Paul Bartleman's Camel

Camel Vale attracted 44 entries for their Camel Classic trial on 4 December. There was one non-starter, and it was Roger Ugalde in his Allard, who led the field away from the Victory Hall in Roche. The first two sections, and a special test, were in the Bishopswood complex. The first one used part of the track used in the Lands End, but deviated to finish with an impossible bank, with a difficult restart for class eight. Nobody came out of the top. Eventual winner Paul Bartleman, Dudley Sterry and Dave Prowse (Marlin) coming closest with two’s. The second Bishopswood section was just up the way. It was a muddy track that just got steeper and steeper until most of the lower classes ran out of power, grip or a combination of the two. Classes 6, 7 and 8 had to restart, but with their higher power to weight ratio all the class 8’s went clean as did eventual top four in both classes 3 and 7 and Trevor Johns in class 6.

The three Hustyn Woods sections were about a mile away. These are definitely not to be confused with the old Lands End section, which is now a tarmac road. The first one was the only section on the event that could be described as rough and that was only if you climbed high enough! It was a bit complicated as cars had to reverse down a track to the start. They then went back up the track and tried to turn 90 left into an artificial, very muddy (well clay) route newly cut through the trees. There was a tree root on the turn that stopped all the lower classes so they never actually got to the rough bit. A lot of power was necessary to get anywhere but even the best class eights could only get to the one. Mike Workman stopped at the two but only after hitting the tree root at enormous speed, throwing Mike so far into the air that Mark Linforth didn’t think he would land back in the car.

There was big delay just up the track at Hustyn Wood 2 and some confusion as to if the deviation at the top would be used for all classes. There was in-decision amongst the marshals before it was decided to include it for all, but not before Colin Perryman had gone up, by-passing the deviation in accordance with an official notice at the bottom. Colin was given a second go but punctured two tyres in the process. A good power to weight ratio was necessary to get up the first and some of the lower powered cars really struggled. So did Ian Moss for a different reason. He went through the puddle at the bottom so fast that water got onto the electrics and the very smart 1200cc Imp fluffed to a stop at 11. Mike Workman got to the one marker but with a terrible noise coming from the gearbox of the GVS and he retired. After this, the third Hustyn Woods section was a bit on anti-climax. It wasn’t easy though and Simon Woodall was the only car to go clean in his 2.5 litre Buggy. This put Simon into the lead of the trial with four marks lost, ahead of Paul Bartleman (5) and Dudley Sterry (7). Next came Adrian Dommett on eight. Adrian was driving his Ford Special in class 8 again, rather than the Wolesley Hornet he had used earlier in the year.

Section 6 at Trerice still didn’t involve going out onto the road. It was approached via the top of the section so everyone could see how deep the ruts at the top were. They were soft mud though, in keeping with the Camels “not a rough trial” reputation. Getting through them required ground clearance that Richard Dawe doesn’t have on his Midget and he got well and truly stuck, blocking the section for more than half an hour before recovery arrived. Chris Symons was the only other competitor in class 5, driving his Porsche 924, which goes very well. Chris came all the way down from Leicester and it’s a toss up whether he or Simon Groves had the longest trip to the trial.

Finally, it was back on the road, in heavy rain before turning into a Vineyard for Polmorla. The section started amongst the farm buildings, levelled, and then went right up a very steep bank, thronged with spectators and marshals. Most of the lower classes stopped here but many of the class eights went on to get round the right hand bend before stopping. This was another hill that nobody cleaned. Simon Woodall was best with two, increasing his lead. Falcon’s Ian Davis, chasing a win in the ACTC Wheelspin championship, was next best with three.

It was really raining now and the two sections at Lanow were very, very slippery. They were both steep climbs through the trees. Simon Woodall dropped five on the second one and lost his overall lead to Paul Bartleman who went clean, putting him into a lead he was to retain for the rest of the day.

The four sections at Helligan and Shellwood saw the last of the rain and the retirement of Ian Moss when his Imp lost all its oil pressure. In class one we had also lost David Symons and David Haizelden. Colin Perryman was still going but definitely came into the walking wounded category, as there were horrible noises coming from his BMW’s diff and he was limited to 25 mph on the road.

Clinnick is a Camel Hill with a fearsome reputation and was thronged with spectators on the upper reaches. Although the section wasn’t rough, the approach track was, and Nigel Green got his Escort well and truly stuck on the diff on the way down to it. The hill started under a railway viaduct. There was a 90 right where the track disappeared into the sky before another 90 right where it became even steeper. It was all too much for the saloons in the lower classes who didn’t have the power to get more than half way up. Things were different in class 8 where they all nearly made it and so did Andrew Martin and Dave Prowse in class 7.

The final two sections were at Churchpark and it was dark when the later numbers came along. The first one was actually cleanable for many, which made a change. Things were different on the last one where only the class eights of Paul Bartleman, Simon Woodall, Ian Davis and Nigel Moss got to the summit. Simon Groves had his only problem of the day when a rear tyre punctured but this was soon changed.

Paul Bartleman hung onto the lead he gained at Lanow 2 to win the trial from Simon Woodall and Ian Davis who had a consistent run to come third overall on the Camel and win the ACTC Wheelspin championship. David Haizelden is Crackington champion despite having his only retirement of the year on the Camel. Hard charging Andrew Martin actually had more points than David but his fourth place in the Wheelspin took him out of the Crackington league.

Results:-