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...

Gareth entered the 2018 Camel Classic and is seen here in his Marin V8 with Roger Hancock's buggy and event scrutineer Adrian Booth Gareth White’s Marlin runs a Rover V8 and its custom zorst means you usually hear it before you see it.  Marlin Roadsters are typically based on either Triumph or Marina components and evolved over a long production run from 1979 until the present day with the drivetrain out of BMW 3-series. Along the way, the Marlin Roadster also used Ford Cortinas and Sierras as donors, growing slightly in the process to accommodate the wider track. Not so many V8s were built, however. Most common seem to be the Marina B series variety and with the back axle from a Marina van they make tough trials irons for Class 7. They’re nimble enough for the twisty bits and have a reasonable power to weight ratio. They are also very robust. Marlins don’t need much modification to be competitive in Class 7 but they usually sport 14 inch wheels and twin spare wheels and external...

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. ...

The Candidi Provocatore Allard J1 is now home to many new components After the disappointment of being a non-starter last year for the 2011 Land's End Trial, Team Robert are entered in the 2012 Exeter Trial this weekend. We will be running as number 255 out of an entry list of 265 not including the 68 Class O competitors. Binky reports that the Allard is all ready for the the trial with new tyres and the latest refinement is a full flow oil filter system. Meanwhile, having suffered terribly from wind over the last week, I'm hoping the storms have blown themselves out and that the event is not cancelled due to snow, which is what happened in 2010. The forecast is light rain on Friday night and cloudy thereafter so we'll see. Since I last saw the car - engineless and in the dark - Binkers has been tacking up the road miles, so we are quietly confidently of making the start for the Exeter on Friday and hoping for a coveted Finsher's Certificate. A mudbath ...