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to any of the clubs or organisers of the events featured. Words and Pictures
by Michael unless attributed otherwise. Michael is a proud member of the MCC,
ACTC, Dellow Register and Falcon amongst others, but does not represent their
views nor the views of any other organisers or clubs.
Stuff Below is old using it as a template
Mike Pearson won a dry March Hare, but
only just. One of three clean sheets Mike was faster on the special tests
than the Lieige’s of Steve Kenny and Jack Endley.
After problems with heavy rain last year the
March hare sections were if anything to dry this year. Neverless the
organisers contrived a competitive event and although a Class Eight did
win victory could have come from several classes, including Class 2 where
Steve Potter only failed one hill in his Trojan.
Markyate Truck Stop. A few Hundred yards from
Junction 9 on the M1
Duncan and Eleanor Welch chewing things over with scruitineers John
and Alex
Mike
Hayward waving Adrian Tucker-Peake away from the start
Unfortunately the cafe couldn’t
open which was a let down for the otherwise exclent facilities at the A5
Truckstop, just off the Junction 9 on the M1. First reserve Reg Salway had
his fill of excitement even before he arrived, having a puncture and fuel
pump problems on his way up from Bristol. Fortunately Reg got a run as
there was one non-arrival, but only after he found John Cotton as a last
minute passenger as Reg had come up from Bristol on his own. There were
plenty of inserting cars to look at, including Nigel Stoud’s wonderful
Model A in a well supported Class 2. And no you weren’t suffering from
double vision. Mike Chatwin was driving a second DP Wasp and was to have
the audacity to better its creator! Also in Class Eight Robin Barlow was
testing out his son Mike’s recently acquired Gruff 2. Look out for another
acquisition from the Barlow stable very soon!
Norton Street Lane
Byway - A long straight
climb on loose stones which had been resurfaced
since last year. There was a restart and deviation
for classes 6 and 7.
Peter Grenyer was in one of the three Suzuki X90's taking part.
There was a ten mile run over
to the first three sections, all on lanes in the rolling countryside
between Hitchin and Luton, starting with Norton Street Lane. This gentle
section is deteriorating as water runs down it during the winter. However,
it didn’t prove a problem for the lower classes who had a straight run
through. Classes Seven and Eight had a short deviation near the summit and
this caught out three drivers, Keith Oakes (Dutton Phaeton), Keith Newton
(Cannon) and Robin Barlow in the Gruff 2.
Chalk Hill
Byway - Another hill used for
the first time on last fears modern March Hare but perhaps used by
Falcon in the 50's. The section is a well surfaced track, approached
by more than two miles of green lanes! Chief Official Murray MacDonald
had organised a muddy deviation for classes 7 and 8
With
his Trojan in Class 2 John Wilton was able to bypass the deviation
where the marshals are standing (Picture by Dave Cook)
Mike
Chatwin tackling the deviation in his Troll (Picture by Dave Cook)
With last years higher class
deviation unusable because the 4WD ruts were to deep Murray MacDonald had
created a new one. It wasn’t as difficult as anticipated but some of the
longer cars in Class Seven didn’t succeed. One of these was Jim Bounden in
his Marlin. Jim will soon be taking on a new challenge, following in
Nicola Butchers footsteps by tackling this years Peking to Paris in a 1932
Sunbeam 16. Geoff Hodge also had problems in his RDT when he went off
course attempting to surmount the bank.
Water Cress Lane
Byway - Cress Beds and Water
Tower into one long section, with a restart for all classes on the
step up to the road. The remainder of the section has been rather
spoilt by the County Council who have filled in the ruts!
Reg
Taylor marshalled the start and Geoff Jackson the restart.
Clive
Booth and John Allsop were at the section.
The restart onto the road looks more fearsome than it is and David
Murrell was the only failure under the eyes of Robin Howard and the West
Suffolk MC team.
Kensworth Special Test and
Observed Section
Three
sections on
Private Land.
John
White struggled to stop his motor fluffing on the lower reaches but
went on to clean the section and win class four
Stephen Kingstone spun
to a halt at the three marker to drop his only marks before lunch.
