Artic man walks off with the title
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NOTWITHSTANDING the fact that the run-off was on medium weight rigid vans, the winner of the Newcastle upon Tyne round of the Lorry Driver of the Year Contest last Sunday proved to be an articulated vehicle driver. He was A. Warner (Scottish and Newcastle Breweries Ltd.) from Class F(1). Last year Warner was runner up to W. Holdsworth (Shell-Mex and BP Ltd.), also an artic driver.
Lowest penalty points of the day, 89, were recorded by G. A. E. Dixon (Beechams Foods Ltd.) in Class D. He finished fourth in the final after having lost heavily on the kerb test. All finalists used two of Procter and Gamble's Bedfords that had earlier taken part in Class D.
100 entries
Newcastle's contest had a round 100 entries and, with ample space on the roads of the Team Valley Trading Estate, the organizers ran the tests in duplicate. Class contests were complete by 2.30 p.m. and half-an-hour later the run-off was in progress. Markings were tight on the highway code questions and some of the losses of points on this score were relatively heavy. Likewise, the road route brought penalties to all but a few.
In the heats Warner made a good start by getting through both the code questions and the road circuit without loss of points. The kerb test cost him 64 and the bay 70; but his 40 for width judging was first rate. However, with a strange vehicle in the run-off he dropped 83 on the width test but got through the kerb test with a debit of only 24 and lost only 49 at the bay.
Closest challenger
His closest challenger was A. Jerrard (Newcastle Co-operative Society Ltd.) from E(1). Jerrard had got down to 14 on the kerb test in the heats; but the run off saw him lose 106 at this stage. Third in the run off was D. Axon (Newcastle Co-operative Society Ltd.), with 213 penalties. Nearly half his penalties were incurred on the width test which had provided his best showing in the class contests.
Of the teams, Newcastle Co-operative (592) had a long lead over Newcastle Chronicle and Journal Ltd.(773), who were run quite close by the men of the Ministry of Public Buildings and Works.
In competition with civilian vehicles military drivers labour under a severe handicap but it was gratifying to see a Royal Corps of Transport team taking part. Their best man was Staff Sgt.-Maj. T. Fawell (598 Arnb. Sqn. RCT, TA), whose 440 penalty points brought him seventh place in a class numbering 20. A.T.