2014 Land's End Trial

New tyres for the Allard J1 make Binky very happy

After our encouraging result in the 2014 Exeter, Binky and I were looking forward to the Land's End Trial even more than ever. Binkers had been unhappy with the front tyres for some time and managed to get a good deal on some Pirelli Cinturatos the week before the trial. These were slightly narrower than the Bridgestones that we'd used before and continued to use on the back.

This is the new windscreen wiper system - no rusty allen keys wrapped with wire for us anymore

On the train up to Andover from Liskeard I had tread problems of my own - the sole on one of my old frank Thomas motocross boots began to come away. I've had them since 1987 so they've lasted well. I think being quietly cooked in the footwells of the Allard hasn't done them much good - I left my previous pair of walking boots next to my Rayburn for a winter and they just fell apart soon afterwards. Once at Binky Villas, there was nothing else for it but to attempt a temporary repair with clear silicone and incredibly it worked.

In the foreground is the ex-Bill Holt rover V8-powered Allard, now campaigned by Stuart and Will Crouch. Behind that is two-thirds of the German entry.

As number 273 we started from Popham Airfield and were among the last of the field to set off. It was good to see the Germans again. they'd driven all the way from Bonn in a Peugeot 205, a Toyota Celica and a Renault 10. Our departure was slightly delayed because the car wouldn't start! There was no spark. To our great good fortune, Stuart Crouch in the ex-Bill Holt Allard wandered over to see what the delay was and said he had a spare coil if we needed it. The scrutineers and starting marshals immediately descended on our car and fitted the coil for us, while we did helpful things like shine our head torches in their eyes. MCC events ares consistently like that - remember our fun and games with the ignition switch last year and the help we received then. All we have to do is open our toolbox and raise the bonnet! Whoever you are, please make yourselves known to us next year - we are sincerely very grateful. Binky is determined to run with dual coils from now on.

So after a more eventful start than we would have liked, we were off.

It was a clear night and a cold one, too. I had banked on being kept warm from the heat generated from the 3.9 litre flathead V8 in the Candidi Provocatore Allard J1 blasting up through the gaps in the bulkhead but for the next event I shall rely on more layers. I didn't freeze but by the time we got to Barbrook Control after the enforced stoppage at County Gate holding control on Exmoor I was uncomfortably cold.

The touring assembly part is my least favourite of any trial and on the Land's End it always seems particularly drawn out. In the past, I had found solace of a sort in several English fry ups but as the years have gone my enthusiasm for these has waned and they don't seem to be the substitute for warmth that they used to be. Binkers, on the other hand, has no qualms. I don't think they touch the sides, either. Next time after he's finished chewing, I really must listen carefully for the splashdown. Learning from my earlier experiences of reflux, acid and a lethargic feeling of bloat, I stuck to tea and cake throughout for health reasons and felt great.  However, the profound iciness didn't leave me until well after daylight.

Mr Robinson-Collins shares a joke with Mr Duncan Pittaway

We made good time and Rob had to remind me of the "three quarter rule." Basically, if you arrive at a control in three quarters of your allotted time on the route card, you can be penalised. Early arrival had never been a problem for us before and once the hills began we fell into an easy rhythm. Felon's Oak, the Crook Horn Hill observed test, Beggar's Roost, Cutliffe Lane and Sutcombe all posed no problems for us. We clipped a restart board in our exuberance on the way up Sutcombe but when I sauntered back down with tea and cake to ask the marshals if this was a problem they said not as we did not have to do a restart on this hill.

Marc Shafer travelled all the way from Bonn in this Renault 10 to enter the trial.

Conditions were very dry - the driest I'd ever seen in fact - most of the hills were a straight run up for us. When we got to Darracott, a man walking his dog said the hill was closed as a car had turned over and when we proceeded to the section a note at the head of the lane told us to proceed to Crackington. Again, there was no restart for us and it seems that this hill is not quite the terror it used to be. For the first time with the Allard in 2009, I can remember having to work very hard at bouncing to help us get up but this time we seemed to find grip aplenty. What do other people think?

At Crackington, I noticed that one of our fellow competitors in a Dellow had bounced the arse out of his corduroys. His co-driver was trying to gaffer tape them up. That's the sort of collateral damage everyone can admire... 

Wilsey Down Control looked more crowded this year

At Wilsey Down we had a conflab and Binky had another breakfast. I had about 5 Kitkats and lots of tea. One of the German drivers, Micheal Linberg, was so tired at the wheel of his Toyota Celica that he felt he couldn't drive safely so wisely retired at this point. We nearly got retired, too, because our running number was only one number away from theirs - 278. Fortunately, this was all cleared up with good humour but it must have been a hard decision after coming come all that way.

By now, we were clear so far, hadn't experienced anything much in delays and the day was warming up nicely. Ahead of us lay hills with restarts on all of them - Warleggan, Ladyvale, Hoskin Hill, Bishop's Wood and Blue Hills 1 & 2.

Last year, we'd conquered Blue Hills so we knew we could do them. Hoskin Hill we'd done before but Warleggan had so far evaded us. I said my ambition this year was to get up Warleggan. We'd smoked it last year but still failed. The restart judge here is world famous in Cornwall for assessing any rolling back on the restart. If he said you cleaned it, you'd done it but not many were good enough to pass his scrutiny.

