ESSO DRIVER WINS IN N. IRELAND
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HAVING a really handsome advantage in his own category, J. Lawley (Esso Petroleum Co. Ltd.) last Saturday became overall winner in the Northern Ireland round of the Lorry Driver of the Year competition; he drove a Seammell. His debit of 286 marks compared with 525 by the next best in class H. The result was calculated on the accepted national formula. The champion (who also won class H last year) made an impressive showing at several stages although, of course, his actual penalty marks were higher than those incurred by some of the better competitors in the small vehicle classes. His success was well deserved and was certainly no surprise to those who witnessed his perfortnance.
Although this time five area safety committees shared in the organization of the contest their joint efforts did not produce so large an entry as last year, the total this time being 83. In the circumstances it was a pity that at the outset a limit was placed on the entry from the Services, which last year was considerable. On Saturday this class provided another repeat winner and he received a very special round Of applause, for last year's Driver Morgan (R.A.S.C.), who is now Corporal Morgan, is due to be married and shortly to leave for overseas.
Weather conditions were less pleasant than in 1963, a drizzly rain falling for much of the day. All the same, the results team were at grips with their job as quickly as ever and by 10.30 a.m. the competitors were able to see how highly or otherwise their efforts on the highway code had been rated. Holding the event on a Saturday makes the road section much more realistic than it is at the other centres where the drivers have to cope merely with the early Sunday morning traffic.
A single competitor, L Murphy (S.P.D. Ltd.), Albion, distinguished himself by a performance that left him unpenalized on either code questions or the road. Unfortunately he was not so dextrous on the difficult techniques of the manceuvring tests, but still took second place in his class. The only other driver with a clean sheet on the highway code was S. Miller (Isaac Andrews and Sons Ltd.), Bedford, who did well on the road and, like Murphy, proved a class runnerup. Road performances notable for their penalty-free showing were by C. Smith (Inglis and Co. Ltd.), Morris; S. Connell (British Oxygen Co.), Albion; J. Fisher (Post Office Telephones), Cornmer; R. Moffett (Inglis and Co. Ltd.), Leyland; T. Coulter (Shell-Mex and B.P. Ltd.), A.E.C., and Murphy of S.P.D.
Although the reversing test, now into a bay at an oblique angle, did not appear to present any great difficulties, the drivers of some of the smallish vehicles displayed little skill here and many seemed unsure of their lengths. Had there been solid boundaries instead of markers a fair crop of crumpled panels would have resulted. As is too often the case, a number of drivels did not appear to have acquainted themselves with the requirements. Actually it would have paid some of them to have dropped the 10 points demanded for a single shunt and so saved higher losses.
An excellent demonstration was given at this point by J. Luney (John McMillan and Son Ltd.), who lost only three marks; he was also good on the road but width judging errors brought him down to third place in his class. Notable on the bay test was R. Millar (Lyle and Kinahan), Austin, who lost on the code and then on the road. Also good here was Corporal McClelland (26 Coy., R.A.S.C., M.T.) with his fourwheel-drive Bedford.
Lawley's nicely calculated movements in the parking test left him with a debit of 18 points, he being beaten at this stage by another class winner, R. Shields (Yorkshire Imperial Metals) with a Thames Trader, who was only 11 marks off perfection. The most prolific cause of trouble in the tests lay in the width judging, the star exception here being E. O'Neill (Lyle and Kinahan) with an
Austin. A.T. COMPETITION RESULTS