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East Midlands Off Road Club
Last of the Summer Whine
EMORC’s October meeting was held at Eaton Lodge in a quiet corner of Leicestershire. It seemed to be the last day of summer the sun was out and it was an excellent warm, dry day. The peace and quiet was disturbed by the whine of engines and laughter.
Twelve members took part covering four classes and where marshalled by father and son team of Dave and James Perkins. Richard Barton-Hanson was Clerk of Course and in overall charge.
We welcomed a new member in Martin Burns and saw the return of an honorary member Andrew Shipman. Eaton lodge produced its usual combination of fun and laughter while still testing drivers in a combination of ways. Grassy side slopes, steep gradients and tricky trees. There were 9 sections in all.
The “Colgate moment” of the day came when Martin Burns completed his first ever section and scored a 5. In fact the smile never left him all day and was even broader when he went on to score a 2 and a 3 in the last two sections of the day, eventually finishing an impressive 2nd in RTV 2 in his V8 Defender.
The first casualty of the terrain was Martin Lusty, who managed to roll his Suzuki SJ on the 2nd section of the day. He walked away unscathed but his Suzuki was not quite so lucky crunching the front offside wing and losing a headlight in the bargain.
After lunch Simon Lile took his Discovery into the trees down a steep incline and with the dry loose soil lost grip and slipped sideways onto a substantial tree. He left the section minus a rear nearside window glass and a couple of new dents. His run of bad luck didn’t end there on the next section he found another tree in his way and gave up his nearside indicator lens in an attempt to “brush” by it.
Every one ended the day with a little less paint in places and a few more scratches but all enjoyed a great day.
The CCV class was won by Andrew Shipman ( Landrover V8 80” trialer), second was Paul Clarke (adapted Range Rover) and third was Nathan Thomas (Suzuki SJ).
RTV 1 was won my Martin Lusty. Mick Monk (Jeep Wrangler) won RTV 2 by quite a margin with Martin Burns 2nd. RTV 3 was won by Charlie Newton (G wagon) with Simon Lile a creditable 2nd.
The next meeting will be held on 20th November at Stainby and new members are always welcome.
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