Binky wanted to clear Hoskin Hill. He had a clothes peg to put under the choke button and by applying this and raising the idle slightly had hit upon the best throttle position for a clean get away.

Waiting at Warleggan in the sunshine gave us the opportunity for some quiet reflection

At Warleggan, we had our first significant wait. Cars had been queuing back onto the road but the holding controls seemed to be doing a very effective job of filtering the entry through. the hill, however, was proving to be something of a stopper again and we crammed ourselves in side-by-side onto the old bridge at Panter's Bridge. We caught up with Stuart and Will Crouch who were also clear at this stage.

Team Crouch after the section at Sutcombe. This was their first event in their car so failing on just 3 hills wasn't a bad start

.

Regular readers will remember our ignition problems at this point last year and I think that really put us off our stroke. We had no such excuse this year. Binky stopped low in the box, the restart flag went down, I bounced a bit and the old car shrugged itself out of then ruts and onto the similarly rough and jagged rocks all the way to the section ends board.

This was a euphoric point for me. Our steady progress with car means that to clear hill is not such the novelty it was but to get up Warleggan was a new experience and we hooped and shouted and slapped each other on the back.

Well, I did.

Binkers said it was because stopping low in the restart box meant that our 100 inch wheelbase put the back wheels on a less polished slab of rock.

I still think his driving had something to do with, though.

Ladyvale's restart box and subsequent sharp right turn were unbelievably tight. This confirmed in my mind that Binky was just being modest about his driving. I don't think anyone else could have done it. 

Not an obvious choice for a trials car perhaps but Ian Facey and Tim Naylor were doing very well in this Z3.

We'd been dropping out rear tyre pressure to 12 psi for most hills and this was the minimum allowed on some hills. Marshals could be seen to be checking, too, and when it fell to us I'm happy to say that our gauges were reading a little higher than the official ones. On Hoskin Hill, the minimum had been increased from 16 psi in the route card to 18 psi for our class but we still got up okay.


We pottered over to Bishop's Path for the second observed test (completed in our usually gentlemanly manner) and then reported to the marshals for a our go at Bishop's Wood. Here there were two restart boxes. Ours was the more difficult red one.

Having cleared Warleggan, my next ambition was to clear Bishop's Wood. the rock slab usually has a great puddle in front of it and my recollection of it is sliding back down with our rear wheels spinning forwards. Rob casually asked the starting officials how deep the water was and they said they hadn't seen how deep it was. Off we went and when the time came we couldn't see any puddle. Rob stopped low again, the flag fell and off we went. We'd cleared Bishop's Wood! More euphoria ensued at the top as we pumped up our tyres for the final road stretch down to Perranporth.

"No wonder they were a bit cagey about the puddle," said Rob.

Awaiting some action at Warleggan, this scene could have occurred at any time during the last 80 years or so. The 1496cc Frazer Nash of Phillip Tillyard and Andy Newbound heads the line up. I gather that if the chassis flexes sufficiently these cars can shed their chains.

And so to Blue Hills. It was dawning on us that we could be in the awards here. So long as we completed the course we should get a Bronze. A single failure on either Blue Hills 1 or 2 would mean a Silver but if we could just keep things together and get up both we could get our first ever Gold. who cread if the conditions were dry and favourable? A Gold was a Gold.

I particularly wanted to do well here as my girlfriend Angela was and this year she'd brought along her ten year old son, The Amazing Alastair. What we didn't know until later was what a good time they'd been having watching all the cars, and some of the bikes, go up in brilliant sunshine. Being staunch Hillman Imp supporters, they were delighted to see Mark Rosten-Edwards climb the hill in his 1040 Imp.

Considering its trialling career, the Rosten Imp looks very well. It goes well, too.

Blue Hills 1 was a bit wet but nowhere near as bad usual. Binky has this technique of pointing the front wheels slightly down hill and this helps get the plot moving when we come to do our restart. We have also found that lighting up the rear tyres and then throttling back is enough to get the tyres sufficiently hot to dry them off and find grip but that discovery was more by accident than design.

This year we used the application of technique and it worked, even if it tightens the sharp turn onto the road even more. We followed the insistent instruction to stop astride the section ends line and at the marshal's signal made our way up Blue Hills 2.

The sun was very low by now and Binky, who had no shades, had to steer by witchcraft or Extra special powers to get just to the start line. Putting all thoughts of a Gold behind us, we concentrated on Application of Technique. We got going okay and- somehow- Binkers navigated us around the chicanes before the sharp left turn at the top. As we rounded the corner we found it even narrower than we remembered. the new stone walls had obviously been hit hard during the afternoon and some of the stones had fallen into the section. The restart box was much narrower than we expected, too.

Keeping his cool, Binky gently drove up to the restart and stopped low. At the flag the Allard hauled itself up and I shouted incredulously as we finished the section. For the first time ever we'd cleared everything.

And best of all, I'd showed off in front of the two most important people.

For now, we are happy to have a Finisher's Certificate. Photo : Mrs Ginger.