• RTV 2012 League Results - Updated Dec
• RTV 2011 League Results
• RTV 2010 League Results
• RTV 2009 League Results
• RTV 2008 League Results
• MROC Supplementary RTV Regulations - PLEASE READ!

 

Dan Fasham and Simon Griffiths had volunteered to lay this trial out, and as this was a new site and id been before, I thought I’d join them.

Dan picked me up in his fire truck at 8 am on the Saturday morning and we drove to meet Simon at the nearby Mc Donalds. Once a quick coffee and a Muffin were taken care of, we set off on ore way to Croft farm.

As we arrived at the gated entrance we were greeted by Tom Parsons, who was there laying out for ccvt and kindly opened and closed the gate behind us.

Another quick tea and we get strait to work, Simon behind the wheel of his Series, Dan with a chainsaw at hand and myself with a fist full of canes and numbers.

Within around 20 minutes, and around 8 or so laps in Simons series we have our first section. Dan decides to give it a whirl with his V8 fire truck. Disaster strikes!! The little fire truck broke one of its half shafts, leaving it stuck with only the two front wheels with drive. Not ideal for trialling let alone laying out, so the three of us are left in one little series. Cosy at Times!.

All was going well until late in the day Simons series developed the old, stalling and not starting again on a camber. This too, leading to a few interesting recoveries.

End of the Day and we have 7 sections put in, and make the decision to head off home and if need be and depending on time the following day, run one or two sections in reverse.

The journey home starts off well. With a little more torque steer than expected but never the less were moving.

That was until ascending out of Malvern, when the end of the half shaft dropped in the diff. But with Dan being on First named terms with the RAC, within an hour or so we were on the back of a recovery truck and completing our journey home.

Trial Day

With every one ready we start the day off in section order.

Section 1 caught out the first punter Tony O'Connor with an 8, closely followed by the second punter with another 8. But with everybody else getting to the 4 gate and beyond, it was just a case of bad luck.

Section 2 was set so the drivers had to twist and turn between the trees with a right hand camber and a left turn up the bank to the finish. This section saw Liz Guilding getting the only clear, well done Liz.

Even more interesting was watching Simon Griffiths take his brand new Range Rover Sport on Section and doing surprisingly well.

Only to surprise us all five minutes later by getting stuck, and ending a little too close to a tree. But using a total of 5 motors to recover and a little under an hour, he was out without a scratch…Fewww!!!

With Section 7 done, and a bit more time in the day left. We had time to run Section 1 in reverse. Only needing the start gate and finish gate tweaking a little bit.

So then, where did they finish. Well, Carl O'Connor 1st Swb Coil, Will Guilding 1st Swb Leaf and Roger Shillitoe 1st Lwb Coil (his first ever win).

Foot off the gas for now!!

Carl Gazeley
Rtv Secretary

RTV (panic) at Buildwas

I'm not quite sure really where to start, so I'm just going to babble and hope it makes sense.

Not long after I put out an advert for help to lay this event, Tim Kemp kindly offered. So I thought, it won’t be long now until the offers come rolling in…. I was wrong, after 3 weeks of calling, texting and face booking I couldn’t find Tim a play mate. So Tim and I decided to lay a few sections on the morning of the trial on foot.  (first panic over)

The weekend before a trial I try and get everything ready so it’s not such a big rush on the day before. For once i'd even remembered to order the trophies with a week to spare (not the usual day before). All under control, the Thursday before the weekend I ask Richard Squires a question in regards to the site I thought he had booked, not expecting his reply to be… “I didn’t book that site..is this a sweaty moment for you now??”. OH YES!!. Without even a pause for breath I get straight on the phone to the Land owner, only to be told that he no longer ran Buildwas. At this point I am pacing my hotel room trying every avenue I can think of to retrieve the correct new contact. After about 20 minutes or so I finally get hold of the right guy. To my relief the date we need is free, and even more he is one of MROC members. (Second panic over)

The usual meet and greet for those that want too at Mc Donalds in Redditch. This time I was greeted by the O'Connors and Miss Miller. Off we go in convoy M5 and M6 north.

