Great trialling weather, nice day with lots of Mud! Scruitineering seemed a bit chaotic and I had only a few minutes for my breakfast despite getting there with an hour to spare. (major black mark if I don’t get my breakfast!). As Simon said in the instructions you had to follow the route card not the car in front as competitors were leaving to the left as we turned right out of the start. We got up Farlow without any problems although I understand quite a few didn’t. After Craven Arms we did the Ratlinghope, Gattens Gamble, Adstone loop first. I really enjoy these three sections even though they might not have a great bearing on the results they are fantastic to drive and with the wonderful views from the top it’s a sense of achievement like climbing Everest! I understand there were problems for class three as they did this loop after Round Oak and found some of the sections closed and the marshals gone.
We were one of the last to get to Round Oak and had a one and a half hour wait. I thought it was worth it as the section is a real challenge of balancing throttle against grip. To much power in the wrong place and you are off into the ditch. This is the problem as when that happened it took up to twenty minutes to tow people out. If Simon reads this, I hope you persevere and keep it in the event!
Hungerford was tricky at the bottom as usual and also at the top on the bump. We ran out of ground clearance here and stopped, in front of fellow Falcons Richard and Ed who gave us a little push and we were away. Giles cleaned this and that put him in the lead of class four.
There was no restart in the route card for Ippikins Route but the start marshal told us we had to do one. This was positioned right on the corner and made it impossible for us. We got going but just couldn’t get around the corner as we didn’t have any speed to bring the back round.
It was just getting dark for The Jenny-Wind where we spun to a halt at the seven (I think). By the time we had the tyres pumped up a bit for Harley Bank it was nice and dark which made this long hill a real adventure. Definitely one of my favourites.
Finally, it was into the estate for a couple of sections and a special test. Personally I didn’t like these as I thought they were out of character with the rest of the event. It was getting very late (we signed off at 6pm) and with a long drive home in front of us (we got a flat on the M6) Mike and I would have preferred to finish after Harley Bank. Others may disagree of course.
In conclusion I really enjoyed my Clee. Some great sections, plenty of friendly marshals. Simon and his team had clearly put a lot of thought into their event and even if some things were not perfect on the day I am sure they will work on them for the future. Well done MAC.
Michael
PS – I thought the different route for different classes seemed a good idea.
I have posted some pictures on The Photo Album. To speed downloading I have treated them to a healthy dose of compression. If you would like an un-compressed copy please e-mail me at mleete24@hotmail.com Michael
ReplyDeleteFrom John Looker:- Michael I agree about the last two sections. I don't think that they had any bearing on the results as most seemed to be getting 10's and 11's but the results will give us the facts.I understand from talking to the marshalls that they had the1st car at 9:00 a.m. and they were still there for later cars at 6:00 p.m. That's dedication. Splitting the route was always going to be challenging and with some fine tuning could be something other contemplate. In theory cars should arrive at the hills at 4 minute intervals ( I did say in theory ) and thus reduce delays. I understand that an un related accident at the top of Hungerford caused that delay. Could you send me the un compressed pictures as there are some cracking one posted Thanks John L
ReplyDeleteClee Results posted here by Pat
ReplyDeleteWell .. now that the results have been published ... I can say that we had a very good, and thoroughly enjoyable, Clee. I hadn't done the event since 1997 and, my, how it's changed. Gone were all of the mickey-mouse PCT-style sections to be replaced by a string of real classics. OK, so the Ratlinghope/Gatten/Adstone loop may not affect the results (much) but the scenery is stunning. Even our 'beginner's error' on Round Oak and a, luckily uncharacteristic, misreading of Special Test 2 (we won't do that again!) couldn't dampen the enthusiasm of clearing Farlow and Ippikins Rock when most of Class 7 didn't. We also had a stirring climb to a 4 on Meadowley before it was cancelled. Sure, the last two sections were a bit 'unnecessary' as they didn't affect the results