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Exe Valley Trial
Report or, A Day with Roger Bricknell
by Doug Hagerman
This past spring I was poking around in the Classical Gas website and
realized that I might be able to cadge a ride in the Edinburgh trial
since I would be England in early October. I mailed a request to Simon
Woodall about this possibility, and eventually after my schedule changed
and some other stuff happened it worked out that he was able to arrange
for me to ride as passenger with Roger Bricknell in the Exe Valley
trial. This is a report about what I found out on my day with Roger.
Some readers don't know about trials, so to start from the beginning: In
a trial you drive your car or motorcycle up narrow lanes and try to
avoid getting stuck. Penalty points are awarded and low score wins.
Of course any sort of activity like this is ultimately a social thing,
and the personal welcome and hospitality that I encountered was great.
Simon suggested a terrific B&B near the start, and on Sunday morning
I met him and Barbara at the Cat and Fiddle pub in Clyst St Mary, near
Exeter. There was a big crowd of cars and people, mostly holding coffee
cups as they queued up to get their car numbers and route sheets. Event
registration was handled by a friendly committee and everybody was quite
cheerful and optimistic, although I did hear someone say that they were
experiencing pre-event stomach nervousness. 26 motorcycles and 46 cars
competed.
Simon introduced me to Roger and to several other people - whose names
I've forgotten, of course - and then it was just me and Roger for the
rest of the day. The trial was sponsored by the Crash Box and Classic
Car Club, and put on by Roger (not the same one), James, Greg, Phil, and
Ron, each of whom I was probably introduced to.
The organizational mechanics of a trial are almost exactly the same as
for a U.S. time-speed-distance road rally. There's pre-registration by
mail, then on the day of the event you get a car number and a route
sheet. You start on your assigned minute and follow the instructions on
the sheet. Since there's only an overall time limit, you don't need to
worry about staying exactly on speed, but then you can't afford to waste
time, either. Then at the end of the day you meet back at the starting
point and turn in your car numbers and have a drink. Results are
computed on the spot, but not many people stay to the end. Scoring
complexity is similar to that of a TSD rally and takes some time to
complete.
The essential ingredient for a classic trial is unpaved English lanes.
Surprisingly, from the American viewpoint, there are thousands of miles
of public roads in England that are only one lane wide. Furthermore,
they are often bordered on both sides by stone walls or high hedges so
that visibility is extremely limited. This is a unique part of driving
in the U.K. and has to be coped with by everybody--even the access roads
to subdivisions and grocery stores may be these tiny lanes. There is a
considerable amount of slowing down to peer around corners, backing up
to a wide spot to allow overtaking, and generally pokey driving as a
result of this road configuration.
In addition, some of these lanes are unpaved. Now, averaged across the
whole country I would say that America has many more miles of unpaved
roads, because in rural areas across the U.S. there are huge networks of
gravel and dirt byways. But these are almost always two lanes wide, and
in almost all cases they are level enough to be graded on a fairly
regular basis. Except in a few remote mountainous areas like Vermont or
Colorado, there are essentially no single-track public roads in the U.S.
And none of them have the high walls or hedgerows seen in England.
And, then finally, some of these public lanes go straight up the sides
of mountains. "Unsuitable for motors" is a fairly common sign,
although exactly what these roads ARE suitable for is an open question.
As you follow your route sheet you eventually come to an "observed
section" of which there might be 15 or so in a typical trial. You
may have to wait for a few minutes depending on how hard the other cars
and motorcycles are finding the section. The motorcycles all go before
the cars, and we only saw a handful during the whole day.
The observed sections are typically fairly short, perhaps a hundred
yards or so long. Some are up unpaved lanes, either steep or very loose
or muddy. Others are on paved lanes with very steep gradients, or on wet
grass hillsides. When the section is clear the observer signals that it
is ok to proceed, and you attempt the section. Usually there are
numbered signs along the side of the section with decreasing numbers:
12, 11... If you stop forward motion, you get the number of points of
the sign you just passed, with zero if you "clean" the
section. Some sections are "clean or fail" which means that
you get either 12 or 0 points.
