|
Nigel Allen
by Dennis Greenslade
VW Specialist, 34 year old Nigel Allen, is another
Cornishman to win the prestigious Crackington Cup. He is married to
Scottish born Fiona, who has lived in Cornwall from the age of four
months, and they have "two future trials drivers", Scott aged
11 and Craig aged 9. Nigel who is an expert welder was originally
involved with car restorations or repairing crashed cars, prior to
concentrating on fibreglass fabrication. It was the building of a kit
car from scratch using a VW Beetle chassis that led him to concentrate
most of his activities with Volkswagens. Indeed by the age of 15 there
were no less than three Beetles parked in his parents garden! His skills
in dealing with fibreglass were developed when building an all
fibreglass body Rochdale using on that occasion a Ford Popular chassis.
Whilst Nigel has always had a passing interest in
motor sport it was involvement in the maintenance of Graham Brasier's
1303 trial’s prepared Beetle that prompted him to build his own car to
compete in classic reliability trials. However the development of his
Crackington Cup winning car was still some eight years away when Nigel
first navigated for Graham on the Camel Classic. They had a very poor
result as the car was really set up for production car trials, Graham
having campaigned the 2005cc Type 1 single carburettored engine Beetle
in the RAC production car trials championship. Some alterations were
required - but -precisely what ?There was a steep learning curve with
constant alterations being made, particularly to the suspension.
Ultimately after an indifferent result following a trial in the
Westcountry the "bull was taken by the horns" and a 1976cc
twin carburettored Type 4 engine was installed. That car went on to win
a Triple and the MCC's Baddeley Award in I998. Also, during this period
and prior to competing himself, Nigel was maintaining my own Crackington
Cup and multiple triple award winning Beetle. Evidence, for sure, that
when he built his own Volkswagen that success was virtually assured.
This commenced when he bought an ex-customer’s 1969
1300 Beetle for £400. It was completely stripped with a body off
restoration and altered to double jointed rear suspension to provide
additional ground clearance. Nigel agrees with me that whether such a
conversion provides additional grip is an argumentative point - I have
tended to prefer the swing axle arrangement but Giles, whose Beetle
Nigel also prepares and which has also won a triple award now intends to
stay with the double jointed set up. Modifications were also made to the
front suspension - dropping the wheel spindles thereby raising the car
but still retaining suppleness - an idea which he readily admits he
copied from ex Beetle driver lan Facey. Because Nigel intends to
principally compete in class 6 he fitted a 1976cc type 4 engine -
"bullet proof plus reliability" - to give Graham Brasier and
John Robilliard a run for their money.
The only significant motor sport event, other than
classic trials in which Nigel has competed was when he drove my 1947
Riley Bertone in the classic tour of Ireland in I998. Whilst we
thoroughly enjoyed this week long regularity rally we did not achieve a
good result - not due to Nigel's driving, which was creditable, but to
my navigation which on this occasion was not! Apart from that one off
all Nigel's events have been involved with the ACTC or the ASWMC
championships which initially he did not take too seriously, his best
result being an outright win on the 1999 Bodmin trial.
However the year 2000 was to change everything, He
decided to chase both the ACTC and ASWMC championships. He mentioned
that work commitments did not enable him to compete on North Devon Motor
Club's Tarka trial or Stroud and District Motor Club's Ebworth otherwise
he would have been chasing eventual winner Giles Greenslade for the
ASWMC championship - Nigel eventually ended in a commendable third
place.
The ACTC championship began really well. First time
out on the Clee Hills, which he found easy, he gained a class win,
beating seasoned campaigners like, Terry Ball, John Sargeant and lan
Bates. On NDMC's Exmoor he experienced problems on the restart line on
the superb Jenny Wren section, later discovered to be caused by a float
needle, but continued and still won the class. The restart just happened
to be marshalled by ubiquitous Angus Stewart - my very own bete noir!! A
class win on the ASWMC qualifying and local Chairman’s Trial was
followed by another on the Kyrle. Nigel agreed that much of the
requirement for success on the Kyrle is related to power - "an
excellent day he concedes". And so prior to the season’s break
Nigel was already in the top three for the Crackington Cup and he had
not competed on either the Exeter or Land's End.
At commencement in September he quickly established
his determination with a class win on the Taw and Torridge and the
Exmoor Clouds, albeit with no opposition on the latter upon which he
comments " that the route card was poor, the very rough sections
happen to suit a Beetle and that he was disappointed that Port Lane was
reserved only for class 8".
With five class wins under his belt and with the best
eight scores counting on a depleted event championship he was in a very
strong position to win the coveted trophy. Then came the Tamar when he
was beaten by the 1500ce Beetle driven by Neil Allen (no relation),
Nigel had by this time further raised the rear suspension of his own
car. With hindsight he concedes that it was raised too high and on the
Zig Zag section the left hand rear wheel dropped into a rut pulling out
the driveshaft on the second hairpin. It was fixed, Nigel still gaining
second in class - but Golf driver, David Haizelden, was waiting in the
wings to pounce for his second Crackington Cup win.
No competition meant a class win on the all night and
day Hardy but, on the Allen, Nigel again dropped to second in class
being beaten by the 1835cc Type 1 engined Beetle of Mike Hobbs, who got
away on the Guys Hill restart. Nigel tried 6500rpm, which didn't work -
was the pressure of the championship now getting to him ? David
Haizelden, Bill Bennett and Giles Greenslade were now piling on the
pressure all with class wins on the previous two events.
