Kilduff's repeat
Page 23
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
PETER KILDUFF is the Bus Driver of the Year for the. second year running — but this year he managed to win without the cracked ribs that dogged him during the 1977 competition.
And the re-run results continued with the second placed Francis Robinson of Cumberland Motor Services, who also came second in the 1977 competition.
More than 6,000 people turned out to see the competition in bright sunlight and watch the Royal Artillery motor cycle display team and the Light Infantry Flying Bugles parachute display team, which performed despite the high winds.
Mr Kilduff,of City of Oxford Motor Services, was also a member of the winning divisional team, the Midlands, which took the Institute of Advanced Motorists award for the best Division Team.
After the event, Mr Kilduff said that the worst of the competition had been the strain of being the defending champion.
"I had a lot to achieve this time, if I won it for the second time, but I haven't decided if I will enter next year."
He added that the strain of having to drive different vehicles in each part of the test had been immense.
The Dunlop award went to Tyne and Wear's Thomas Cunningham; the Company of Veteran Motorists award for the highest number of finals of any contestant went to Francis Robinson.
The Institute of Trafiic Administration award for the best highway code paper went to Colin Sellars of the Lincolnshire Road Car Company and the Institute of Road Transport Engineers award for the best vehicle inspection went to Ian Parrot of Hants and Dorset.
Presenting the award Brig Donald Locke of the Chartered Institute of Transport called for action to halt the numbers of assaults on bus crews and the amount of vandalism on public transport.