We enjoyed the trial. It had the promised different flavour. There seemed to be lots of stops for holding controls but I like that as it gives a chance to socialise. I thought Riverton was good. We had a long wait in a queue there, caused I think by difficulties in removing a broken down Reliant.
We also had a long wait for the Bude special test. Apart from that everything seemed to be well with the organisation.
I hadn’t driven in the Lands End for 4 years and my car when I was still in class six so this was the first time I had done Bluehills 2 without a re-start. I thought the new tight bits were very tight but we got up OK.
We ran in company with Simon Robson and Neil Bray and helped Neil when he had a puncture on Hoskins and couldn’t get the wheel off because the nut was rounded. First we tried to chisel it off but it wouldn’t shift. Finally we decided to change the tube with the wheel in-situ. When we got the tyre off we found the alloy rim had split but we bandaged it up with Duck tape, got a new tube in and got the Skoda going to finish.
We weren’t staying at the “official†hotel so didn’t go to the club supper. We had a nice meal at a fish restaurant but isn’t Newquay isn’t my idea of a nice place and I was glad we weren’t there for two nights. Personally I think the “Lands End†should finish at Lands End!
How was your Lands End Trial?
Michael Leete
Things were going OK until waiting to start at Stoney Street, the lights went dead and smoke started rising from below my seat from the battery area. The main wire had burned from the battery to the ammeter. Lost the battery compartment screw so had to leave the battery behind and carry the cover and the bag on the back. Went up the section behind Duncan Welch with a torch, cleaned it despite having to go a bit slower than I normally would do. Then followed him to The pub stop with Dudley Sterry behind. Waited there for daylight (three hours) and carried on , thanks to all those that let me pass at Riverton and all the other sections, it really was rude of me but I thought that I might be able to make up some of the time if I was not delayed. In the end I finished five minutes after my due time and cleaned all the sections! Bishops Wood Jump was good - about three feet in the air I think. It will be interesting to see the results, my timing would have been unusual and don't know if I was observed at Stoney Street or whether I was regarded as just passing through,
ReplyDeleteBad luck with the lights John. I had quite a long chat on the phone with Roger Cantrill this morning and he said to say "Hello" to you! He enjoyed himself I think but he reckons its Class O for him next time! He finished in the Marlin. Brian
ReplyDeleteNot one of our greatest successes. Failed Beggars restart, possibly due to a puncture. Failed Hoskin restart along with many. Major component failure at Blue Hills. Which component? The one behind the steering wheel. Excellent trial, congratulations to Roger and the team. I liked the controlls which kept the whole thing moving. The new (to me) sections were great even if I failed Bishops wood restart. Finishing in Newquay was nostalgic if nothing else, it's an awful long drive to Lands End/Penzance even if Flambards is some consolation. It's even firther on the way home especially if home is nearly 500 miles away. Great weekend, lets do it again Tony
ReplyDelete‘Longmac’ (or should that now be ‘Tyraps’ after his very effective repair to the wing) and I had a very good run on this year’s Lands End, and I was delighted to get him to the finish this time! We left the hood at home and enjoyed the night run, particularly when the moon was bright. The sections went well with the new (to me) Riverton and Warleggan sections being good additions althought the latter was pretty bouncy. I was particularly pleased to get off the class 8 restart and see the top of Hoskin – for the first time. It is a lot more pleasant exiting that way than reversing down. Apart from one front wing stay breaking (two miles out of the Wilsey halt – typical timing) Torum ran faultlessly. I had the same component failure at Bluehills as Tony, first on Bluehills 1 when despite bouncing off the bank beside the stone ramp the car kept going and cleared the section. Then on Bluehills 2 we lost the chance to claim a gold because I parked in a hole on the restart from which there was no escape except on the end of the winch cable. Seeing the smile on Ray Goodright’s face as his Arkley appeared at the top of Blue Hills 2 made us forget any disappointment we felt – he is claiming a gold and succeeded despite suffering from a flu-like cold throughout the event. If we could finish more often I might even have to consider buying dinner tickets in future. Joe
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