much but I'll believe Simon when he says that the conditions changed dramatically overnight and he didn't have the time to re-set the sections before the first few cars had made their attempts. What is particularly interesting is to see which sections favour which classes. Putting Class 8 to one side: Round Oak clearly favours rear-engined cars; Ippikins Rock appears to favour Classes 1 and 2; and a quite bizarre selection of cars cleared Hungerford but that, I'm told, may be due to the wheel size - the bigger the better. However, look at the Top 15 - all the classes except 5 represented with just 10 points separating 1st and 15th place. That's a fantastic result for any trials organiser and Simon and his team deserve real congratulations for that aspect of the trial. ... and finally. It 's was perfect trialling weather - watery winter sunshine after days of rain. Andrew
ReplyDelete... another thought. Where did all the Class 6 cars come from? If you look at recent MCC trials the Class 6 entry rarely gets into double figures in a event with 250 to 350 competitors, but the Clee managed seven entries in Class 6 out of just under 80 overall. Andrew
ReplyDeleteWell it was an interesting event and I have saved my comments until I had a look at the results. Amazing, only 2 class 8 cars in the top 15. I think Hungerford especially the route out has passed its 'Use By' date, it needs some major work done to it. I agree that the last 3 hills were a bit pointless, but then I am not very keen on deep mud. Majors Leap is another I don't really like and the class 8 deviation on Harley Bank is also pretty pointless if you look at the results. But I agree that the run around Rattlinghope and over the Long Mynd is fantastic. As for time I ran at 23 and had signed off loaded the car on the trailer and was just leaving the Boyne Arms listening to the 4.o'clock news so not bad. But thanks to the marshals who were on duty for so long. Stuart Harrold
ReplyDeleteWell, how you feel about a trial does depend a bit on how you did, see Andrew Brown's entry. We didn't do well but I'll try not to winge too much. The day started badly when the car seemed to lose all its enthusiasm at the foot of Farlow resulting in a stop half way up, Andrew proved a Marlin could get up. We enjoyed all the early hills especially Gatten's. Round Oak is an excellent section but as with some of the later ones the scores were inversely proportional to ground clearance, the top of Hungerford was similar. The exit from Hungerford has always been tricky but this year it was beyond a joke. It was only some stalwart spadework by a marshall that enabled to get out at all. I usually like Ippikins Rock but this year it was not good for me. Perhaps it was trying to slaughter the marshall at the diff test or the fact that there was no restart on the route card but I wasn't sure whether to believe the start marshall when he told me there was one and I was so busy trying to decide whether to stop or not and look to see if there was a yellow or red sticker on the R boards that I didn't realise that it was on the corner and eventually stopped it a place that made getting round the corner quite impossible. My opinion for what it's worth, not a lot probably, is that the corner will stop a number of cars anyhow and if you are going to have a restart having it up the hill would give a wider range of scores. Also a small arrow on the corner would remove the disadvantage to those like me who haven't done the event for a few years. It was overall a good day with excellent weather and good marshalling but I did feel the application of tyre pressure limits which I generally support bordered on the perverse. However as Andrew says the results do suggest that it was overall an excellent trial. We will be back next year. Tony
ReplyDeleteOh dear I was in a bad mood last night. My computer was playing up and I was beind a bit Neil in the young ones 'everything hates me' Iforgot to say that sending groups of on different routes was an excellent idea. I know there were delays at the end but these would have been even worse if we had all done the sections in the same order. Tony
ReplyDeleteHaving further reflected on the Clee and had a good look at the results I have some further observations. The multi route system seemed to work for me hence the early finish. It was a good system and the only hold up for us was Gattens Gamble. But I now realise why there were only 2 class 8 cars in the first 15. Class 8 did an extra hill to all other classes and it was a hill where the average class 8 score was 10.33. So no wonder there were not many 8's up front. I was very pleased with my 5th. in class. But on the subject of extra hills its a bit like certain cars in a race having to do an extra lap or two. Any other class 8ers got views on this? Stuart Harrold
