Army Shines At Leeds
Page 34
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By Ashley Taylor
'THREE smart salutes in unison marked
the conclusion of the prize distribution at the Leeds round of the Lorry Driver of the Year Competition last Sunday. Sgt. F. T. Gatecliffe, an experienced campaigner in these affairs, had led 521 Coy. R.A.S.C. (M.T.) (T.A.) to victory in the team section, his supporters being Sgt. L. J. Dalton and Cpl. P. Dalby. It had been a tight finish and with 378 marks they tied for first place with S.P.D.. Ltd., but had a superior road circuit performance and, under the regulations, were entitled to the team award. Best individual performance was recorded by P. E. Steel, of S.P.D., Ltd., B.M.C., who was winner of Class B by a wide margin.
As might be expected of one of the oldest established local rounds. the seventh Leeds eliminator was well organized. The entry of 149 was mainly drawn from the West Riding area, but two competitors came from London and three from Liverpool.
Every class had competitors who came through the highway code examination unscathed. The 18-mile road circuit did not present any special problems, the greatest number of marks being lost on a right turn into one of the main roads in the city centre. W. B. Walker (Joseph Lucas (S. and S.), Ltd.), Morris, dropped only two marks on the code and five on the road, but failed badly when it came to width judging. Among those who were notably good in this section was E. E. Ruston (B.R.S. (Parcels), Ltd.), B.M.C., in Class D. In Class E (1) F. Brownridge (Berm and Sons (Halifax), Ltd.), Morris, one of the vast stars of the district, earned a round of applause by his performance.
Lost on Width Both the winner in Class A, I. Cunningham (Leeds Chemical Cleaning Works, Ltd.), Thames, and the runner-up K. Jowett (Leeds Industrial Co-operative Society, Ltd.). Austin, lost heavily on width judging. A really big margin was marked up by Steel in Class B, having 91 penalty marks, compared with 135 by K.
A3/ Adams (P.O. Telephones), Morris, the runner-up. Although he dropped 26 on the road. Steel lost only two marks on the highway code and performed well on the garaging test. Whilst showing up better on circuit performance, Adams was well down on the driving test.
Two British Oxygen Co. drivers were the leaders in Class C. W. Spooner was
excellent on theory and the road, but lost on the width judging. Weaknesses of G. Hague, who was second, were the road circuit and the garaging test. A tie in Class D between F. Pankhurst (Pease Transport, Ltd.), Austin, and L. Sheridan (Schweppes (Home), Ltd.), Bedford, was decided in favour of the former, who had the superior road markings. Competition was close in this class, for C. R. Jeffery (Shell-Mex and B.P., Ltd.), Leyland, was only three points behind them.
Leader on the road was T. Dixon (Montague Burton, Ltd.), Leyland, his closest challenger being R. Goodall (Goodall Brothers), Bedford.