Foster cracks it . . .
Page 18
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• It took 14 years and as many attempts for Wolverhampton-based Roy Foster to clinch the coveted Lorry Driver of the year award. As ever the 1987 competition was tense. Competitors displayed their driving skills, Highway Code knowledge and, most difficult of all, an ability to perform under intense pressure from scrutineers, marshals and specatators.
The different class 'playoffs' (ten in all excluding the ladies' and under-25 class) took place in the morning, and were followed by a series of spectacular attempts by Brendan O'Neill to land his plane on the back of a moving Iveco Ford Turbostar combination. As O'Neill buzzed the sky and tried to complete the stunt, the ten class winners prepared themselves for the National Class Championship Tests.
Jim Lyons from Glasgow, (who came third in the finals), said: "The pressure is all around us. The actual competition should be very straight forward — we do manoeuvres like these every day — but it's not the driving or your knowledge of the Highway Code which will win you the final: it's your ability to control your nerves."
Larry Nolan, also a finalist, believes you can only prepare yourself to a certain extent: "You hope to do well. It's a competition where if you're right on the day you'll do OK."
There were some private complaints about the crash bars on the sides and rear of the 7.5-tonne vehicle used in one of the manoeuvring tests; they were said to jut out too far and to be incorrectly positioned. One competitor said: "If I had to use that truck on urban delivery I would inevitably cause damage to other vehicles. Those crash bars were put on to look good for today."
As in championship sports the winners were acknowledged as champs and trophies were awarded. Jim Lyons of Alpine Refrigeration came third and also won the Goodyear Trophy; Andy Johnson, a Post Office driver, was second and picked up the TGWU Trophy. Finally, a shaken and disbelieving Roy Foster, driving for Wolverton and Dudley Breweries, took the major award, along with the Leyland Daf Coventry Trophy and the Dodge Truck Silver Salver.
Incidentally, Brendan O'Neill did land his plane on the Iveco, in the end, much to the relief of all concerned.