ReplyDeleteAh! So someone's spotted Simon Woodall's cunning plan to equalise scores between the classes - but, Stuart, you've missed half the plan. It should actually have been one extra section for Class 7 (Meadowley) and two extra sections for Class 8 (Meadowley and Stanborough), It's only because Meadowley was cancelled that it was reduced to one extra section for Class 8 and we got the Top 15 we did - if Meadowley had been included everyone in Classes 7 and 8, except Peter Fear (who cleaned it), would have had a few more points. I know Roger Bricknell got a 3 so he'd still have been in the Top 15, albeit lower down, but I don't know Adrian Marfell's score - anything up to and including a 4 and he'd still be in the Top 15 as well. Andrew
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ReplyDeleteThose of you who did the event may be interested to know where you went. Attached should be a map of the area courtesy of MR Microsoft's Autoroute. Because its Autoroute I have to add many "via" points to force it to go the way I want it to so the actual Sections are:
1,29 Start/Finish
2 Farlow
3 Catherton Spl Test
5 Ratlinghope
6 Gatten
8 Adstone
13 Round Oak
15 Hungerford
18/19 Railway Spl Test/Ippikins Rock/Majors Leap
21 Jenny-Wind / Harley Bank
23 Meadowley Wood
27-28 Ditton Spl Test/Hillside/Stanborough/Forresters Fancy Strict sequential order gets you the Evens Route,
Odds went 1,2,3,10,11,12,13,4,5,6,7,8,9,14...... Tried to add this before, but system didn't seem to want to play, so if it appears twice, Sorry
Attachment: Main Route.jpg
As Andrew pointed out, nearly all eight clases within touching distance of winning the Clee outright, now that is what I call a result. If Adrian had matched Pete Fear on the second to last hill then class eight would have won. With events like the Camel when the best of the blue cats are not within 50 points of the wining car, it would not have mattered if class 8 did an extra ten hills the result would still remain the same. Simon and his team in my opinion put every one on a level playing field and if more events can do the same then this year the wheelspin might not be over by the summer. Regards Dave...........
ReplyDeleteI agree with David. Simon got the mix near perfect. Too many trials over the years have been dominated by Class 8's in the top 10. The Camel is an excellent example. On the majority of trials the answer is simply rougher or steeper sections to stop the Class 8's, that simply wrecks the saloons and drives people out of the sport. Surely an extra hill to make it more level is a better idea. Or, the ingenious way Ross & District ran Jack and Jill on the Kyrle. If we go the alternative route of rougher tougher sections which all cars have to do, then we will become a specialised sport more akin to sporting trials, with very few "real" cars competing. On the subject of the last two hills, I agree with the general concensus that they werent the best. Incredible climbs by Pete Fear and Dave Heale though. And as for Hungerford, I believe it is one of the best and most traditional hills in trials. Yes, it has deep ruts and for me thats an advantage, but then why shouldnt one hill favour one type of car and another hill a different type. If it comes to steepness then a class 4 beetle will never compete against a Class 3, let alone a Class 6,7 or 8. Its swings and roundabouts, and when you end up with a trial like the Clee getting such a good mix of classes in the top 10, then it has to be right! Giles
ReplyDeleteI agree with Giles, Hungerford is one of the great sections and although I grounded out at the the class 8 restart I have no problem with that and all power to those who cleaned it. What I didn't like was the bit after the section ends. It may have got better later on when us early runners had graded it with our sumpguards. I did note an ancient bulldozer parked on the right near the top, perhaps we should try and get that going. Tony
ReplyDeleteTony, I always have difficulty with the exit road from Hingerford as well. Running a 1302s with MacPherson Struts I find the lower suspension arms act like a snow-plough. My strategy is try it once.If I get stuck then I throw the passenger out (he's the best part of 20 years younger tham me!) then blast it. Seems to work fine. Just as it did when we did the Clee in Mike's car and he threw me out! Seriously though, Didn't Simon and the guys and gals put on a really fantastic trial? Michael
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