Rigid Multi-wheelers Sweep the Board
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IN Coventry's fifth eliminating contest .of the Lorry Driver of the Year Competition last Sunday, the driver of an eight-wheeler gained the highest total with 4721 marks in Class E, in face of a strong challenge from the driver of a six-wheeler in the same class.
He was W. H. Guest, of Quasi-Arc, Ltd., who drove a maximum-load Albion van. The runner-up, was F. Freeman, Of Stanton Ironworks, Ltd., with 4671 marks at the wheel of an Atkinson.
It was generally agreed by the marshals that the lightweight and articulated vehicles, apart from the two Queen Mary types in the contest, were driven with a regrettably lower standard of skill than that shown in former contests.
The Commercial Motor representative who observed Guest in the three tests reports that his time for the parking test was 36.8 sec. and that the wheels of the lorry were within 8 in. of the kerb. In the gap-judging exercise his time was 26.5 sec., reversing through barriers set 8 ft. 11 in. apart.
Perfect Performance
For the last test (devised by the Coventry committee) he parked the Albion exactly parallel in one garage bay and reversed through a wide arc into a second bay at right angles to the first. Again the van was perfectly parallel to the sides of the bay, the measured distance from the end barrier was less than 5 in. in both cases. Spectators loudly applauded the last performance.
After parking his Leyland-hauled "Queen Mary" with front and rear wheels 7 in. and 1 in. respectively from the kerb in the first test, V. Ashby, of Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft, Ltd., selected a very narrow gap for the
second test and grazed one of the pylons when he was reversing. He won his class with 445-1 marks, and, but for this slight error of judgment, might have surpassed the performances by Guest and Freeman.
In comparison, a total of 4321 marks awarded to S. J. Bell, of the Standard Motor Co., Ltd., for the best performance of an articulated vehicle in Class F, and the 416 marks gained by a Leyland driver, G. Wilson, of Ind, Coope and Allsopp, Ltd., for heavy articulated units in class G, represent a standard that was not approached by the great majority of " artic " drivers, who, in the main, failed in the parking test. ln many cases both front and back wheels were more than 3 ft. from the kerb, the usual fault being the location of the vehicle too far from the barriers on the forward run.
In winning the class A award in a Commer, with 452 marks, Miss H. Large, of the Standard Motor Co., Ltd., provided an example of a woman driver beating the male at his own game.
Marshals in charge of both the maintenance checks and Highway Code examinations reported that this years standard was by far the best of any
achieved in the four previous years. The most common maintenance fault was misalignment of the front wheels, which in isolated cases amounted to a toe-in measurement of nearly / in.
Questions on the Highway Code which caused drivers the most concern were those related to overtaking other vehicles.
Driverg were tested at the Banner Lane Park of the Standard Motor Co. and the vehicles were then driven to the grounds of Wickman, Ltd., for maintenance checks.
Class winners and those placed second will be entered for the final competition; in some cases the driver who was third in his class will also compete.
Best Woman Driver
Miss Large won a cup for the best performance by a woman driver and Guest was awarded the prize for the highest marks gained by the driver of C-licence vehicle. The team prize for three vehicles was won by the Quinton Road depot of British Road Services.
RESULTS
Class A, up to IS It.
1—Miss H. Large (Comtner. Standard Motor Co., Ltd.), 452 marks; 2—W. Booth (Conuner, Standard Motor Co., Ltd.), 440 marks.
Class B, 15-19 ft.
1-1. Hough (Austin, Quasi-Arc, Ltd.). 456 marks; 2—F. L. Haines (Guy, West Midland Gas Board), 415% marks.
Class C. 19-22 ft.
1—G. R. Perry (Morris-Commercial. H. E. Phillips, Ltd.), 464 marks; 2—F. Phillips (Bedford, Quasi-Arc Ltd.), 455 marks.
Class D. 22.25 ft.
1—P. Vv'illats (Redford, Lockheed Hydraulic Brake Co., Ltd.), 459 marks; 2—W. Patrick (Dodge, Ernest Barley. Ltd.). 453 marks.
Class E. over 25 ft.
H. Gucst (Albion, Quasi-Arc, Ltd.). 472% marks; 2—F. Freeman (Atkinson, Stanton ironworks, Ltd.), 4671,4 marks._
Class F, Articulated (Tractor Under 3 Tons Unladen) 1—S. I. Bell (Austin, Standard Motor Co., Ltd.), 432% marks; 2—W. 'Radford (Comma, Stanton ironworks, Ltd.), 425% marks. .
Class C. Artienlatuedwadio(Teractor Over 3 Tons
Wilson (Leyland, Ind. Coone and AllSopp; Ltd.). 416 marks; 2—W. 1. Davidson (Leyland. Shell-Mex and D.P., Ltd.), 358 marks.
Class H, Queen NWT Types
1—V. Ashby (Leyland. Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft, Ltd.), 445% marks; 2—A. Bosworth (Cornmer, Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft. Ltd.), 410 marks.