Stephen went on to win Class Five.
Back across the A5 Kensworth sits on top of the Dunstable Downs. With
Edleborough Hill not available there was a Special Test and three observed
sections at this familiar Falcon location.
The special test was nice. Straight out and back with no reversing,
well done to Clerk of the Course Arnold Lane. Mike Pearson is not renowned
for using a lot of throttle but he really got his Dellow M2 Replica flying
to set the fastest time.
The first Kensworth section looked tricky. Starting on grass it went
onto the track, off onto the grass then briefly back onto the track where
you had to restart back onto the grass, turning as you did so. This proved
quite difficult, the camber produced a lot of weight transfer causing the
inevitable wheel spin and a few scary moments for Peter Thompson in his
Chummy. Steve Kingstone was the only eventual front runner to fail with
black smoke pouring from his tyres.
The second section was a twisty affair under the trees. Most days this
would have been damp but it wasn’t today and there was plenty of grip.
Unfortunately this was one of the sections that a few Classic regulars who
weren’t used to following the numbers on PCT type sections had navigation
problems. Graham Whiting was one and Kevin Barnes was to drop his only
marks of the day when he was reported hitting a post. Dean Partington was
another to have route finding issues here although it was not to affect
the final result.
The third and final observed section at Kensworth was a different
affair. Clean/Fail with a restart at the top it started at the gate below
the barn, went up the track before deviating left and following the
hedgerow up to the top where there was a restart managed by David Russell.
With the dry conditions this didn’t trouble the scorer to much although
there were some failures where people didn’t build sufficient momentum.
Beetle Drive
Woodland section finishing up a
steep bank with a restart for Seven & EightT
Andy Kilby competed in
Class 0 in his MGB GT. Class 0 omitted the hills
with deep ruts.
Nigel Jones and David
Hunt cleaned both of the Edlesborough sections.
The first section in Binghams
Wood is subdivided with a restart for seven and eight and Falcon regard it
as one of the events stoppers. The bottom part of the section was changed
for this year and it proved to tight for a couple of the larger cars.
There was another issue in so much as the one marker was just at the top
of what is known as “Verduns Bank”. This produced a fair number of cleans
where drivers got their front wheels past the one but couldn’t clear the
bank and come out the top of the section. The restart did its job though,
around 50% of the seven and eights picking up marks here.
Webleys Wobble
Second section in Binghams Wood
with a Class Eight only restart
Andy Kilby competed in
Class 0 in his MGB GT. Class 0 omitted the hills
with deep ruts.
Nigel Jones and David
Hunt cleaned both of the Edlesborough sections.
Another section identified with Falcon Stalwart Verdun Webley Mike
Hayward had Geoff Jackson and Reg Taylor joining him on the marshalling
team. It was nice to see Reg looking well after being rather poorly
recently. Geoff and Reg wre looking forward to see some of the cars having
constructed the Dellow Mk2 Replicas of Mike Pearson and Richard Nikel
9driving brother ed’s car) and the RDT of Geoff Hodege. Also Geoffs son
Stephen was passengering their old friend Robin Barlow in the Gruff 2.
There was a class eight only restart and Geoff and Reg were delighted
that Mike Pearson and Geoff Hodge joined the DP Wasps of Dean Partington
and Mike Chatwin as the only four cars to get away.
Brickhill
Two
sub-divided sections on Private Land.
Jack
Endley watching his spinning rear wheel as he searches for grip on
Brickhills sandy surface. (Picture by Julian Robinson)
Tim Foster and Becky
Bishop restart their Ford Special (Picture by Julian Robinson)
Julian Lack in his Liege, one of seven in the event (Picture by Julian
Robinson)
Peter
Morley was is his daily driver VW Beetle (Picture by Julian Robinson)
The first Brickhill section followed its traditional wood startiunfg
deep in the valley. It didn’t produce to many problems apart from a couple
of lower slung cars who had ground clearance issues. These included Leige
owners Mark Worsfold and Simon Robson im Marks BMW 316.
The second Brickhill section had a fearsome restart for classes 3 to 8.
