class driver Ian wright taking his eye off the ball at the 9 as well in round 3

So all in all a good day, with Monty peters and John Ridley neck and neck all day with the same scores at lunchtime and going into round 3 with monty 1 point ahead, however a steady drive by John Ridley finishing 2 points ahead of Monty Peters to take the plum pudding silverware.

Results

1 st Overall, John Ridley

1 st Class A driver Monty Peters

1 st Class B, Larry Carrol

1 st Class C, Rowland Carson