 1995 Greenleaves Rally |  1995 Wessex Rally |
1995 Greenleaves Rally | 1995 Wessex Rally |
Jace Shawley/'Chalkie' White took the awards for first Experts (Class B), with Trevor Norman/Lee Gordon taking first Non-Experts (Class C). Competing under an easier navigational regime Andrew Pile/Ray Snow took the Novices award (Class D), dropping only a minute on the identical route. They had benefitted from having all the handouts provided at MTC0 and a reasonably long run out to get started upon them. The other classes were issued with their handouts in sealed envelopes, with strict instructions where and when they could be opened.
Forming a round of 3 championships, the ACSMC, ASWMC and the newly formed ASWMC Novice, 32 crews made their way to the new start venue at the North Devon Leisure Centre.
With a reputation for no-nonsense good fun, the Barum drew competitors from as far afield as Ashford in Kent. Windsor Car Club provided the top three seeds, with a total of six WCC crews making the journey. Last year's winners Andy Juniper/Dean Taylor were car 1 in their usual red Sunbeam. They were to make only one major mistake, costing them 3 minutes and demoting them to 3rd overall. Car 2 was the familliar red Sunbeam of Terry Schraider/Chas Davies, returning to competition after a sabatical year. Next off were Doug Kingsley/PRAR hoping to 'keep it on the black stuff' after their recent excursion into the bushes. First of the regular ASWMC runners were the father and son team of Barry/Phil Luxton, with ASWMC championship high fliers Wood/Waterton close behind.
The event started with drama. A badly placed arrow saw the front runners (and some lower down the field also! - JU) directed off into a field, rather than into the correct farm yard at Heddon. The worst affected of the top seeds were the Luxtons, dropping 5 minutes rectifying their mistake. Other crews to suffer included Kingsley/ PRAR and Schraider/Davies dropping 2 and 3 minutes respectively. Juniper/Taylor claimed to have missed the arrow entirely and retained their clean sheet.
Despite the route twisting and turning across the map the relatively long (8 or 9 minute) sections allowed many crews to reach the first time recovery section at King's Nympton without further penalty. Only 4 crews were clean at this point Wood/Waterton, Casey/Davidson, Derek Drayton/Bob Jones and Shawley/White.
From here the route headed off in a generally eastern direction taking in the large triangle at Measbury Moor before reaching TC18 on Affeton Moor. With TC18 to 19 timed to the second (should furthest cleanest not decide any ties) pressure was on to ensure time was not wasted. A few crews were able to clean the section but moments of indecision caused others to faulter. The bad arrow on he first section was to have more of an effect however!
Having turned west back towards petrol at Dolton Beacon the route took in a loop at Challcombe. These sections were to be the turning point in the event, with Wood/Waterton posting the only clean sheet at petrol. A missing codeboard was to cause some consternation among the top seeds as they scrambled to check the loop and not drop time. The penultimate section before petrol was to see Kingsley/ PRAR fall from contention. With the route defined by mostly avoid references they missed an intermediate control and were forced to back track. The 8 minute penalty was to see them drop to 9th and more importantly allow ACSMC leaders Juniper/Taylor take the championship initiative. Other crews to arrive at petol with tales of woe included Trevor Joel/Tim Warburton, complaining of traffic congestion (I think its called being `baulked' - JU) in the narrow lanes, and Steve Garside/Glynn Hayward, who's Nova had been well and truly bogged down in the field. Notable absentees were Andy Thomas/John Upham. A broken driveshaft on their Fiesta adding one more to Upham's recent tally (currently 3! - JU) of DNFs. The standings at petrol were thus Wood/Waterton clean, Juniper/Taylor and Casey/Davidson 2 minutes, Drayton/Jones and Ben/Tom Jeffries (1st Expert) 3 minutes. Amongst the Non- (Semi-) Experts Norman/Gordon held a 1 minute lead over Joel/Warburton, standing 7th overall.
With more time recovery sections, the second half offered little opportunity to improve positions but plenty of opportunities to throw them away. Initially the route convoluted it's way back and forth in the maze of roads around Ebberley Hill. It was very easy for confusion to set in and the myriad of junctions allowed the simplest of navigation (a herringbone) to be used to good effect. With further sections using grid lines and ups/downs/unders/overs nobody could claim that the navigation was mind boggling, but the combination of route and navigation presented a severe test. The section from TC44 and TC47 caused most of the field to drop time, the final run into Atherngton proving very tight.
The last section also proved to be taxing, with an apparent choice of routes, inaccuate plotting lead to penlties. Returning to the North Devon Leisure Centre for breakfast it became clear that Wood/Waterton had posted the only clean sheet. Best of the Windsor CC runners were Fiona Casey/Roger Davison. They were placed 2nd overall in their 'borrowed' 1400 Astra, securing a set of tyres courtesy of event sponsors Barum Tyres. Juniper/Taylor, despite their 3 minute faux pas, took 3rd on the tie decider from the Luxtons. The Luxtons had good reason to curse the first section arrow, having had a clean run otherwise.
![[Return to Article]](article.gif)