New Champion Wins in Dairy Float
Page 44
Page 45
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
THE new holder of the title Lorry Driver of the Year is J. Hall, of Leeds Industrial Co-operative Society. This was decided in the final competition held a* the Royal Naval Air Station, firameote, near Nuneaton, last Sunday.
• Hall competed in an Austin 25-cwt. dairy float and incurred a final penalty of 36.5 points. E. J. Richings, of Coventry Post Office, who drove a Morris-Commercial J-type van and lost 57.5 points, was second.
Third man, with 58 points, was D. Huddlestone, of Messrs. H. Sheard, Pontefract, in a Seddon platform lorry. Last year's title-holder, Peter Privett (Messrs. W. G. Privett and Sons. Portsmouth), was placed fourth with 67.5 points. His vehicle was an A.E.C. short-wheelbase eight-wheeled tipper which he drove to victory in 1954.
Seventy-two vehicles from all parts of England came to the final after the eliminating rounds at Slough, Leeds, Portsmouth and Coventry. Two were at once disqualified when it was found that their overall lengths were greater than specified according to their class.
These were the Seddon of M. Fenner (British Road Services. Slough) and the Commer of A. Curtis (Starch Products. Ltd.. Slough)—the winner and runnerup in class B (vehicles over 15 ft. and up to 19 ft.) in the Slough heats. The vehicles were 2-3 ft too long.
There were four tests. The first involved reversing and placing the vehicle into a space 11times the length of the vehicle, and as nearly as possible parallel to the kerb. The second entailed setting two sets of pylons to as narrow a width as the driver reckoned he could drive through. He then had to reverse through the two gaps.
Reversing into a narrow right-angled bend to the near side and up to an imaginary loading bank constituted the third test. The fourth was to halt the vehicle on the near side of the road with the near-side wheels between the kerb and a white line, then to reverse towards a position by the off-side kerb and place the off-side wheels between a line and the kerb.
Each of the first three tests had to be completed in 70 sec. and the fourth in 90 sec. All vehicles went through the tests in their classes in the morning, and in the afternoon the winners in each class competed against each other. On the second occasion they had to perform each test in the same time as in the morning. If they were faster, they lost one mark per second, and if slower, five marks per second.
In the morning's tests, Richings. in class A (vehicles up to 15 ft. long) lost no marks on test 2 and 4 and dropped altogether only 20.2 points. A. Jarman (Thames, Southern Electricity Board. Portsmouth) came second with 43.4 points. Other competitors in this class were far behind.
Hall, who took a steering wheel in his hands for the first time last Sunday after a fortnight's holiday, lost 31.8 points when the class B vehicles went through. Second came G. Pollington (Bedford, Messrs. H. Geall, Bognor Regis) with 41.5 points lost, and third R. D. Purslow (Thames, Messrs. E. Purslow, Cleobury Mortimer). A particularly fine performance was . put up in class C (19-22 ff. long) by Privett's colleague, G. Grant, in an A.E.C. He lost only 5.6 points. Second man. with 22.3 points lost, was L. Ball (Bedford, B.R.S. [Parcels]), Ltd., Nechells).
Huddlestone competed in ciass D (all other four-wheeled and six-wheeled vehicles over 22 ft.) and lost 13.3 points, followed by M. Timmons (Morris-Commercial, Elliotts of Aldershot, Ltd., Aldershot) with 30.3.
High-speed Manmuvring The crowd was tense when the time came for class E (eight-wheelers) and P:ivett had to stave off the challenge to his title. His lucky star shone, for although he made only second best times in the first and second tests and incurred a heavy penalty on the fourth, he managed test 3 in 52 sec.—about half the time taken by any other class competitor.
He won with a score of 99.9 points, followed by L. T. Kings (Bristol, B.R.S. Dudley Group, Redditch) with 106.6 points and J. Mills (Atkinson, B.R.S., Quinton Road,. Coventry) with 113.5, When Priven's vehicle was measured at the start, it was found to be 24 ft. 9 in. long.
The tests for vehicles in class F (articulated outfits over 25 ft.) were a minor fiasco. Of 12 competitors, eight failed the first test, seven the second, 10 the third and 10 the fourth. An exceptional performance took N. Ball (Bedford-Scammell, Midland Counties Dairy, Ltd., Birmingham) to the to with 163 points lost, with J. Dorey .(Bedford-Scammell, Shell-Mex and 13,P., Ltd., Hamble). another clever " artic exponent and winner of the Portsmouth contest, second with 183.5.
Three Queen Mary vehicles made a good demonstration, although only of token significance because of their inordinate length. V. W. Ashby (Leyland, Sir W. 0. ArmstrongWhitworth Aircraft, Ltd., Coventry), however, achieved 'the distinction of losing no marks throughout and won with a clean sheet.
In the afternoon. Richings had to perform his tests in 30.6, 13.6, 24.2 and 38.4 sec. respectively to lose no marks; Hall in 39.4. 20.6, 30.2 and 36.8 sec.; Grant in 40.8, 28.8, 45.0 and 46,0 sec.: Huddles:one in 40.6, 33.2, 54.0 and 50.0 sec.; Privett in 47.4, 37.0, 52.0 and 44.6 sec.; and Ball in 73.8, 42.4, 73.0 and 86.2 sec. Marks could be lost by inaccurate positioning.
Through went Richings in the nippy J-type, clocking 27.4, 15.0, 22.2 and 32.0 sec. against his morning's times. Then Hall, fast and uncannily accurate, returned 36.4, 16.6, 29.0 and 33,4 sec. Grant made 37.8, 28.8, 56.0 and 36.2 sec., which gave him 98,5 points and a final placing of fifth. His times for the second test were exactly the same in the morning and afternoon.
Disqualified in Test 1
Huddlestone, young and unflurried, made 37.2, .24.8, 39.0 and 41.8 sec. and Privett 39.4, 33.6, 51.0 and 44.8 sec. Bad fortune struck Ball. He hit a post on the first test and was disqualified.
Hall, 42 years old, who has been driving for 24 years, told the Press that he had been entered in the competition by his employers. His Austin, he said, was not the vehicle he normally drove, but was one provided for the contests. He is regularly employed on a Guy 3-tanner for grocery deliveries, and covers 10.000 miles a year in Leeds and district.