Nigel admits that he thought that he might have
"blown it' and contested the final round, the Camel Classic as
"going out for a good days fun"'. But as Giles has stated in
the January 2001 "Championship Chat' - "what a difference a
day makes". Nigel won the trial outright (albeit on index of
performance), came third overall on points lost, a class win and with it
the Crackington Cup. Need I say more ? The answer is yes, to provide a
comprehensive profile of our 2000 champion, Apart from the
aforementioned he has prepared and rebuilt Graham Brasier's Okrassa
specification Beetle in which Graham and I came I6th overall
and won our class by more than two hours in the 2300 kilometre
Millennium Monte Carlo Rally. In addition he has provided suspension
modifications for Beetle drivers, Denis Johns, Trevor Johns and Hans
Viertel.
He does not intend to seriously contest the ACTC
Championship for 200I but might make an attempt to win "for
fun", a triple award in 2002. In the future apart from continuing
in classic reliability trials Nigel would like to consider historic
special stage rallying and maybe would consider entering class 8 in a
Volkswagen based machine. In his nightmares he evens considers a class 8
Reliant!!
Mike Crocker
by Julia Browne
The Pouncy League was won last season by Michael Crocker
and Trevor Griffiths on their Yamaha XS650 wasp outfit. My mission today
was to try to find out something about the  new
winners and what it takes to get there…
Mike’s dad had a 350 Ariel, and a Matchless, and
his grandad was of the same mindset. It was probably inevitable that the
young Mike Crocker, starting on a bicycle, like many of us, aged four,
would come to enjoy his motorcycles. At eighteen, Mike had an accident
on his road bike and smashed his patella. Wisely, the doctors didn’t
put him in plaster, opting instead to strap him into a crepe bandage,
leaving him with some flexibility in the damaged joint, and the injury
appeared to heal well. Although he didn’t ride for the next two years
he did eventually return on a DT175 and rode several trials, culminating
with a class win at the Neil Westcott Memorial Trial.
So why does a chap make the step from a not
unsuccessful solo career into wrestling with a damned great outfit? For
Mike Crocker it was that old knee injury indicating a small change of
direction. He and his brother-in-law, John Hallett, borrowed Andy Seward’s
Suzuki outfit and had a test ride. Although the test-ride wasn’t an
unqualified success Mike was inspired to acquire a Yamaha XT500 and weld
a Wasp chair onto it. The result was a tad unwieldy but Mike used it on
a Crackington trial and had it mastered after about twelve months.
Around this time he bought the Norton Wasp that Courtney Yandle now
rides, and campaigned for another twelve months or so with a different
passenger.
One day he saw the XS650 Wasp being presented to
prospective purchasers, with Trevor Griffiths on the scene. Liking the
look of the outfit and there being some doubt about whether it was
actually being bought, Mike spoke to Trevor about it, saying that if it
WAS for sale, it was exactly what he wanted. And he could do with a
passenger, too. Well, Mike needed the outfit and a passenger, and Trevor
needed a driver; a deal was done and history began to be made.
Their first trial was Littery Woods near Lifton; 3
laps of a single venue circuit of ten sections and, rather depressingly,
the Wasp was behaving badly enough that they failed to climb some of the
sections at all. Work on the suspension and carburation was called for
– eventually having to replace both carbs (and we all know that
feeling when equipment is needed and you just have to take a deep
breath and pay for it!). This made some improvement and their next event
was the Westcott, but now in store were some electrical problems and a
run of DNFs. Changing the contact breaker for electronic ignition helped
and in the second year things started to come together. The Crocker/Griffiths
partnership clicked and putting his trust in a fearless Chair Man, with
a machine that responded well, Mike was able to attack the sections in
the manner we all know so well. Mike remembers roaring past solos on a
twisty A road on one occasion, which ably demonstrates his confidence in
the outfit! They rode ten trials that year, things improving and
consolidating all the while.
2000 was the partnership’s third year, and Mike rode as many events
as possible in order to decide which were good ones and which were less
so. As they moved up the Pouncy League table they suddenly realised they
were in with a shout and a final push saw them take the lead. The Neil
Westcott Memorial Trial was their last event of the year, the
hard-worked XS engine finishing in a cloud of blue smoke and asking for
a rebuild. This has just been finished, bottom to top and Mike and
Trevor are ready to attack once more.
Mike is very keen on preventative maintenance - as he
said, punctures and random breakages apart, you don’t want to be doing
your routine maintenance on the roadside and time spent in the garage is
well spent. After each event, Trevor gets the job of washing the bike on
a Monday afternoon and in return Mike cleans his gear. Then on the
Wednesday they get together and spend a few hours dropping all three
wheels out and grease the bearings, oil all the cables, drain the carbs
and replace anything that looks a bit creaky. He once had a chain snap
on a Crackington trial and it took the crankcase with it: now he uses a very
heavy duty chain which will usually last all season. Rear tyres are good
for two events – not three, as bitter experience once proved. The
aftercare routine means that he can prepare for a Lands End in the same
length of time as it takes to prepare for a Taw & Torridge.
Mike clearly gets immense enjoyment from trialling; I have seen him
shin deep in mud at the end of a section, doggedly repairing a puncture,
and still grinning and waving us on past when we stopped to see if he
needed a hand. So how many heads and what sort of attitude do you need
to be a trials champion? I still don’t know. Michael Crocker has only
the one head, and he’s nothing like the antagonistic Jean-Louis
Schlesser of Paris-Dakar infamy. Maybe ability and determination are all
you need. I might never know…
Return to
2001 Restart
|