Some sections have "restarts" in the middle. This means that
you have to stop with the car astride a line, and then on a signal from
the observer you must continue on up the hill without rolling backwards.
Of course the restart is chosen to be in a place where it's hard to get
restarted, either because of the gradient or because the surface is
loose or slippery. If things go well you make it through the observed
section, come out the top, and continue on your way. At the end of the
day the observers turn in their sheets to the organizers for scoring. If
you make it through all the sections without penalty, you have a
"clean sheet."
There are also "special tests," sometimes called "speed
tests." These are used as tie-breakers, and are particularly
important in events where the conditions make it possible for many
contestants to have clean sheets. The Exe Valley trial had two speed
tests, each only a few yards long. The first one had a sharp turn right
after the entrance, then about 50 yards of unpaved lane, and a line
where you had to stop, reverse, and then exit after another turn. The
second was even shorter, with perhaps 10 yards from entry to reversing
point, and then an immediate exit. Roger had some difficulty - just a
brief hesitation, actually - engaging reverse gear on the second test,
which had a big effect on our final score.
Of course mostly what Roger and I talked about were the cars. So let me
tell you about trials cars. First you have to understand that there are
different kinds of trials: Production car trials, classic trials, and
sporting trials, each requiring a more specialized car. What makes a
trial a "classic" is the format of the event, not the use of
old cars. By following the classic event plan which has considerable
on-road driving (Exe Valley trial was about 90 miles), competitors are
forced to have street-legal cars that are at least nominally useful as
transportation. Sporting trial cars are sort of a cross between a
motorcycle and a grocery store buggy, and are completely impractical.
Anyway, to make things fairer there are several classes of cars. Class 1
is for front wheel drive cars, which obviously have the most trouble
with steep hills and deep mud. Class 8 is for cars that are pretty
specialized. Roger's car is in class 7. It's a Vincent, which is a
modern kit car replica of a 1930s Riley, which looks to American eyes
like a cross between an old MG TC and a Lotus 7. While there are a lot
of cars that can be used in a trial, this is a particularly good choice
as will be discussed below.
The Vincent is a two-seat tube-framed car with a fiberglass ("GRP")
body. There are two spare tires on the back, no provision for a roof,
and a very long hood ("bonnet") covering a 2 liter Ford engine
and transmission. The front axle is from a Triumph, but most of the
other mechanical bits are Ford, chosen because they are used in racing
cars so there are a lot of transmission and axle ratios, strengthened
parts, and tuning accessories available.
The trial rules require open differentials (no LSD or lockers) and
street tires. Roger mentioned that he uses tires popular in sporting
trials with particularly soft sidewalls. While big knobby tires would
work a lot better, they are not allowed. Partly this is because they
tear up the sections, and partly it's because it would change the
character of the sport, which is mostly about not getting stuck using
street tires in English mud.
Because of the restarts in the observed sections, it's very important to
have a good handbrake. Roger's car just has a regular cable operated
brake, but I noticed that some other cars had hydraulic staging brakes
(as used in drag racing cars) which might be an advantage. Sporting
trial cars are allowed "fiddle" brakes, which are independent
hand brakes for each rear wheel, but classic trial rules prohibit these.
With a fiddle brake setup you can stop a spinning wheel to transfer the
power to the other side, which is a huge advantage on loose surfaces.
Upon entering the car you first notice the generous leg room. This is
because you sit practically right over the rear wheels so as to get as
much weight as possible rearwards. In fact, the trunk ("boot")
is a veritable slag heap. There is a complete selection of tools, spare
parts up to and including driveshafts and differential innards, spare
tubes, a tank of compressed air (more on this later), and as if that's
not enough, there's ballast! Roger explained that the whole point is to
get weight over the driving wheels, and that sporting cars take this to
such an extreme that you can't even steer them without the fiddle
brakes.
