EXMOOR CLOUDS CLASSIC CAR TRIAL 1985
ROUND 9 of the ACTC Championship (Association of Classic Trials Clubs) saw the top contenders and main bulk of competitors in the ACTC championship assembled at the Minehead Rugby Club Headquarters for the start of the Exmoor Classic Trial. Luckily the start was delayed for 15 minutes which enabled Dean and Crispin in the Beach Buggy and Jenny and myself in the Midget to sort ourselves out after a hectic drive through very patchy fog along the Tiverton Dulverton Dunster road to Minehead
The Trial turned out to be relatively easy as despite the wet summer all but two of the hills were dry and offered no real problem to most of the entry.
The two good hills were Pinn Quarry and Downscombe. Pin Quarry had a special test at the start of the section, this involved starting from line A driving through a deep ford to line B which was timed and proceeding on without stopping to the section which was 90 L and up a steep climb with a L & R at the top. The Midget performed well on the timed section the electrics being well waterproofed so there was no trouble with misfiring which seems to catch quite a few experienced drivers out. Bob Ray our friend and arch rival having trouble and finding that Midgets don’t like climbing hills on 3 cylinders. Dean was a little too eager on the timed section and turned the nice sweeping right-hander into a giant slalom as the buggy wheeled off the line and carried out all manner of antics before passing the B marker but a reasonable time and a clean climb were still achieved.
Downscombe is a hill that is always wet as a stream flows down through the section. Quite low tyre pressures were the order of the day for the Midget and a good blasting style of driving to get up over the greasy muddy rocky steps on the latter part of the section. A puncture was suffered but luckily the tyre held on to the rim until the top of the section was reached. Dean was also successful making it look somewhat easier in the buggy.
With ten competitors clean it left the last section to sort out the finishing order. The section incorporated a special test which was start from line A stop astride line B reverse back to step astride line A then forward to cross line C and end of section. The gradient was steep and the surface loose and stony so reversing down hill to stop astride line A was tricky. Dean got things locked up a bit sideways whereas I had brain fade on trying to select first gear from reverse so our times were not as good as could have been, giving a finishing order of 5th for the Midget and 10th for the Buggy. John Coles being fastest in his home built Collier Special.
The event finished back at Minehead Rugby Club where results and awards were given out. All in all a very good days sport was enjoyed with the route covering some fine scenery over Exmoor.
Care had to be taken driving home on the Dulverton road not because of fog but to avoid the deer which were gaily trotting along the road in the dark.
Couple of Photos Downscombe and top of Owey Dean(Buggy) Richard Penhale (Notchback) Greg Warren(Escort) and John Coles(Collier Special)
Click on image to enlarge
Arthur Vowden