Once there I get the signing on started and Tim goes and gets a few sections thrown in with the aid of Ben Benson. Within an hour they have 7 sections up. Happy days, let’s get cracking.

Section 1 started with a slope downhill with a left turn at the bottom then a steep incline twisting between the eight and seven gate, once at the top again, along a ridge over a rough mound and down through a wash to the finish. This suited our two competitive 90 drivers Carl (not stopping) O'Connor and Ben (wolverine) Benson and our V8 Disco driver Ian (happy go lucky) Page all scoring clears, leaving everyone else picking up Eights and Sevens.

Sections 2 and 3 were set around the same area of site utilising the humps, bumps and puddles. In particular a large bomb hole. A three gate placed one end, a two gate in the middle and a one gate the other end almost sounds too easy. But with the added twist of mud and previous wet weather thrown in saw a few unlucky punters fail at the last hurdle, picking off the one gate.

Sections 4 and 5 were placed to the right of the track up to the top end of site, twisting in and around the trees. Sam (nine gate) Miller swung back in to action scoring hers and the first nine of the day, closely followed by our new member Alan (wild child) Miles.

Sections 6 and 7 brought us down to the, let’s say hmm boggy bit!!. A great drive from Steve (give it a go) Bevan, scoring the only clear in his Tdi Disco on section 6, And Tony (Waldo the great) O'Connor for an effort less clear on section 8.

With plenty of time left in the day we decide to run one of the previous sections backwards. So Section 1 in reverse it is. This sealed the deal for Carl (not stopping) O'Connor in winning SWBcoil, Simon (not going over this time) Griffiths winning SWB Leaf and Ian (happy go lucky) Page winning LWB coil.

A great start to the year and can’t wait until the next event.

Menith wood is the next event on our calendar, the 17th of February.  I hope to see as many of you there as possible.

Foot off the gas for now!!
Carl Gazeley

Sunday Morning starts with the usual meet up at McDonalds. Along with myself, another four motors head off in convoy.

Leading the convoy I head towards Studley using the Slough. Not so surprisingly half a mile or so I see a young deer on the opposite side of the road making its way across, expecting the little fellow to bolt and dive in to the woods to our left. Too my surprise he didn’t!!, instead standing and staring into my headlights. With the sound of five Land Rovers sets of tyres grappling the Tarmac, and luckily for him, finally decides to make a final run for it.  

With the remainder of the journey going event free and arriving on site.  Signing on and morning safety briefing over, it was time to start.

With 16 motors ready to go, and 8 sections to get through we make a swift start.

Section 1 walked and first motor at the start gate, were off. A steep descent from the start caught a few unlucky drivers out catching the 8 Gate with a tight left turn, but with Sam Miller, Steve Smith (and his Turkey head), Tim Kemp and Richard Banks all scoring clears it was off to the next.

Section 2 saw our latest two members Matt and Rebecca get the hang of Rtv in there 110 station wagon, completing as much of the course as our regular drivers.

Section 5 however seemed to be our Chairman’s (Richard Smith) Nemesis, Scoring a whopping, Almighty, Gob smacking 10!!. If you didn’t catch that correctly it was a 10!!! J. Practice makes perfect Rich.

As many of you may know, at Newmans we tend to put one or two sections together with a little twist. Section 7 and 8 were no different.

The first twist was to drive, and put your front two wheels through the 6 gate and with a passenger leaning out of the window, with 3 opportunities throw a small red ballball through a Christmas wreath hanging from a branch. Seemed to go down well.

The second of the twists involved driving the majority of the section forwards and then driving the remainder in reverse. Quite handy for Dan Fasham, who’s series motor had suffered a clutch dilemma and was unable to change gear while in motion.

With the day over and done with, again a great day had by all. Remember it can make an excellent spectators sport too.

