Artic Men Score in North
Page 72
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By Ashley Taylor A LTI4OUGH the run-off for overall
winner at the Newcastle Lorry Driver of the Year round took place on a Bedford TK van from Class D the score for best performance went to W. Holdsworth (Shell-Mex and r1P Ltd.), who was entered as an artic driver in Class F2. The ultimate winner had won his class by a margin of only four marks from R. Kendal (Metal Box Co. Ltd.). Another artic driver, A. Warner (Scottish and Newcastle Breweries Ltd.), who triumphed by an outstanding margin in Class Fl, took second place in the final, A. Jerrard (Newcastle Co-operative Society Ltd.) filling third position. Of the three, Holdsworth was best on parking in the run-off with a score of 53 points against Warner's 110. Although Warner kept his loading bay score downto 23, this did not suffice to counterbalance the deficit.
Of 20 teams competing last Sunday the best proved to be Newcastle Co-operative Society Ltd. in the persons of Messrs. McDonough, Jerrard and Reed—who thus repeated their 1964 success. Runnersup were British Oxygen Co. Ltd., represented by drivers Allison, Smith and Shore. Entries, at 100, were slightly down on last year; this was a pity since the contest had made a beneficial move from Fenham Barracks to the Team
Valley Trading Estate, Gateshead-onTyne, where tests can be carried through on normal roads and in extremely pleasant surroundings. In 1964 vehicles from the haulage industry constituted under 10 per cent of the Newcastle entry; this time they were even more conspicuous by their virtual absence.
Tight finishes were the order of the day. In Class D, which Jerrard won with 97 points, the first three were covered by a couple of marks. On overall performance the next two drivers, G. A. E. Dixon (Reechams Foods Ltd.) and W. A. Best (SPD Ltd.), both driving Becifords, dead-heated. As these two were equal on the road route test it was necessary to take the figures for the first driving test to resolve the situation; this gave Dixon a three-point advantage, so giving him second place.
As so often happens, width-judgment proved the downfall of many.. Obse-rvalion of the road route was keen, the best showing in this section being made by D. Reed (Newcastle Co-operative Society Ltd.) and V. R. McQuillian (Shell-Mex and BP Ltd.), who dropped only two points each over Ahe 71-mile circuit.
Lowest penalty of the day was achieved by W. Arnot (Newcastle Chronicle and Journal Ltd.), with 71 marks in Class A.