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rivers fight I • t out 17.35 And the crowd wait for the final result.
Page 39
Page 40
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By mid-day the first of the ass results began to go up on e notice board inside the am hangar. As more of the ght classes were completed the crowd swelled to see ho had won through.
The rain had stopped by this ne but the sky was still rercast and threatening.
Most of the drivers agreed at the tests this year were ugh ones. Bu they liked the nv system of getting only 'art notice of the tasks they ould have to perform.
There were four protests at e results and the stewards et to sort things out. Only le was upheld and that was !cause a mistake had been ade in logging a driver's reek in time from the road iute.
But by 4.00 in the afternoon le outcome of the class iampionships was clear and .e presentations were made' the winners and runners-up. There were some disap)intments. Last year's win.!.r, Colin Burrows, made a istake on one of the driving, sts which cost him 56 points. nd that was enough to put m out, even though he was ultless on two parts of the =petition and only had a tal of 18 penalties on the st.
That shows you just how ;ht things were, and on a day hen some drivers were ocking up 200 penalties the ass winner with the most )ints against him only corded a 62.
Alan Rooker, of Western RS was the best of the class ratifiers. His score? A very w 33 and that must have !en very hard luck on the !cond and third, who had 43 id 45 respectively, and had )th done enough to win if ley had been in five of the her classes.
So the scene was set for the ittle of the giants, and they id to go through all the dl-biting tension again.
They had to face a three part contest to decide the winner. First was a vehicle inspection to ensure that a vehicle was in a roadworthy condition. Time allowed was 15 minutes and they had to write up all the faults that they found. Penalties were imposed for any points that the finalists missed.
Then it was on to a visual test of road signs and markings. They had to identify 20 signs and again it was penalty points for any mistakes.
By 5.00 it was getting colder and darker. Only a few hundred of the spectators had stayed on to see the contest through to the bitter end.
But once the final set of four manoeuvring tests started the weather was forgotten and the excitement really started to build up.
No one knew how the eight had done on the written tests — but out on the driving ground they could see the mistakes as they happened.
All eight drivers had to handle vehicles which were strange to them. This time they were not allowed to use their own vehicles and instead took the tests in a light van, boxvan, three-axle platform truck and a heavy artic supplied by Dodge.
Each man had to drive all four vehicles and put each one through a difficult set of manoeuvres, avoiding obstacles without stopping and being penalised heavily for any mistakes.
George Allott crushed a plastic cone under the wheels on the boxvan; Ken Roberts made a mistake in the Eight van; Tom Kerr wasn't happy with his performance on the artic; Michael Barker had trouble with the platform and David Williams had a stop and hit a cone in the light van.
It was a close thing and none of the crowd could sort out the winner, although there was a lot of guessing going on.
David Williams, the class E winner, said: "It's been a great day for me no matter where I finish. Everything has been well organised and it has been very fair. It is my first final and that can't be bad."
Ken Roberts, class D winner, said: "It has been a great achievement just getting into the final; anything else will be a bonus."
Rodney Le Gallez, class B winner, said: "It is the first time I have ever competed in the competition and to reach the final and then reach the last eight is really marvellous."
Alan Rooker, class A winner, said: "It has been good fun, and the contest is good for drivers."
Michael Barker, class F winner, said: "I was pleased to get this far. Last year I was knocked out by Colin Burrows by just five points so it has been nice getting to the final."
Tom Kerr, class H winner, said: "I have been quite happy to win my class."
"I thought all my chances were gone when I muffed that boxvan test.
"Now I am off on holiday to Flamborough Head. I think I can use the rest."