Steve Smith won Swb Coil, Richard Banks won Swb leaf and Dave Hunt won Lwb coil.

I wish you all a merry Christmas and a vary happy new year, and I look forward to seeing you all in 2013.

Foot off the gas for now!!
Rtv Secretary, Carl Gazeley.

I have to start with a small confession.

I'd arranged with Richard Smith and the O'Connors to meet at the usual start off point, Mc Donalds at 07:30, but after one too many sherberts the night before I'd slightly overslept.

But after rushing around like a mad thing, got the car de iced and a flask of coffee made I noticed two txt messages on my phone. The first off Richard explaining his landy wouldn’t start, and the second off Carl explaining his dad (Tony) fancied an extra half hour in bed. Result!! I was in the clear.

With pressure off and finally able to see through the wind screen I started my leisurely drive to Coney.  All was going perfectly up until 3 miles from site the disco decided it didn’t want to go any further, and spat out the majority of the gear box oil over the battery, near side wheel and road.

As you all know well, miss fortunes like this don’t go unnoticed for long, having been stationary for a few minutes the perk’s arrive to offer help closely followed by Mike Hayes. Micky taking over and tow rope attached and I was finally completing my journey. (Thanks for the tow Mike).

Finally there and ready to go, well and truly pleased with the turn out. 16 drivers is not bad at all.

Promptly on to the first section, all walked and the first motor on the start gate. Go Go Go! With the first section going with no hiccups it was strait off to the next.

Section 2 took slightly longer to walk as it involved quite a long and steep decent and climb. I have to say there was some good driving from a few on this particular section, one of which was from one of our new Disco 3 drivers Paul Vaughn. Putting his new ST all terrain tyres to perfect use.  A faultless and rewarding effort.  Well done!.

Section three however was catching a few of the long wheel base drivers out. Catching the nose on a tree, through a turn into the 5 Gate. ( id of done that easy ).

Now then,  section four.  Causing a bit of a stir with the start gate.  Drivers trying to decide whether to go strait in nose first into deep ruts, with a sharp turn right. Or going in from the left hand side which involved an axel twister, but more direct rout.  Simon Griffiths is first on, choosing the strait in nose first rout for his little series. Proving perfect and earning Simon a 1. Roger Shillitoe is next in his RRC. Surprising us all, and I think himself, by going high. With the weight and lack of grip the rear end pulled the motor sideways into the deep rut. Unable to move forward or backwards a recovery was required, which also proving a challenge due to the position Roger had ended up in. unfortunately this position and angle forced a bit too much pressure on the front diff and cv joint, which meant a retirement for Roger.

This miss hap had taken quite a lot of time so to get things running a bit smoother I decided to pull this section from the competition,  and move to the next.

The remaining sections throughout the day went without a hitch, and by the look on everyone’s faces,  was enjoyed by all.

The Results.

SWB Coil was won by Dave Chesters. SWB Leaf was won by Simon Griffiths and LWB Coil was won by Mike Hayes.

Thanks go to Ben Benson and Dan Fasham for there efforts on a though rally enjoyable days trialing.

Our next Rtv at Newmans Quarry has been put back to the 9th of December instead of the 8th. So its will be on a Sunday rather than a Saturday.

I hope to see as many of you as possible, and don’t forget to dress your motor up with a little Christmas cheer. I will award a prize for the best dressed motor.

Foot off the gas for now!!
Carl Gazeley
Rtv Secretary.

Mr Fasham and I volunteered for Coney Green again! One of these days we will trial there. Maybe next time but this time we had an agenda.

1.  More than eight sections was probably top of the list and definitely Dan's main aim.
2.  Different sections came a close 2nd. It's so easy to fall into the old trap of using the same piece of ground time and again. Oh how this came back to haunt us latter!