The second thing you notice is the lightweight construction. Everything
is small, simple, and lightly constructed. The doors are particularly
feathery. The car weighs about 1500 pounds, but with a 2 liter engine
fed by two big twin-choke Weber carburetors, the power-to-weight ratio
is in Corvette territory. Roger explained quietly that there were some
situations where power was required, which I found more about later...
There's a Lake-style exhaust pipe on the passenger side so you have to
be careful not to burn yourself. And I was warned not to use the door or
windshield as handles. Comfort-wise the car is actually not too bad,
although it was a sunny and warm day for this event; I imagine that in
January it's pretty cold!
We talked about transmission ratios, because in motorcycle trials the
bottom three gears are very close together (so you can choose exactly
the best one in an observed section) and the remainder are travelling
gears used for the transit sections. Roger said that he had tried this
at one point but with only four speeds it doesn't work out that well,
and that his current gearbox is fairly normal although there is quite a
gap between second and third.
The car has a heater, and the cooling system has an electric fan
controlled by a dashboard switch. As the day went on I wondered why
Roger was turning on and off both the cooling fan and the heater, and he
mentioned that the car might be having a bit of a cooling problem. But I
also noticed that he ran the fan whilst waiting for an observed section
to open, after a long transit zone. Perhaps there is an advantage to
starting a section with a slightly cooler engine?
Other cars in the event ranged from fairly standard-looking sedans to
quite specialized cars, mostly based on the old air-cooled VW bug
chassis. Incidently, the motorcycles used are enduro bikes, not trials
bikes. Trials bikes are comparable to Sporting Trials cars in their
non-practicality.
Simon mentioned that Roger had carefully chosen his car for classic
trials competition. Based on what I saw, it seems to come down to two
things. Firstly, the car itself is lightweight and powerful, and fairly
close in overall layout to the all-out sporting trial car design.
Secondly, by following the regulations for class 7, there is a bit of an
advantage in the event. This is because of the way restarts are assigned
to classes. In this particular trial there were 13 sections altogether,
with no restarts in seven of them, restarts for all classes in two
sections, and restarts for classes 6, 7, and 8 in four sections. There
was a separate starting line for class 8 in one section, and a different
(harder) restart location for class 8 in one section. What this all
means is that if you want to get an overall win, class 7 might be the
best option because the lower classes have no hope on some of the tough
sections while class 8 is penalized more than any other.
To be more specific, looking at the results, the Rebel's Way (grassy
hill with separate class 8 starting point) and Simms (steep hill with
separate Class 8 restart) took points from almost all of the class 8
cars and none of the class 7 cars. On the other hand, the class 1, 2, 3,
and 4 had trouble on Windout (paved lane with restart on loose surface)
and Rebel's Way. None of the class 7 cars were stopped on Rebel's Way or
Simms, and only one on Windout. Four Class 7 cars turned in clean sheets
of ten finishers. Of the six class 1 cars that finished, three turned in
clean sheets, while in class 3 there were ten finishers and four clean
sheets.
In the special test sections, the combined times for all clases were
about the same, and the overall winner ran in class 1 so it looks as if
the tie-breaker mechanism is pretty consistent across classes--there's
no obvious advantage to one class in the special tests.
In this particular event, the Tipley observed section ("Rocky track
with ruts. Rough around re-start area. Moderate gradient in
places.") was the make-or-break point for most people. Roger and I
almost got stopped there on the very slippery restart where your wheel
tends to fall into a hole. Most of the bikes and class 8 and 7 cars
failed this section, while nobody in any of the lower classes failed,
because they didn't have a restart.
I would guess, based on zero experience, that mud would make all of the
sections a lot harder, and would distribute the penalties a bit more
evenly between the classes.
I also noticed that Roger - like successful rally competitors in the
U.S. - has a very scientific approach to the event. Ready at the start,
on time, with a properly set up and equipped car. No fooling around.
Hustle to the first section, and then to the others, too: No
dilly-dallying--at least not until the very end of the day when there's
plenty of time to make it back to the restaurant. Carefully check the
route card for surprizes. Very careful to check the description of the
section, paying particular attention to which classes have restarts.
