Report by Dave Govier.
It’s October and we’re back at Hatton Park for our second event of the year there. The weather leading up to the event have been beautiful and dry, so this meant that all the slopes could be used safely.
Ryan Vince had kindly offered to help set out and we met him at the site at 12:30 on Saturday afternoon. My brother Jim was also coming along to help set out as well. We split into two lots with Ryan setting the sections out over the far side and me and Jim setting the sections out near the road. This worked quite well and as Ryan’s sections were closer together he finished slightly before us. Then he came and helped out with a couple of sections in the area where we were. I’m pleased to say that by about 5:30 pm we had set out nine sections which would all run nicely the following day.
Sunday morning out and we are once again blessed with beautiful weather and we have 9 entries. Unfortunately, neither Andy Springthorpe or Blythe Garner were able to attend, so we hope to see them at our next event at Newmans Quarry in November. We were in two groups. With Steve Burrows was Ryan plus we had 3 new members. Jim Hardy and Adrian and Jayne Perry. Also in that group was Ben Lawton. And with me there was Mark Howell, Dave Burns, Will Baker and Andrew Stewart. My group started on section A and Steve’s group started on section D.
It’s fair to say that Mark Howell didn’t get off to the best of starts with a 6 and a 3 on the first two sections, but then things improved with low scores and then a clear. Dave Burns was also having a good day and by lunchtime was still on all clears. Will Baker had a few clears but picked up a 5 on section C and Andrew Stewart had several clears but picked up a 2 on section B and a 9 on section E.
Over with Steve Burrows, Ryan and Ben started with the usual low scores. Jim Hardy was driving well but being as he was on road tyres he was struggling on some of the climbs for grip, but otherwise said he was having a fantastic day. Jayne and Adrian in their 110 both cleared their 2nd section and then had a mixture of scores some lower than others. When I spoke to them at lunchtime they said they were both having a fantastic day, and were amazed exactly where they were able to take their 110.
During the morning it was nice that John Kelsall again, and he helped with us by doing some marshalling in the morning. We also had the Club’s President Charles Deverill and his wife Jen come along to see how we were doing.
After a nice social lunch break we carried on. However Ryan’s group still haven’t finished on the sections over the far side so we reversed section E and did that as an additional section. This didn’t count the final score, and it was just something for the drivers to do while we waiting for the group to finish on section H and I.
Steve’s group soon finished and we’re over to sections A & D and again there was mixed scoring in his group with Ben picking up an 8 on section B and Jim Hardy picking up at 7 on section A. Adrian and Jayne were still smiling and Adrian put some good scores in scoring 3 and below on the first 5 sections including a clear on section E. Jayne also cleared section E and have some reasonable schools on the first 5 sections.
Ryan as ever was driving beautifully in his 80″ and cleared all the sections. Dave Burns picked up 1 point on section G and 2 points on section I. For Will Baker his only score was the 5 on section C. Andrew Stewart picked up two 1’s in the afternoon on section G and I. Mark Howell retired with one section to go as he noticed a bolt on his steering had come slightly loose so rather than risk the last section, he will keep it safe for driving home.
With all the sections have driven Ryan was the winner on zero if follow by Dave Burns on three and Will Baker on five.
Thank you for everybody who took part. It was a lovely day and we hope to see you all again soon.
Dave Govier