To fulfill our brief we decided to meet early doors at 0800.Dan's clutch wasn't playing ball and neither was my motivation on a Saturday morning so we got there for 0820. Becky's second outing in the car and I've promised she can drive it if I can keep it in one piece. Cuppa tea and off we go ignoring a well-used lumpy section, through the gate, but putting a twisty bit in a bowl and Danny boy, rightly so, decided that we would have some wide gates and rely on the absolutely SOAKING wet and greasy ground to do the hard work for us.

Section two ended up being our first section on the day requiring a full tank of fuel to make it to the end. The V8 spurring us on to some big climbs throughout the day.

We struggled for something a bit different now in the far woods, but I decided to run a couple of big holes as a start, that would promise us chronic problems on trials day.

We found a new piece of ground out in the glorious sunshine with a nasty bank, where a Series, from the 60's, managed to completely trounce a Defender, from the 90's, as I didn't make it up at all. I blame knackered tyres, soft suspension and Diesel power completely.

By this time we are starting to feel the pace of the day a bit, as we haven't stopped, save for a couple of brew ups. But we cracked on in some constantly changing conditions. The more we ran ideas the worse the terrain became. I was really struggling for grip and the V8 kept losing its cool (ant). The final section of the day was in an area neither of us had used before. A lot of scratching of heads and we cobbled something together, practically with the head lights on.

To say we were tired is an understatement. We drove out just over 8 hours after we started! We were that tired we couldn't work out whether it was 9 or 8 sections we had laid out. Mostly 12 gaters as well!!

On the way home Mr Fasham thought it would be a good idea to see further than 15 feet in front of him and depressed the hi-beam switch on the floor, only to be greeted with darkness, meaning the rest of the journey home was quite scary, on only side lights.

Trials Day

Racing to the trial and a group of Land Rovers at the side of the road can only be MROC. Sure enough, not only does Carl Gazeley's Classic dislike getting a bit warm and the coolant disappearing into thin air, but he managed to dump all of the oil out of the gear box of his dads Disco 2 on the way. Wouldn't mind but it hadn't even got its tyres dirty! P.S. Carl is the RTV Secretary

Not to be out done, Richard Smith's 90 didn't even try to turn its self over when asked that morning. No drama, save for the fact that it's an Auto so no bump start either. P.P.S. Richard is the Chairman.

A bit of a tuff one to call in regard to numbers but a good turn out with three new faces and two Disco 3's. I must admit my heart fell when those two (Brave? Nutters?) …….people arrived as I had completely forgotten about them.

Anyway first section complete without drama and its all smiles. The two new guys in the Disco 1's had a good crack of the whip and the two D3's had a real go as well. Things started to look up over the next section. Then the problems started.

Dave Hunt split a coolant hose that crippled his long suffering Disco which put him out of the event on route to the next section. Always a kick in the teeth.

The removal of , what can only be called a stick, completely changed the approach to a bank, meaning drivers could square the car up to take the bank and gate more squarely. Unfortunately this brought an otherwise unnoticed tree into the equation. A couple of creases later and I'm not happy. It's never nice to see damage on a trial you have laid out but the previous cars of all lengths had simply glided straight through. Oh well that's trialling I suppose.

Next section and it's that lumpy start. We gave people the option and all agreed that it was fine so all steam ahead. What we hadn't decided on was the 'Roger Shilitoe experience' and what can only be called an imaginative line resulted in winches being used to recover Roger, culminating in a bit too much right foot and a destroyed CV joint. The laborious recovery under taken by Dave Chesters was made harder by the loss of Left hand lock and locked up wheel on the Range Rover. Good work Dave but we ended up pulling the section as it was just too slippery and morale was starting to ebb a bit.

Back out in the sunshine and only two cars got up Dan's bank but it certainly cheered folk up as they certainly got to stretch their engines having a good crack at the climb.

I called Dave a tough four (that I will probably have to pay for at some point) on the twisty section by the gate and things went rather well from there.

