Classical Gas
www.classictrials.co.uk
April 2001 - Part 1
Brickhill Report
by Duncan Stephens
Barrie Parker continued his domination of the PCT scene at Falcon’s Championship opener, going straight into the lead and staying there all day. Other drivers are now jumping on the Peugeot 104 band wagon, only to discover it’s the driver doing the winning not the car!
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Barrie Parker and Chris Smith being presented with their awards by Dot Parson's, who with husband John are one of the mainstays of Falcon's trials organisation. |
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Jack Williams and Martin Cheshire battle with Brickhills sandy slopes. |
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The day dawned (perhaps dawned is not really the right word as the fog was so thick) on the 18th February 2001, which meant our annual visit to Falcon's Brickhill PCT. Once again Barrie Parker dominated the whole event, with only Malcolm Brown (Westfield) coming close to matching his superiority.
It is the first time that the Production Car Trialers have met this year, and the event is the opening round of the MSA championship, which now looks that it might be severely effected by Foot and Mouth, as with most other motorsport.
Barrie Parker has now dominated the PCT scene for two years in his agile Peugeot 104, and this has resulted in numerous others making debut appearances at the event. There are even rumours that a certain Calvin Kneebone, from Cornwall, and a very good sporting triallist has bought two! We are all still waiting for Barrie's car too break, as apparently they are inherently weak…and this after two years of extensive use!
The ground had also frozen hard to add to all the driver's worries of getting through all the murk of the fog to the site. There was a good spread through out the entry, though not so many in the club section as in previous years. All the classes went to different hills, which mixed up the field, and enabled us to all see people that we would not normally get to.
Barrie was the first car on the hills, and took the initiative right from the second hill, and was never to be led in the class…sounds rather familiar, and has even resulted in Simon Harris moving classes in an effort to put together a championship challenge. Barrie gradually extended his lead in the class throughout the morning, to be leading his recruit in another Pug 104 at lunch by a mere 31 marks! Colin Read and Chris Smith were having there usual battle, Colin favouring the Nova this week but it was Colin that held the advantage at lunch, and was within sight of second in class and Leslie Andrew. Much of the rest of the class were finding it very hard going to be fair in very greasy conditions.
In class B, Duncan Stephens (1200 Nova) was first on the hills…and took the lead in the class on the second hill, the Macdonald’s, and was the only person to climb it. Duncan had installed Andrea Lane in the passengers seat for the day, looking for some insider knowledge on the site. He did nearly managed to give everyone a heart-attack on Arnold's hill by getting a bit carried away on the sand and hitting the step a bit hard, with the drop on the left looming ever closer! Over the course of the morning, Duncan edged out Tony and June Harrison (Yugo, yes Yugo!), by four and eight marks respectively. Simon Harris was having a bad day, but the Prescott Mini was pressing the leading three hard very hard with some astounding climbs.
Class C, was being dominated by the aforementioned Malcolm Brown. He always goes very well on this site, as it suits his style and the car. At lunch he was on target for achieving his main target for the day, that being to drop less marks than Barrie, as he was on 35, to Barrie's 37. The rest of the class, that contained more Imps than recently, was being led by Steve Courts, with Stuart Cairney, Richard Tompkins and Dave Harvey hot on his heals, all covered by ten marks, from 70 onwards. However, all was quiet on Stuart's part, as he had the throttle in PCT set up oppose to Classic Trial's, but this was rectified at lunch so that he could get full power…and we all heard it in the afternoon to prove it!! Dave Harvey, who has not been seen at this event for a long time, had his custom huge smile on his face, and was thoroughly enjoying himself. Dave even finds it comical when he gets stuck, wherever it is on the hill, so you have to say that he does not take it that seriously!
Class D was very tight, with the three main contenders in the class covered by a handful of points, so everything was still to play for. Jack Williams (Tempest), Peter Manning (Midget) and Robin Howard (back in the Marlin) were the three tightly contesting the class. The Weeks' were trying to get the hang of their 'new' mount, but a change of car has not resulted in a change of fortunes on the reliability front, as they were forced to retire during the afternoon. A very early casualty was Ian Lawson in his Dutton who got stuck in a bog below hill 2, and in the extraction process managed to pull off an oil pipe. The club class, DD, was being lead by David Thompson who was by lunchtime getting the hang of the Troll, apparently after some advice from David Alderson…no doubt that advice was get it flat in second!! Although Ross Nuten had a good first round, and then mysteriously retired, so a good battle could have developed between these too as the day progressed
During the course of the afternoon the fog lifted in about five minutes flat, we turned round and it had all gone, and was clear, but this was only short lived as it was closing in again by the end of the day. As the fog cleared the hills dried momentarily. However, I could not decide whether they were drier than last year or not, as the grass ones were infinitely drier, but hill one in the tree's certainly was not!!
Barrie once again had one of his now customary stunning afternoons, to only drop a further 19 marks during the afternoons 16 hills, including a nine on hill two of the last round that mysteriously had suddenly become a lot harder. Perhaps it was that moisture coming out of the ground, or the fog returning. It was Barrie’s worst mark of the day though….some of the rest of the entry just wished they could have achieved that on half the hills! As a result he just piped Malcolm to the lowest marks lost, 56 to 58. What a battle. No surprise that Barrie extended his lead within the class, to take the overall and thus his friend, Leslie Andrew, managed to take the class in another Pug 104, dropping 112. Chris Smith and Colin Reid continued there great battle right up till the last hill, with Chris taking it by four, on 141. I suspect that Chris was a bit more willing to be harder on his car, than Colin, and try second! This just shows what kind of different league Barrie is in!
Duncan managed to have a storming third round, going round on twelve, and being one of only two to climb Hazel and Murry's again. This effectively sowed up the class, as Tony and June both dropped 29. Duncan managed to hold it all together for the final round, only just, and take the class on 98, with Tony on 116. This was a very good debut performance by the Harrison's in class B, and look like a force to be reckoned with in the future. Simon Harris, had a unique occurrence, in that he finished last in class, that he said that he had never managed before in numerous years of trialing! I am not sure how long Andrea will be suffering the nerves of all the commitment that I had throughout the day…well it is the only way at Brickhill, to maintain your speed.
Malcolm continued his domination of class C, but Stuart had a good go and trying to catch Steve, but Steve managed to hold off, just. Stuart did have David Heale telling him off for not concentrating enough, and spending too much time talking though! Well surely that is part of trialling…when doing sporting trials we never stop! Richard Tompkins did not have quite a good an afternoon, and dropped a few more marks, but still finished fourth in class. Dave did however slip back a little during the afternoon with a couple of rounds a bit below par, on his ever-improving standards.
In class D, the titanic battle continued, but Robin gradually managed to create a small but relieving cushion over Jack, to win by 16, and reverse the result of twelve months ago. Peter was just held off by Jack, despite a determined last round. Meanwhile, David Thompson was really beginning to get the hang of blasting the Troll, but had not got the hang of the swinging tail that cost him numerous marks as it swung into poles. Not used to all that power I suppose after the Buggy. I ask myself, why do we not see more of the classic triallers out on this event, in any car up to and including class 7, as what do you all do during the summer?! Tim Lakin came and did a few events in his Marlin last year, and upset the formbook in class D a bit, and was put into the victorious West Midlands team at the inter-association event.
So concluded another excellent Falcon PCT, which netted them the best BTRDA PCT last year, and yet another win for Mr. Parker…this really is getting boring for everyone else Barrie! Duncan Stephens won class B, after a great battle, and similarly for Robin Howard in class D, but Malcolm Brown was a more convincing winner in class C
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