A downhill start to trialling season

Autumn is a funny time of year for motor sport. While there’s still a multitude of events going on, there’s also this looming sense that the race season is coming to an end. However,  for me this means one thing: trialling season is about to start!

The Welsh Trial kick-starts the winter trialling season. With the adventures starting before the trial itself, historically you have to complete a 100-mile trip to reach sign-on in the town of Presteigne in Powys, with receipts collected along the way to prove you’d done it. In more recent years they have altered it to be a bit less demanding, but we’d still clocked 50 miles before signing on.

We’d taken the Ford Model A, Bess, and were problem-solving early on when a crack in one of my tyres was noticed at scrutineering, demanding a change (good thing we always carry a spare or two!). Back on track my sister’s Austin 7 Trials Special decided to part company with the gear lever on the way back into town. We had to pull over to work on it, and some other competitors stopped to loan us tools.

Set over two days, our first hill on Saturday was Badlands, which must be one of the best trials sections. There were two hills on offer, and it’s fair to say we fluffed them both. Badlands 1 had a very steep launch and then a tight left-hander to negotiate, not that we had to worry about that as we only scored a two, struggling to get past the very greasy and steep start. Badlands 2 is the highlight. You go in and out of a gulley, then across some wet grass, down by a brook and finally to a steep hill where you must perform a stop-restart before venturing further up to be greeted by almighty views. This involves stopping within a marked box, waiting for the flag to drop, and then attempting to get going again, which can prove very tricky. Despite giving it a good go, and lots of reassurance from Ian Stewart the marshal, we got stuck. A result made worse by the fact my boyfriend, Louis Parkin, made it to the top of the hill for a big score in his Trojan. It was great to see George Diffey, who was out in his late father Simon’s car – Humbug, who also beat Badlands and scooped an award.

We did score a few 25s on the following hills, but the indifferent start would make a comeback tough. Saturday ended, as always, back to Presteigne for a debrief over a few beers. Vintage cars and competitors flood the streets and it’s a great atmosphere.

Sunday brought sunshine and more challenges. Our first hill started with a 25, thanks to the cheers from my mother and father, who were marshalling, but it was downhill from there (pun intended). The final hills came at Cwm Whitton Farm where a series of optional stop-restart sections were on offer for 10 bonus points each. With ground to make up we had to gamble on the bonus sections. Sadly, given how the weekend had gone, we got stuck on the first restart. We did edge forward a bit, but the Ford wasn’t having it. No prizes, but a heap of fun regardless.

A shout out to some fellow youth competitors: Tom Blake who, on his first trial, won Class 1B alongside his mother, Rachel, in their Austin; and Hester March, who won the Judges’ Gavel award for being the best scorer outside the top places and aged under 30. Thanks, as always, to the organisers and marshals.

Next month: Lakeland Trial and Cotswold Trial