Shane's Hill Trial Report
1 December 2012
This was the 6th event in this the Clubs new season and again the weather god had played his part,cold yes but sunny, bright and dry. Shane’s Hill Farm is for sale,sad to report that the owner John Duffin has recently passed away however his family were happy to let us hold the event and gave Geoff McKay (CoC) permission to explore this large 1300 acre estate.
Geoff who lives within 10 miles of the Farm came up trumps,a new site,easy off road parking and best of all an invite back to his house for coffee,tea,beer and sausage rolls what more could anyone ask for.
Six Hills had been set; the ground is soft and peaty so once the top layer of grass wore off it became very slippery,all sections were wide so marshalling was made easy,4 laps were planned ,4 wheels out applied and off the field of 13 cars set.
Trevor Aston had asked the Chairman to passenger for him as son Andrew was working,this opportunity he jumped at although others thought him unsuitable-this time unfortunately they were to be proved right. Lindsay Burke was making his first appearance this season, no doubt in order to be ready for the Silver Star event in Jan; he was driving a works Hamilton.
Round 1 and an on form John McKinney came in on 4 followed by Class B leader Harry Barr ably passengered by Master Laurence Knox on 9, Tom McKinney and son Andrew both on 10 and Brian Edgar and Simon Gracey tied on 11.In Class C Al Booth had a super round and was leading his Class on 14. And what of Trevor Aston well on his 3rd Hill of the day he lost a fiddle brake when a hose burst and that was that-he spent the rest of the event marshalling Hill 6 with the Chairman, had Tom been right, was the Chairman a jinx we’ll wait and see as the season progresses.
Round 2 and John got better with a great 2, father Mervyn was on 3 for the lap as was Brian Edgar with Master Gracey on 4.Harry Barr led Class B and Al Booth held his lead in C.
Round 3 And all of a sudden Tom McKinney ‘slipped’ in a super lap on 3 next best brother Mervyn was on 5 as was Brian Edgar whose engine was making nasty noises, a trip to the garage beckons. John McKinney had now lost the lead to Brian Edgar so going into the final round it was Brian 1st John 2nd Mervyn 3rd and brother Tom 4th.In Class B Harry led the way. In Class C Al Booth was cruising to a win. About this time Lindsay Burke’s day ended on the end of a tow rope. The Hills were by now super slippery, nothing was easy and screaming engines were heard from all directions. The last lap proved decisive and scores changed dramatically.
What happened, well a 9 on Hill 2 put paid to Brian Edgars position as it did also for Tom McKinney who compounded the error with an 7 on Hill 1 and a 6 on Hill 6 oh dear!” that’s trialling “said Trevor.
Simon Gracey having suffered a poor spell on lap 3 now woke up and posted a super round in very slippery conditions returning a lap on only 2 lost, this was not enough for a win but secured 2nd place to John’s great drive. So that was that a great day, Geoff had put a lot of effort into the event and it showed. We packed up and motored over to chez McKay for the results, tea, coffee and beer.
Class A
- John McKinney 25
- Simon Gracey 29
- 3rd Andrew McKinney 31
Class B
- Harry Barr 40
- Michael McBratney 75
- David Webster 99
Class C
- Al Booth 61
- David Turkington 64
Next we are at Norman Ferguson’s Farm at Stewartstown this before a longer Xmas break returning again on the 29th Dec at John Crossle’s Farm.
Clive Gracey
Posted by PMcCollum on 3/12/2012; Last updated by PMcCollum on 3/12/2012