Engine Punk

As Nigel Cowling put it, "When was the last time you saw two Imps on a trial?" Left is the Singer Chamois of Nick Symons (once owned by Nigel) and right is the very historic trials Imp, nowadays campaigned by Paul Watson.  (Photo : Nigel Cowling) The 76 th Tamar Trial was the first event after our retirement on the Land’s End, completing half of the Launceston Trial and a Did Not Start on the Exeter.  With a new ECU and some new, higher quality rear axle bearings by SKF, a gentle afternoon Sunday drive with Graham Beddoe seemed in order. Under starters orders from Lisa Gregory. "And away they go! On the way out Wacky Races!" The first section was Petherwin Old Hill where Graham had marshalled once before on the Land’s End. We got away from the restart here alright but I still have yet to achieve a successful restart on Warleggan. The special test in between at Lewannick Down caught a few out with it’s A, B, C and D lines. Pete Adams at the start - he can still sh...

Team Robson with their Rickman Ranger and Graham Beddoe at the start of the 35th Launceston Trial For Graham Beddoe and me, today’s Launceston Trial was a trial of two halves. Before lunch we seemed to be lacking grip. After some post Exeter Trial fettling, the Arkley-MG felt soft on the rear during the drive to the venue in Lew Woods. The weather conditions were ideal but the mud was not to my taste. It was frequently deep and not very liquid, often taking on the consistency of modelling clay. The mud filled the cleats of the Arkley-MG’s tyres, front and rear. The front end could wash out and, if I throttled back to get the front tyres to bite, I struggled to get going again. This was a surprise because the Radar Dimax Classics on the rear had acquitted themselves well on the Exeter in January, despite taking a beating. The conditions then had been much wetter and we weren't in Lew Woods.... We began well with Zak’s Track, which turned this way and that throughout the trees. T...

A sense of occasion at the start after 100 years of motorsport organised by the Launceston and North Cornwall Motor Club The Launceston and North Cornwall Motor Club put on another challenging trial again with the 35 th Launceston Classic trial on the 30 th May. Last year it was postponed due to bad weather and the club did a great job in squeezing the 34 th trial in just before the national lockdown occurred. After the Pop Trial and the President’s Trial , the LNCMC took us back to Lew Wood and Eastcott Down where they had cunningly fashioned some really nadgery sections to make up for the dry conditions. They managed to find some mud but pressure washing the car off later that sunny evening took much less time than usual. We’ve almost got used to the paperless signing on but this was my first trial with a bouncer. Bouncers, you’ve been missed! Take a bow for that daring young man on the trapeze, roll bar and windscreen frame, Mr Graham Beddoe. During the winter lockdown, I’...

Best picture of the day. I love the dappled lighting effect on this and it's a red/amber/green! Photo : Graham Beddoe This year’s Launceston Trial was supposed to have occurred on 9 th February but Storm Ciara span out of the Atlantic and the Launceston and North Cornwall Motor Club postponed the trial to 15 th March. The weather on the day was wet to begin with but dried up in the afternoon and was even sunny by the end of the trial. Class 7 line up of Phillip Thomas, Francis Thomas with their Dutton Meloses and Steven Ball with his Marlin. The Launceston Trial is a single venue trial and when I travelled to Lew Woods with Mr Graham Beddoe through the backroads, it was raining and had been for some time. Water was running off the waterlogged fields and onto the road. Conditions once in the woods were very wet. After scrutineering and signing on, we received a beautifully executed map of the woods, similar to last year’s. I believe the map was the work of Warin Kelly. ...