Classes 3, 4 and 5 had enjoyed a relatively eassy trial so far but this
restart was to change things and anyone with a cllean sheet lost it here.
Drivewrs in 7 and 8 fared better and around half of them went clear.
After then sections there was a rest halt, time to compare results and
see who had kept a clean sheet. These were:-
2) Steve Potter (Trojan) 1) James Shallcross (Peugeot 205) 1) Charles
Knifton (Peugeot 205) 7) Steve Kenny (Leige) 7) Philip Hyde (Leige) 7)
Jack Endley (Leige) 8) Mike Pearson (Dellow Mk2 Replica) 8) Mike Chatwin
(DP Wasp)
Ivinghoe
Special test and a
Section on Private land.
Don
Stringer and Stella Pearce on the special test.
Peter
Grenyer attempting the observed section before it was cancelled.
Before the observed section there was a Special Test, another nice
simple affair. Tony Christie was fastesyt, driving Ross Nuten’s Dellow Mk2
but Mike Pearson was only jyust behing, snicking up the gearbox to speed
his car round the course.
The observed section had a steep bank at the end and was marked
clean/fail. All the cleass eights cleaned it, as did all but three in
Class 7. Don Stringer and Peter Thompson proved it wasn’t down to power as
they crested the summit in their Austin 7’s. The clean sheets were reduced
though, Steve Potter, james Shallcross and Charles Knofton loosing theirs.
Hawridge Lane
County Road - Clean/Fail.
A
Liege view of the start. The section goes up through the tunnel of
trees.
With no restart this year this
county road wasn’t too problamatical.
Hill Farm
County Road - Clean/Fail with a
restart for classes 3 to 8 run by last years winners Jim and Peter
Mountain.
John Rowland failing to
get away from the restart in Peter Thompson's Opel Ascona (Picture by
Dave Cook)
Don Stringer and Stella
Peace in one of the three Austin 7's taking part. (Picture by Dave
Cook)
Harry Butcher slipped
sideways into the rut and failed to get away. (Picture by Dave Cook)
Two time winner Duncan
Welch was another to fall victim to Jim and Peters Restart (Picture by
Dave Cook)
Hill Farm was just up the road,
another county road. There was a restart for classes 3 to 8 but it didn’t
take as many victims as last year. Its all about positioning here. There
is quite a deep hole and there is a lot of weight transfer if you slip
into it. Not many did on this occasion although Nigel Jones was penalised
for rolling back.
Falcons Folly
Nigel Jones tackles
Beetle Drive before conditions deteriorated.
Stuart Forrest
It was back to Binghams Wood for the last two sections. These were
differnt hills to the first visist, the double visit was to reduce the
congestion on the tracks from one section to another.
There is a reestart for Seven and Eight on the tree roots. This caught
out Phil Hyde and we were down to four clean sheets. This restart doesn’t
look to difficult but its always problamatical, spinning wheels just seem
to produce more sap to lubricate the tyres and all but nine cars were
penalised.
Binghams Warren
Nigel Jones tackles
Beetle Drive before conditions deteriorated.
Stuart Forrest
The difficyult part of this section is towards the
end, a near hairpin left with a restart for the class eights. This proved
to be decisive as Mike Chatwin didn’t get away. Neither did all but one of
the other class eights. The exception was Mike Pearson who finished the
trial with a clean sheet. So dis Dteve kenny and Jack Endley in their
Leiges, the win going to Mike with some very fast special test times.
The Finish
There was a different finish this year. A hot meal
for those who wanted it and free tea or coffee for all. This years March
hare proved to be very competitive, despirte the dry conditions. Well done
to Mike Pearson for his win. Without Mike and John parsons there would be
no March Hare as it was these two guys that got it off the ground some 12
years ago and ran it all through its formative years. There were off
course many nearlys. If only Steve and jack had gone fater on the Special
tests a leige would have won overall. Then of course there wqas the great
drive by Steve Potter in the Trojan. He came near to going clean. Well
done Arnold Lane and Richard Tompkins for a trial where everyone had a
chance.