The run up to the trial became a bit of a race against time. Since I first rebuilt the Range Rover I've had problems with the auto box which have meant a series of attempts to cure its sporadic gear choice. Whilst most of the time the gearbox would behave itself it would also try to set off from junctions in 4th and change up a couple of gears when driving up steep hills. Various theories had been put forward for this behaviour and all but 1 of them had been ruled out. The remaining theory (and to be honest it was always the most likely) was that the governer was either sticking or damaged. So a week before the trial, saturday morning saw me pulling the transfer box off to gain access to the extension housing and the governer. The transfer box finally came off on Sunday morning and a quick inspection of the governor revealed the cause of the problem, scratches in the housing and a split O'ring. The parts would have to be ordered on Monday so the Range Rover had to be left immobile for the next few days.
The required parts arrived but due to work commitments I didn't manage to get anytime to work on it during the week. So the day before the trial saw me reassembling the end of the gearbox, the transfer box and all the other bits that had had to be removed. At around 10pm it was finally ready for a test run so with fingers crossed I took it out for a spin. Fortunately all worked and the gearbox problem is finally cured, a quick handbrake adjustment and it was ready for the trial.
Sunday saw me heading down the motorway at an ungodly time. Talking to Matthew the previous day had led me to expect a large turnout with 14 prebooked and at least 3 others expected to arrive so I wanted to get there early as I had some of the required paperwork. Scrutineering posed no problems so I signed on, had a coffee and waited for the remaining vehicles to be scrutineered. Jan (C of C) gave the drivers briefing, most notable being the unusual decision to allow all vehicles to have 1 shunt per section regardless of wheelbase. I was a bit sceptical at first, expecting a lot of all clear scores by the end of the day but nothing ventured as they say.
With only enough marshals to run a single group it was inevitable with such a large entry that the day would be a bit slow but we knew that more marshals would be arriving later and hoped to run 2 sections at a time in the afternoon. The first section took us down into one of the wooded areas of the site and featured a few crossings of deep ruts as you wound your way through the trees. The end of the section, after the 5 gate, involved a drop into some deep ruts, a run along the ruts and then a tight right turn out of the ruts at the end. Having watched a few failed attempts at this last part I formulated a "cunning plan" that involved launching the Range Rover at the ruts and hoping for the best. It worked and I managed to clear the section. Matthew hit the 5 gate which boosted my chances somewhat.
The second section was a simple meander through the trees, tight in places though. Another clear and things were still going to plan. A stroke of luck here meant I spotted a spare Suzuki wheel arch flair that had been abandoned by its previous owner, this has now been added to the spares collection.
The third section was already causing problems when I got to it. Adam Field had taken an "interesting route" through some deep water and ended up bogged down. Jan towed him out but during the process of freeing Adam he submerged the Lightweight in possibly the deepest hole on the whole site ! I winched the Lightweight out of the hole and then headed back to the start. Having not seen many other motors go through I decided that I would use a bit of momentum to ensure that I didn't get stuck in the treacherous mud. I hit the first mud hole with enough speed to take me through and dowsed the engine in water by hitting it, as it turned out, too fast. The V8 coughed but cleared within a couple of seconds so I was able to make the steep climb that followed. More mud was approached with the same technique with no problems and after a quick shunt I cleared the section.
After dinner, the fourth section was in a section of the site that I never knew existed so it was a bit of an adventure as the convoy of vehicles headed into the woods. The start of the section offered no real challenges although a very tight 10 and 9 gate combination ensured that all the drivers had to use their shunts at that point. The real challenge of the section was the 3 gate which was very tight and required precision driving to get through. Fortunately the plan came together and I managed to squeeze through. Matthew took a detour through the undergrowth when he got to the gate and sailed through without any problem at all using the unusual line.
Section 5 was back at the top of the site and most of the drivers had little problem with it other than the final gate. The section dropped down into the quarry then climbed up, back down again and finally back onto the top for the 1 gate. Most people managed to get through the 2 gate OK but a tight turn into the 1 gate made it very difficult given that a shunt was required to get through the 6 gate. I managed to get a clear with a hub through although most convincing was Mark Robson who was the only driver (I think) who managed to drive right through the 1 gate.
Section 6 had a couple of alternative routes available and caused a lot of scratching of heads. Gate 6 looked a tight turn out of the ruts preceeding it and it looked unlikely anyone would get through the 6 and 5 combination without using a shunt. The first few vehicles through proved this to be the case. I thought I could preserve my shunt by taking an "alternative" route which got me through the 6 gate OK. Unfortunately I then couldn't make the 5 so had to use my shunt there instead. The rest of the section was mainly just a case of giving the Rangie its head and steering through the canes until we got to the 1 gate where the master plan went belly up when I hit the left hand side of the 1 gate.
The last section of the day was a fairly simple tootle around a hillside although I thought I'd blown it big style when the left hand side of the 8 got way too close for comfort but fortunately my luck held and I went on to clear the section.
All in all it was a really good, enjoyable trial with a good mix of sections. The range of scores really showed that allowing all vehicles to have a shunt didn't help or hinder any particular vehicle type given the way the trial had been set. The only thing that let the day down was the amount of time it took to get all the motors through each section with the large number of competitors but at least it gave us all time to chat ! Thanks to Jan, Nigel, John and everyone else who helped set the trial out.
