I enjoyed it, even if we won’t be troubling the man who engraves the medals this year!

I had repaired the body damage since The March Hare. new wing, bumper and bumper hangers and done a nice 30ft paint job. Checked the tracking and that was OK. Otherwise a good clean inside was all the preparation. Oh! and changed a tube in one of the spares. I think I must have pinched the tube in fitting the two new Firestone F560’s I got from Duncan (Stephens).

We left Bedford just after 2.30 and had a proper meal at a Beefeater in Aldershot around 5.30. Eating at the normal times certainly pays off for me. No more fry-ups at midnight.

Scruitineering and Signing on at Popham was very efficient, big well done to those involved. Then it was off in the daylight for the run to Bridgewater. Going into the dark on the night run, going through the night and seeing the dawn break is all part of the adventure that is the Lands End for me. Lets hope its never taken away from us.

Bridgewater gave us the time for an hours nap, then it was off on main roads to Felons Oak. This little section is all about the restart. Anyone who thought that the box was small last year was in for a surprise. it was even smaller year this year, perhaps the only gripe about the event. We got away OK. easing the Beetle over the big rocks that are becoming more and more exposed as water erodes the track.

The Crook Horn special test was nice and straightforward, involving a shuttle forward-back-forward on a nice forest track near Porlock. There used to be a nice section nearby but this was lost to the trial a few years ago. Reg Salway was marshalling here and reports how some competitors were confused with the instructions but they seemed clear enough to me, provided you remembered that it was stop astride line B rather than four wheels over, before reversing all four years behind.

There was a holding control at The Culbone Inn, where parking was a bit of an issue and cars were parked on the road for a long way up the road opposite. We skipped the expensive fare and were relieved when it was our time for the off. It always seems you only really get going after here.

Mike wasn’t feeling too great, the roads are like washboards for a while after Minehead and he had a bit of car sickness. In order he didn’t have to look down at the instructions we caught on the tail of the cars in front, the Trojans and Nick Nick Bowler being the main people that unwittingly helped. As an aside this section of the trial has caused Mike problems for a few years now and we were trying out using a Don Barrow potti for him to see the route instructions during the night. It seemed to help but isn’t the complete answer. a side benefit though is that the light it emitted was much less distracting for me as the driver compared to our usual map light.

The Beggars restart was over to the left again, with tape to make sure non-restarters went through the box after last years debacle. We managed a bit better this year, going deep into the box and getting away OK. Did we touch a marker? We will have top wait for the results to know.

With Mike suffering we managed to latch onto the back of Nick Bowler and followed him to Rodneys Revenge. He cleaned it and we didn’t! Its quite steep with loose rock and mud on top, seemingly getting muddier the higher you climbed. We didn’t give it a full blooded assault and stopped with wheels spinning almost within touching distance of the section ends board. We took our time with the reverse down, ever mindful of the Kyrle incidents.

Cutliffe lane was next, a different setting but in a way a very similar challenge, ending in the same results for us! We were running in the first dozen or so cars and experienced our only significant delay here, waiting in the lane for around half an hour watching the dawn come up as we waited for the bikes to complete their attempts.

On the way to Sutcombe we caught up with one of the bikes in 20’s. I think it was number 28. he was having a torrid time and when he got to the Sutcombe restart fell off and it took the marshals a good ten minutes to gert him away he was so exhausted. We had a grandstand seat as we had been allowed to start before he exited the hill and had been stopped by the marshals just below. We were offered a baulk and the chance to drive through the restart but with Dave Cook on duty we didn’t want to miss our photo op so had a go and got away in fine style for us.

Sutcombe is really a wonderful hill, such a lovely setting and refreshments available at the the top of the hill. A special place on a glorious morning.

I hope the marshals weren’t put off by this incident. The only way to keep the trial flowing is to have a couple of competitors a time on a long hill like this and risk the occasional baulk.

I had messed up the restart at Darracott the last couple of years. Its very similar to the layout at Beggars, routing competitors through an artificial chicane where the restart is situated. I employed a similar technique to Beggars and got away again, although not without sliding down the camber and brushing the restart boards. I don’t think I was the only one to do this and it will be interesting to see the results!

The sea was a glorious blue as we approached Widemouth Bay and the surfers seemed to be having a great time. We missed Ted this year! Crackington hasn’t been doctored so much in recent years but today the locals made up for it. I wonder how many trailer loads of sluury that took! It was good though, especially as we didn’t have to restart and we blasted through. This has to be one of my favorite sections along with Bamford Clough.

Alan Oakes was manning the control at Wilsey Down and for once the cattle market was warm and sunny. There were a lot of cars there when we arrived but they were mainly Class 0. When we left an hour later it was clear that a lot fewer than 60 cars had arrived while we were there so there must have been delays behind us.

Relaxed after breakfast I started to struggle to stay awake on the way to Warleggan but a can of Red Bull soon revived me. This is now essential equipment in my trials car. I don’t like the taste of the stuff but it certainly bucks me up when I feel in danger of nodding off. Warleggan wasn’t a problem for us but we did feel sorry for the yellow cars who had a restart amongst the rocks.

Ladyvale and Hoskin were in Cardinham Woods a few miles up the road. Camel vale territory. Ladyvale was one of the few hills shared with Class 0. Its an funny artificial, short, little thing with the start line on a fair gradient and a restart in a taped off chicane at the top. We didn’t let tye tyres down much and struggled to get away from the start line then struggled again on the restart. In reality it was a two restart hill.

In contrast the resurfaced Hoskin was straightforward. No restarts giving us the chance to make a full blooded assault and we stormed up. Very, very enjoyable.

Not much to report on either the Bishops Path Special Test or Section, other than to say I’m glad we don’t have to restart. It’s on a slippery, solid slab and looks very difficult.

There was a route check at the Texaco filling station at Perranporth before Bluehills. Time to catch up with Keith and Claire and Steve (Heath) and Verdun who were running in Class 0 again and enjoying the event.

The view on the descent to Bluehills was magnificent, the sky and the sea were blue and the hill full of people watching. We had no problems on BH1 (which I hate) but made a mess of BH2 when I went too slowly away from the restart and didn’t carry enough momentum to get round the corner in the cutting. I was probably mindful of attacking it to much last year when I under-steered into the bank. Didn’t want to damage the new wing!

We arrived at the finish around 3 pm, had a drink and a pastie before going off to the hotel for a couple of hours kip before going out with the Liege crowd in the evening.

Next day it was off to Thruxton to meet up with Neil to complete our Motoring Weekend.

No problems with the car, no punctures and did about 850 miles door to door.

From our point of view Roger Ugalde and his team provided a perfect Lands End Trial