Not a hitch' at Glorious Ruislip
Page 65
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T F any organizers of a Lorry Driver of L the Year round deserved good weather, those at Ruislip certainly did. The organizing committee, under the chairmanship of Mr. R. Harvey of Express Dairy, on whose premises the competition was run, has been meeting regularly for the past few months in preparation for last Sunday's event and the work put in definitely paid off. There was not a hitch during the whole of the event and the last of the 147 entrants completed his driving tests at 4.40 p.m.
The weather, too, matched the organization-it was glorious. The sun shone for the whole day and the Express Dairy depot at Ruislip looked more like a garden fete than a driving competition.
Most of last year's Ruislip class winners lost their crowns. Exceptions were D. Brown and J. Hurley, who won classes E2 and Fl respectively. C. Fey, winner of Class F2, was a class winner in the 1961 Birmingham final and therefore expected to do well. But the runnerup, J. Maker, who also came second in his class at Woolwich last year, put up a strong challenge. He lost by 26 points, more than three times as many penalties as he collected on the width test. E Stout, Class H winner last year, did not do so badly as his third place implies, as he was only six points behind the winner. Class C was another closely fought test, where only four points divided first and third.
Quite a few drivers had a clean sheet on the Highway Code and Road Test and some were clear on both. There were also 10 drivers clear on the kerb parking test and there would have been many more if some drivers had not tried to get too close to the kerb--6 in. is allowed-and touched it to get 40 penalties.
The bay test also involves normal manoeuvring and many contestants do very well in it_ This test is most difficult for the smaller vehicles, particularly those in Class A, because of the short distance between the forward stopping line and the post obstructing the direct run back into the bay. Many drivers did not get into the rest position before starting their run back and two drivers in Class A actually went on the wrong side of the post. They obviously had not read the test instructions.
The same could be said for a numbei of competitors. Hardest hit were one or two who did not stop astride the forward line in the parking test after their first forward run. They were considered to have " failed to complete the test correctly" and given 50 penalties above the worst performance in the class. This seems excessively harsh and unjustified for a part of the exercise which has no connection With parking, especially when the same error in the other tests incurs only a flat 20 penalties. Was the interpretation correct? fn any event the matter should be looked at by the National Organizing Committee.
A.J.P.W. B39
RESULTS OF MANCHESTER COMPETITION
CLASS A-UP to 16 ft and from 20-5 ewl.: 1. T. O'Toole (Manchester Corporation Baths Department). Austin, 116 penalty points; 2. R. Adams (Fred Dawes Services Ltd.). Austin, 124: 3. R. Broughton (G. T. E. Lucas Ltd.), Morris. 141.
CLASS R-116-19 ft.: 1. F. Coley (Manchester Corporation City Surveyors Department), Karrier, 124; 2. R. Pennington (R.A.F. Seaiand). Earner. 150: 3. I. Handley (Transport Section of the Ministry of Public Building and Works), Commer. 162.
CLASS C-19-22 ft.: 1. J. Tompson (Schwermes (Home). Ltd.). Bedford. 129: 2. E. J. Melling (Express Dairy (Northern) Ltd.), Commer. 153: 3, B. J. Clews (English Abrasives Corporation Ltd.). Thames. 165.
CLASS D-22-25 fl.: 1, S. Neate (Norman Evans and Rain Ltd.). Austin. 134: 2, 3. HaYles (Lewis' Ltd.), Dennis. 147: 3, N. Bowker (The Blitish Oxygen Co Ltd.). Bedford. 156.
CLASS El-over 25 ft., two axles: 1. W. Gasket! (British Road Services). Leyland. 155: 2. J. verily (Wilsons Brewery Ltd.). E.R.F.. 177: 3, H. Haslam (Bleachers' Association Ltd.), Leyland. 178.
CLASS E2-over 25 ft., more than two axles: 1,, 3. M. Steel (Petrofina (Great Britain) Ltd.), Atkinson. 162; 2. T. !ball (T. Wall and Sons (Meat and Sundry Foods) Ltd.): A.E.C., 179; 3, P. Fillingham (British Road Services). Foden. 192.
CLASS Fl-artica/ated tractive units ander 4 toss. flat or sided semi-trailer up to 30 ft.: I. L. R. Tucker (Bleachers' Association Ltd.), Earner. 155; 2. A. James (Tate and Lyle Transport Ltd.). Bedford, 184: 5. R. Whitehead (British Road Services). Bedford. 212.
CLASS F2-artienloled tradive :mils ender 4 tom, box or tanker send-traller op to MI ft.: 1. E. T. Pook (Lcwis' Ltd.). Austin, 219; 2. W. Darby (Lewis' Ltd.), Austin, 224.
CLASS G-man:laded tractive oaths over 4 tons, dal or sided semi-fraller up to 30 ft.; I, 14. 1. Bramwell (Tate and Lyle Transport Ltd.). Foden, 234; 2, E, Percival (British Road Services). Atkinson. 280.
CLASS A-articulated tractive units over 4 toes, box or tanker seml4ralters: 3. C. Nelson (Montague Burton Ltd.). Leyland, 172.
OVERALL WINNER: C. Nelson (Montague Burton Ltd.). Leyland.
BEST C-LICENSED DRIVER: H. J. Bramwell (Tate and Lyle Transport Ltd.). Fades.
IttEsT DIESEL DRIVER: L. R. Tucker (Bleachers' Association Ltd.), Earlier.
TEAM AWARD: Bleachers' Association Ltd. (L. R. Tucker. Earner; H. Haslam. Leyland; M. J. Essex. Austin). Total 518.