Popular win by 'veteran' Willetts
Page 55
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
DRIVING an eight-year-old Dodge for the Lockheed Brake Co. at the Coventry Lorry Driver of the Year eliminator on Sunday, P. Willetts was the winner of class E and the local championship. He was also the best C licence driver.
Willetts has taken part in every Coventry contest since the inception of the competition, apart from one year when he was in hospital, has qualified for four finals (including the 1967 event) and has come second in his last seven times. He has driven his Dodge more than 220,000 miles and boasts that MoT examiners always wave him on because of his lorry's immaculate condition.
Willetts was heavily backed for the championship when he won class E with a loss of 40 penalty points-20 for merely touching the kerb in the parking test-after it became known that the vehicles to be used for the championship run-off were Ford 7-tonners of the type included in class El.
The distinction of being penalized the least number of points (25) went to H. E. Rabone who won Class A (he was second in the 1965 championship). But he was obviously not at ease at the wheel of the heavier vehicle in the run-off. Rabone's biggest worry was the loss of 12 points in the Highway Code test due, he said, to the tricky way in which some questions were phrased.
Praising the route test, Willetts particularly mentioned the inclusion of a housing estate, where children were running about, and the wide variety of traffic conditions involved.
As usual at Coventry the event went like clockwork, but the tick slowed up later in the day when drivers began to appreciate that the changes to the bay test had not, as it seemed at first sight, made it any easier. Many drivers of larger vehicles, notably the long artics, had great difficulty in backing their vehicles round the curved lane to the bay and had upwards of five or six shunts. Many pylons were displaced and barrier timbers splintered.
The time occupied by multiple shunts and running repairs to barriers accounted for the later-than-usual prize-giving at about 5 p.m., but there was never a dull moment or any ill-humour. A number of the big artics were backed into the bay in one continuous easy movement to within a few inches of the barrier-K. Inglis gave an outstandingly smooth performance in a Commer outfit of the Morton's Company.
If the parking and bay tests could be speeded-up, perhaps by harsher disqualification rules, a lot of time could be saved and the competition made more popular. Few object to a long day-if there are a lot of vehicles -so long as there are no long waits.
COVE NTR Y RESULTS
Class A-up to 16 ft. and from 20 cwt.: I. H. E. Rabone (Pressed Steel Fisher Ltd.), Morris 25 penalty points: 2, F. W. Yardley (Pressed Steel Fisher). Morris, 55; 3. P. Quinn (GPO Coventry), Morris, 67.
Class B-16 to 19 ft.: 1. S. Bethell (Stanton and Staveley Ltd,), Austin, 32; 2. S.A.C. Underwood (RAF Gaydon), K artier, 65; 3. S. G. Newman (R. F. Brookes Ltd.), Bedford, 71.
Class C-I9 to 22 ft.: 1. W. Cairns (Enterprise Bakeries Ltd.), Ford, 74: 2. M. Hayward (Pfestages Ltd.), Bedford, 100; 3. E. C. Smith (Cavenharn Foods Ltd.), Austin, 115.
Class 1.)---22 to 25 ft.: I. P. M. Brown (London Laundry Ltd.), Commer, 35: 2. R. W. Carter (Ernest Batley Ltd.), Ford, 36; 3. F. Cumpstone (lad Coope Ltd.), Morris, 38.
Class E(1)-over 25 ft., two axles: 1. P. Willetts (Lockheed Brake Co. Ltd.), Dodge, 40; 2. R. E. Carter (Ernest Batley), Albion, 66; 3. T. H. Plackett (Stanton and Staveley Ltd.), Atkinson, 98.
Class E(2)-over 25 ft., more than two axles: I. W. H. Clarke (Lid Coope), ERF, 56; 2. F. Charlton (Stanton and Staveley), Atkinson, 63; 3. K. Breden (Stanton and Staveley), Atkinson, 87.
Class F(2)--box or tank semi-trailer with flat or drop frame up to and including 33 ft. train length: I. G. Russell (Petrofina (GB) Ltd.), Leyland, 92; 2. R. F. Litchfield (Shell Mex and 13P Ltd.), AEC, 93; 3.0. P. McMullen (Pressed Steel Fisher Ltd.), Morris. 136.
Class G-flat or sided semi-trailer with flat or drop frame over 33 ft. train length: 1. N. J. Andrews (Pressed Steel Fisher), Morris, 39; 2. V. R. Townsend (Stanton and Staveley), Commer, 56; 3. M. Hughes (Ernest Batley), Leyland, 70.
Class H-box or tanker semi-trailer with flat or drop
frame over 33 ft. train length: 1. G. Waine (Ernest
Batley), Albion, 163.
Champion driver: P. Willetts.
Best C-licence driver: P. Willetts.
Best service driven S. A. C. Underwood.
Team award: E. Laxon Co. Ltd.