Michael Leete bouncing his way up Strid Wood 1 (Video by Claire Oakes)

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The Ilkley Club were lucky with the weather again. It was a nice early summer day for the event, but wet weather during the week spiced the sections up a bit. Local man Boyd Webster was the winner in his Ford Special with a clean sheet, taking his victory over Jon Robilliard in his 1300 Beetle on the basis of special test times.

The club were rewarded with an excellent entry for their first ACTC Championship Event, attracting a sizeable camel vale contingent who came all the way from Cornwall.

This super little section had a restart on a sharp left hand corner. You had to get going of the start line first though and eventual winner Boyd Webster must have been wary of this as he didn't last year! The restart itself was on a tight corner and Greg Thomas couldn't coax his rather long Capri away. neither could the Northumbian Marlins of Fred Mills and Hal Branson.

The first section was a bit tight which was a problem for some of the bigger cars and Nigel Jones came to grief at the four marker in his Skoda.

The second was pure PCT on grass with a tougher start for the yellows and reds. There were very few clears but Jon Robilliard was on, establishing a firm grip on class four. Most of the failures were between the eleven and nine, including class eight exponents Simon Woodall and Stuart Harold. Harvey Waters was amongst the unfortunate group who couldn't pass the twelve. Richard Hoskin retired here, knocking the steering of his Morgan F4 out of shape on the entrance to the venue.

The third Sword Point section was a rather rough weave through the trees, needing a lot of attention from those going clear to avoid clouting the wall at the summit. Its not clear if Dean Partington did this but he retired soon afterwards. We had already lost Duncan Walsh with a broken rear suspension mounting.

A pleasant, but not difficult section, although a handful of cars in the higher classes were caught out by their restart.

In class seven Tris White was the only competitor to succeed, putting him in front of Brian Colman who failed at the seven. The lower classes bypassed the 6, 7 & 8 deviation but had a tricky restart on a camber instead. This caught out quite a few experienced drivers, including last years winner Bill Bennett, Dick Bolt and Simon Groves in Class Three and Nicola Wainwright in Class Four. Getting of the restart wasn't the only problem as the turn off the track up the bank at the end awaited and trapped the unwary.

Up on top of the moor this short little section didn't prove too much of a problem, although Brian Colman dropped an un-expected six, destroying his chances to challenge Tris White for the Class Seven win.

With the deviation for the higher classes scrapped as there wasn't sufficient recovery this gentle slope shouldn't have presented to many problems. However, local knowledge counted here as the PCT markers took the section off the track at the two marker. About a third of the entry didn't spot this and went straight on dropping two. They should have read last years Classical Gas Report!

No problems for the main trial here, although quite a few in Class 0 struggled to find grip on the first bank.

After years PR problems with the neighbours the section was approached across a kindly farmers field. Inline 1 started with a 90 left through a delightful dry stone wall to get onto the grassy track with its Crackington style muddy patch around 100 yards ahead. This was another section requiring a steady trickling nerve to build speed on the grass before blasting through the mud. This caught out quite a few experienced drivers, including Harvey Waters, Nicola Wainwright, Martin Willis, Myke Pocock and Keith Oakes. This was a particular problem for Keith Oakes as he couldn't get to Incline Two as there was no recovery vehicle to give him a tow.

Incline 2 came shortly after and was attempted only by the higher classes with quite a few making clean climbs this year. These didn't include Tris White in his Imp, the class seven winner dropping his only mark of the day.

For many Watergate was the best hill of the event, a real classic section. There was a ford at the start and it needed plenty of welly to climb the stony bank the other side. After this the track got a bit rocky and ground clearance became an issue, defeating Graham Whitings Skoda.

Strid Wood 1 was a nice friendly little affair through a peaty gully, but you did have to keep the power on as it was quite slippery. This caught out quite a few of the Ilkley first timers and in Class Three both Kelly Thomas and Sticker Martin dropped their only marks of the event.

Rob Wells retired after Strid Wood 2 in his unusual RWD Fiat Panda.

Hawpike 1 was a pure grassy PCT section. There was plenty of grip but about half of class seven were penalised, presumably for clipping markers. After the picturesque Hawpike 2 there were some wonderful views from the green lanes that led to the special test at Highfield Farm.

Their was only one special test and commendably it was a nice straightforward affair. Boyd Webster won the trial here, clocking a time 1.2 seconds quicker than Jon Robilliard, both of whom had clean sheets at the end of the trial.

Their was a long descent through a farmyard and down a newly surfaced track to the two Langbar sections. They were both bumpy grass affairs that would have been totally impossible in anything other than bone dry conditions. outside of class two neither presented many problems.

Back at the finish their was an excellent pie and peas supper to entertain competitors while they waited for the results which showed Boyd Webster as the overall winner on special test times over Jon Robilliard, the other driver with a clean sheet.  Everyone seemed to enjoy their Ilkley Trial. Its different to its southern counterparts but accept it for what it is and its a super day out, not just for the sections but the route through the Yorkshire countryside as well. It's a nice time of year to hold the event as well as the club would have had problems with all the grassy sections in the winter.

RESULTS FOR 2008 ILKLEY TRIAL