East Midlands Off Road Club.

What a difference a ”Lunch” makes.

EMORC’s December meeting was held at Wickenby Airfield in a rather cold and wet corner of Lincolnshire.  The Christmas spirit was all around as the 10 drivers got stuck into 10 well laid out sections that were to challenge both man and machine.

The drivers came under the scrutiny of Clerk of Course Richard Barton-Hanson and Marshalls Dave Perkins and Chris Waite who were to rule firmly but fairly on a couple of interesting rule interpretations.

The morning sections were testing on a mixture of mud, standing water and grass. The usual wide range of vehicles took part in three classes and all three classes were tightly contested.  At the lunch break Tim Martin had a runaway lead in CCV, Paul “Streaky” Henderson and Pete Newton where fighting for second place. RTV2 saw Dave Brewer three points ahead of Del Allen and RTV3 Simon Lile trying to keep in touch with Charlie Newton.

When the second half started seven drivers went clear in the first section and the competition came to light.  Another section saw Streaky try a little too hard to reach a 2 gate and put his Suzuki on its side. This caused his vehicle to develop a miss-fire and also rearranged the contours of his bonnet. The lead was changing hands with each section. Then while crossing some deep ruts in his Series, Tim Martin damaged a finger when his steering wheel kicked back. He lost his power to grip, which in a machine with no power steering made it impossible to drive and he was forced to retire.

Then the rain came in, which gradually intensified and really changed the driving conditions, providing some tricky side slopes and reduced traction.  Determined, if a little moist, the drivers battled on. Del Allen got his approach to a gate wrong and gentle rolled onto a soft bank, fortunately neither man or machine were harmed.

The final section was completed in almost a downpour with everyone getting soaked. Paul Clarke’s enthusiasm to finish the day saw him drive through the 1 gate to clear the section and then down an almost vertical slope. All was well till he hit the bottom with such a thud that questions were asked about the condition of his fillings.

When the final scores were totted up Pete Newton (Nissan Terrano) won the CCV with Paul Clarke (adapted Range Rover) second and Paul “Streaky” Henderson limped into third.  RTV2 was won by Del Allen (Suzuki Vitara) with Dave Brewer (Defender 90) second.  The RTV3 class was one by Charlie Newton (G Wagon) with Simon Lile (Discovery) second.

Dave Brewer