Hello,
I am disapointed with the changes to The Edinburgh, which has always been ny favourite trial. I consider that going back to one start, with a shortened night run, to be a retrogate step.
The blurb that came with the regs said this was "in response to members comments". My comment is put it back to the last few years. What do other Gassers think?
Michael
I totally agree with Michael. The separate start points and the night runs are what make MCC events different to other 1 day events. Its a great shame the Edinborough has gone down this route. I do hope the MCC comittee will revert to the 'normal' format in 2003. Stuart Harrold
ReplyDeleteI am also in agreement. The MCC events are Classic Reliability Trials. Their origins are very much on the ability to run a laid down route to a laid down schedule, with the occasional competitive section thrown in to add "spice" and to help sort the results. This is what gives them their unique character and differentiates them from being just another of the ACTC series. If this years change is in response to grumbles about night runs from competitors who only wish to drive their cars on competitive sections because thier car is unmanageable or "uncomfortable" on the road, or because they feel the Touring Assembly is a "waste of their time", then I believe the MCC committee has made a mistake. There are MANY competitors who only enter the MCC events because of their character and the chance of taking part in an event with a huge history and in a relatively standard car. Competitors holding the views expressed above have simply entered the wrong events and should already know they are extremely well catered for in the ACTC series where they can trailer their car to & from every meeting should they wish, and only drive them for circa 80 road miles on average. Simon Robson
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Michael, MCC Classic Trials are special and should be 'through the night'. Also wasn't there some adverse comment about the long off road trails, some difficult, between hills. I would rather have more of these, not leave them out. Peter Davis
ReplyDeleteI agree. Even with the monsoon conditions we experienced (we drive topless) the night section is an important part of the event. There clearly has been a problem in the past with the final stragglers not finishing until 10pm, my sympathies are more with the marshalls then. However the last 2 events have been very good aprt from the weather and what ever the organisers do that will always be fickle. Anyhow I intend to enjoy the trial whatever but I hope that the views expressed above will prevail next year. Tony
ReplyDeleteI think it is true to say that we all want the three MCC trials to all have their own separate character. To my mind the fundamental statement that defines the differences is "The Exeter is the Cold One, The Lands End is the Long One and The Edinburgh is the Short (Rough) One."
ReplyDeleteThe MCC is an organisation that is steeped in tradition, and the maintenance of those traditions is important to the club and its members. If you disagree with the above, reply to say so. If not, read on…………. We have to consider the history of the trial we call the Edinburgh. Before the Second World War, the time when the current format of MCC trials was defined, the club ran an event starting and finishing in Buxton and using such hills as Litton Slack and Bamford Clough. This event was called the "One-Day Sporting". It continued in this style until the fifties, when the term "sporting trial" started to refer to something somewhat different to that which the MCC promoted. The event then changed its name, but not its format, to The Derbyshire Trial. During these transitional years the event moved from being having a circular route to becoming more in line with its three brethren in having the start and finish in different places. But the start point for the Derbyshire never went further afield than Atkins Garage on the A38 just south of Derby. For the newer members, that is an equivalent distance from the action to the Saltbox Café that we used until recently as the breakfast halt. Meanwhile, the Edinburgh continued to go to Edinburgh and did so at Whitsun (not October). The end of the sixties saw the end of the Edinburgh going to Edinburgh as the membership had voted with its feet and not supported the event in sufficient numbers to make it worthwhile. For political reasons, the club could not afford to lose the Edinburgh name. (anyone who has organised a road based rally or trial will have filled out a Route Authorisation Form E404 and been faced with the question "is your event a schedule 4 event?" – well the Edinburgh Trial is one) So the Derbyshire disappeared and re-emerged over the same route as the Edinburgh – with no night run. This was 1968 or 69 as far as I can remember. During the 70’sand 80’s a suggestion of a night run was included – all the way from Coventry to Derby, a distance not dissimilar to that from the start of this years event to the start of the action. This fell by the wayside when the garage on the A45 closed and the area redeveloped. So we moved to Strensham and the night run gained sufficent distance to be properly identified as such.
But the bottom line is that a night run for this event is a modern invention, 10 years old at most, and does not reflect its traditional character. If you want a night run, you should want to go to Edinburgh as well. "Vive La Difference" I say.
I agree with all the above comments that the MCC should keep a night run as part of the Edinburgh Trial. Perhaps someone from the MCC Committee might like to comment and confirm that the dropping of the night run was for this year only. Mike. I agree with all the above comments that the MCC should keep a night run as part of the Edinburgh Trial. Perhaps someone from the MCC Committee might like to comment and confirm that the dropping of the night run was for this year only. Mike.
ReplyDeleteOf course Simon Woodall is right, MCC members have traditionally cited tradition in objecting to any changes in the events that they don't like even when that tradition has only been around for a year or two. I too remember starting in Coventry at 6 in the morning and having breakfast at Atkins garage. I also remember a period in the 70's when the events had substantially fewer sections than today. So MCC events change, some changes we like some we do not. To grossly misquote A Lincoln and B Dylan 'You can please some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time but you can't please all of the people all of the time. I'll let you be in my trial if I can be in yours'. The organisers of the events do their utmost to make them enjoyable for the competitors and I believe that exchanges of opinions such as the above should help them, that''s traditional. All the best Tony
ReplyDeleteRegarding the traditional aspects of the MCC I think these are an essential part of the charm of the club and it's events. However, the "blurb" with the regs said the changes were "in response to members comments". From the correspondence here it seems that Classical Gas members would like the event to revert to the formatof the last few years, even though that may not be traditional. Michael
ReplyDeleteWhy don't we all wait until we've actually done the event before we start assuming that the changes will make for a 'lesser' experience? Andrew
ReplyDelete