St Helens takes all
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• In a 1-2-3 grand slam victory last Sunday the men from St Helens Corporation trounced all oppositionat the national finals of the Bus Driver of the Year competition. It was no empty victory either, because there were no fewer than nine operators contesting this year's rounds of the BDoY.
This was the second national final — held like the first at the Road Transport Industry Training Board's Motec establishment at High Ercall, Salop — and a total of 32 drivers battled it out for the winners' laurels. But it was the St Helens team which came out trumps and took all three major awards and the team trophy. The man awarded the Bus Driver title for 1972 was 32-year-old Tommy Chisnall. A one-man bus driver for 11 years with St Helens, Tommy is married with five children — most of whom seemed to be there on Sunday to see dad win.
This year the original five operators City of Oxford Motor Services and the four municipalities of Leicester, Coventry, St Helens and Gelligaer — were joined by four others: Crosville Motor Services, Cardiff and Warrington Corporations and West
Monmouth Omnibus Board. Each operator held its own eliminating event to produce a team for the final.
This year's final included a Highway Code test, a fault-finding exercise and three manoeuvring tests. These had caused trouble last year and it was clear that the RTITB staff had tried to make them easier this year. There was a reversing exercise, a width-judging test and a height-judging test. Three RTITB training vehicles were used, one doubleand two single-deckers. Even though the tests were easier than previously, not every driver sailed through them. In fact there were some pretty horrifying manoeuvres, particularly on the reversing exercise which called for some fairly accurate lengthjudging of a 40ft single-decker.
No doubt standards will rise — as they have done in the LDoY contest — and this is one of the main aims of the competition. This year's final had two lady competitors among the 32 drivers taking part. Though they did not score top honours, neither disgraced themselves. It was obvious that both ladies found the non-power-assisted steering on the two single-deck vehicles
something of a handful.
There were significant differences in approach by several competitors. There were those who manoeuvred the vehicles at idling speed using the clutch to accelerate or slow down. Others used plenty of throttle and generally acted as if they were being timed through the tests.
Still, however the drivers did it, the small but enthusiastic band of spectators — most of whom had travelled down by bus — cheered them on. Needless to say, as the results because known — they were shown on a closed-circuit television screen by courtesy of the RTITB — the strong St Helens contingent began to drown out the rest.
It was particularly disappointing for the locals who were there that both Leicester and Coventry Corporation teams did not do better. Both were well down the list of honours despite some tactical advice from their respective general managers.
One of the most surprising features of the competition was the fact that only three of last year's finalists were taking part. This could either be because the rest were unsuccessful in the eliminators or because they had moved to other non-competing undertakings. Certainly last year's Bus Driver from Leicester did not make it to Motec on Sunday.