Understand the special tests.
From a tactical viewpoint, most of the activity seemed to be concerned
with tire pressures. Excuse me, "tyre" pressures. I think the
lower limit at this event was 14 PSI, which is pretty low for road
travel, so Roger let his tires down and then pumped them up again
several times during the day. Not between every section, but maybe four
times altogether, depending on the length of the transit zone. Some cars
carried foot pumps, but we had a tank of compressed air so it was pretty
quick and easy to make the adjustments. Also, the tank serves as
ballast.
Roger mentioned that trials was mostly about "pace" in the
sense that you have to carefully use the available traction and power,
sometimes straining to keep the tires from not slipping, and then other
times spinning them heartlessly to get heat into the rubber so they can
get grip on a slippery rock. There were two or three times when he
"gave her full Welly" (i.e. full throttle) in a section, which
was pretty exciting.
The main job of the passenger, besides properly following the route
card, is to provide moveable ballast. I was instructed to get over which
ever wheel was spinning--which is hard to know because you can't see
them from inside--and to bounce up and down like crazy if we stopped
forward motion. The idea is that by bouncing you will cause the tire to
catch and pull the car out of whatever hole you've sunk into. I
practised bouncing a few times, but because of the dry conditions it
wasn't needed in most of the sections.
Another thing I saw was a determination amongst the successful
competitors to not give up during the event. For example, you can see
the pictures of car 141, driven by Paul Bartleman, who came in 4th in
class 8, with it's axle out and being hammered on and when we came up to
them near the end of the event they had the half-shaft up on a post and
were bunging on it with full abandon! They finished the event, and so
did Simon even though an ignition problem caused him problems early on.
So it's probably like anything else worth doing: Never give up!
So anyway, to make a long story just a bit longer, our event went
smoothly from start to finish. We, or I should say I (speaking as
navigator) got a bit lost at the famous "continue to T where
straight on" instruction, very similar to the road rally
"straight as possible at T" instruction encountered sometimes
here in the U.S. We had no problems in any of the sections in the
morning, even on Rebel's Way which looked suspiciously wet but wasn't
too slippery from the class 7 starting point. Roger was concerned that
we might be penalized on Tipley, but my efforts at bouncing got us out
of the restart hole in time--or maybe it was Roger's driving... Simms
was ok (other than being scary because of its steepness), but it was
obvious that the class 8 cars would have trouble at their unique restart
location. Roger cautioned me to be ready for vigorous bouncing on
Waterless Lane, but it was only surface mud, nothing very deep, and we
really just motored up it cleanly. I was warned that he would make it
all look easy, and he did!
We saw a guy driving an old 1930s Bentley. We stopped for
"petrol." We ate Cornish pasties for lunch. The sun shone. It
was almost hot for a while in the afternoon.
Then finally, we lost the event in the Copse Lane special test. It was
very short, just a burst forward for a few yards to a line, then
reverse, then forward through the exit gate. Roger had a bit of trouble
selecting reverse, which hardly seemed noticeable to me at the time, but
he was quite concerned about it. Sure enough, in the final results there
were 14 cars with clean sheets so the event was decided on special test
times. Our total was 32.3 seconds, but Nick Farmer had 32.0 seconds in
his class 1 car so we ended up second overall. We did manage to take the
team award along with David Turner and David Heale, both in class 3
cars. Congratulations to Nick! And Roger!
Overall this was the most fun I've had in cars. Well, in cars where
driving is involved. Or whatever. In any case, I must say that observed
trials is really a uniquely English sport, partly because of the special
character of your rural public lanes, partly because of your awesome
cars, and partly because of the general English acceptance of eccentric
sporting events. Trials people are friendly and the surroundings
beautiful. And their cars are cool. I seriously hope to be able to
arrange another trip over there to take part in a trial where there's
some good, deep mud!
Thanks Simon, Roger, and everybody else involved!
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