Geoff Taylor Sporting Trial

Despite the recent constant rainfall the well drained soil meant the hills used on the Geoff Taylor were not as bad as they could have been and it was Josh & Tristan Veale (Sherpa) who led Richard & Joe Sharp (Cartwright) by a single point, after round 1. Ian & Sandy Veale (Sherpa) set the lowest score of round 2 to make it a three way tie on 10 points with one round to go. Josh had a poor 3rd round dropping to 4th overall and it his father Ian who set the joint lowest score with the Sharp’s, taking victory on countback. Completing the podium in 3rd were John Fack & Paul Leyser (MSR).

Race Retro – The Show

It was that time of year again to make the trip to Stoneleigh for Race Retro. Once again the show took place over 3 days with the Friday being our main day at the show and Saturday dedicated to the live rally stage. The show had the usual mix of classic cars with the main stage being flanked by a string of impressive cars. In the rally hall there was a display in memory of the double British Rally Champion Russell Brookes, with a fine selection of the distinctive Andrews Heat for Hire liveried vehicles. Silverstone Auctions were present too with the auction spread out across two days this year.

Clee Hills Trial

Crisp and cold conditions greeted the crews tackling the Clee Hills Trial with the ground sticky rather than totally slippery, following the recent long periods of rain. Flounders Folly, which has served us well over the years, was our first port of call where the class 1-6 cars tackled it first, before the class 0 cars had their run. The alternative route was then opened up for the bikes and the class 7 & 8 cars. We then completed our day with the class 7 & 8 cars at Easthope, which looked more challenging than it actually was.

BTRDA Sporting Trials, Gold & Silver Star Championship

The 2020 BTRDA Sporting Trials, Gold & Silver Star Championship returned to Huntington, 4 years after it saw Josh Veale secure the title. The 10 hills set out provided a varied challenge and it was Bryan Walker & Mark Simpson who took the lead with only a single point scored on hill 9. Josh & Tristan Veale were joint 2nd with Andy Wilks & Mark Smith on 4 points. 2019 champions Ian & Keil Wright were early retirements and unable to defend their title. With the hills getting trickier Walker could only manage to keep to 10 points but maintained the lead. Andrew McKinney & Chris Millar were the class of the round, scoring just 6 points and leaping up to 2nd overall, just 3 points behind Walker. Veale and Wilks matched each other to hold joint 3rd with John & Ryan McKinney join them after a good 2nd round.

Autosport International

It has been a couple of years but we were back at the NEC for Autosport International but this year as an exhibitor. Motorsport Games are now a major force in hosting eSports and were showing off some of their recent series for visitors to play before witnessing the WEC and Dirt Rally 2.0 finals, over the weekend. There was still the chance to make a quick pass round the show too, to take in all the real world competition cars.

Plum Pudding Historic Sporting Trial

A record entry of 57 competitors was received for the 750 Motor Club’s Historic Plum Pudding Trial held on the 29th December 2019 at Head Down, near Buriton in Hampshire. 6 long slippery sections had been devised in the woods and as all the hills could be cleared the pressure was on not to make any mistakes. Stephen Barnes won the Historic class by four marks from an ever-improving Matt Johnston who was three marks ahead of Dave Methley. The Post Historic class produced a three-way tie between Steve Courts, Mark Howse and Dave Oliver all of whom did not lose a mark all day. A remarkable result which left the organisers having to reorder the trophies to reflect the tie.

Gloucester Sporting Trial

After a lot of recent rainfall the Gloucester Sporting Trial was a cold crisp affair. The ground soon chruned up with several hills having total re-routes as the day progressed plus this was the last round of the BTRDA championship ahead of the finals in January 2020. Reigning Gold Star Champions Ian & Kiel Wright (Sherpa Indy) took an early 1 point lead from Julian Fack & Luke Richards (Crossle). The 2nd pass of the hills saw Wright maintain his lead with joint lowest score of the round. Jerome Fack & Richard Davis (MSR) moved up in to 2nd place thanks to a joint lowest score with Wright, just 2 points ahead of Ian & Tristan Veale (Sherpa) who also set a joint lowest score on round 2.

Birkett 6hrs Relay

Another visit to Silverstone for the crazy race that is the Birkett 6hr Relay. With terrible weather blighting the race it finished early behind the safety car just shy of the 6hr mark. The scratch race was a clear win for the Breakell Racing Heroes, who took victory by over two laps from RJ Motorsport. The early finish did stop the close battle for the final podium place as Area Motorsport just edged out the Red Rascal’s. In the handicap race The Three Amigos 2.0 took victory from Team Darkside with Tegiwa Type-R Trophy taking the 3rd spot.

Mercian Sporting Trial

Wet conditions met the crews at Long Compton for the Mercian Sporting Trial. Simon & Matt Kingsley (Crossle) were the class of the field on the 1st round of the hills, scoring only 5 points. Josh & Tristan Veale (Sherpa Indy) were the only other crew to keep their score in single figures. The 2nd round saw only John Fack & Andy Gowen (MSR) score a single digit round but they took 33 points on the 1st round. Veale was in to the lead though by 2 points from Kingsley. On the final round reigning champions Ian & Keil Wright (Sherpa Indy) scored 4 points to put pressure on the top two. Veale scored a superb 7 points to take the victory from Wright with Kingsley 3rd, just a point behind.

World Endurance Championship – Silverstone 4hrs

Toyota dominated a rain-hit opening round of the 2019/20 FIA World Endurance Championship season at Silverstone, as Mike Conway / Jose Maria Lopez / Kamui Kobayashi took victory. They lead home the sister car shared by Sebastien Buemi / Kazuki Nakajima / Brendon Hartley by just under two seconds. The no.3 Rebellion of Loic Duval / Pipo Derani / Nathanael Berthon completed the podium despite picking up two penalties for technical infringements, although the Swiss squad did enjoy two spells in the lead. Victory in LMP2 and fifth overall went to newcomer outfit Cool Racing, whose Oreca 07 was shared by Nicolas Lapierre and Antonin Borga.