Bizarrely the last section of the day, the one we threw together, turned out to be the best we put on, in my opinion. Absolutely shattered by the end of the day but I will say it again, I love laying trials out, it's a great craic and I learn more about the Ninety every time I do it. Missed those cheating tyres though!

Dave Chesters won the SWB coil
Simon Griffiths won SWB leaf
Mike Hayes took the long wheel base honours.

Ben Benson

Due to the recent wet weather, trials may be cancelled at short notice if the ground conditions are unsuitable. Please check the Website before setting off for a trial in case it has had to be cancelled..

Harbury Rtv

Unfinished business

Il start with explaining the title, last year my self and Carl Oconnor laid this Rtv. On the Saturday we were in shorts and t-shirts basking in the sun and struggling to find a bit of wet stuff. Sunday came and it didn’t stop raining, leading to the Rtv being called off early.

So this time round we have both been preying by the side of our beds, for a dry weekend.

The morning has come, and its wet. But thankfully for us by the time we had let our tyres down and had a coffee, it stopped raining and a little sun started to creep through.

We get straight to it, starting with a walk around exploring different ideas for a rout were pretty sure we have the perfect start for the day. Carl O goes first in the 90, for all of about 45 seconds, all four wheels spinning and not going forwards or backwards. I creep my Rangie down the very muddy bank, to find at the bottom even more thick clay mud. After about 15 minutes ( and about £10 of Bp ultimate ) I manage to get in to a position to recover. This recovery too took us nearly a hole hour, Now free, I move forwards. But thankfully not too far as Carl decides to give it another go but with a bit more welly. Back I come.

We have now been on site over two hours and have half of one section. finally getting this one sorted we move on to the next with no trouble at all. The third section of the day, started with a small dip and then a clime. “Doesn’t look to bad, il go first”. With the tow bar and front bumper firmly grounded, it was then my turn on the other end of a tow rope. So on goes the rope and…… Nothing the Rangie wont start, hardly surprising really, after lifting the bonnet, all that shunting forwards and backwards, thick clay had gathered around the air intake and alternator. With this cleared and coated in copious amounts of wd40, the old girl fired up and we were able to get her  free.

By this time we were half way through the day and decided to move further down to site. A good move, we were able to get our full eight section in, not without incident but never the less they were in and we are ready to leave.
Carefully selecting our path through the trees and avoiding large water logged areas, Carl pulled off one of the most skillfull displays of stunt parking I have ever seen. The 90 jumped out of two rutts and ended 90 degrees between a tree and vertical mud bank. By the time we had arrived back at the start, it had taken us over an hour to cross site. By the end of the day day Carl needed recovering 9 times and I needed 6.

Its going to be fun tomorrow!!

Sunday.

Its still dry and the grass doesn’t feel too damp. Carl and young Tom go off to check the sections over while I have a coffee… I mean sign every one on and get the morning briefing under way.

The first section is started and all is going well, until Paul Muir gets bogged down at the finish gate, that disco 2 sure does have a big bottom. ( Stirling effort tho Paul ). With section two going well ( apart from Simons series 1 sticking its back leg up again) we swiftly get section 3 under way.( This was 1 of the easier yesterday after adjusting the start) between the 8 and 7 gate was a small clime that was proving to be a bit difficult, and just as difficult to recover from. ( thanks Bruce).

The next couple of sections went without a problem, and as we had planned it was the ground catching people out and not the gates. ( unlucky NINE! Sam).

But despite all the recovering and dragging Dan around with a non starting series, a great day out.

Bruce Grant took first place swb coil, Simon Griffiths 1st swb leaf and Dave Hunt 1st lwb coil.

Our next Rtv is on the 1st july at a new site Bridgnorth, check our web site for directions. Hope to see you all there.

Foot off the gas for now.

Carl Gazeley
Rtv secretary

 

Its that time of year again. That’s rite, Easter at Eastnor, a weekend that nearly every member of MROC looks forward too. Best of all, a good day with the RTV lot.

As we all know at Eastnor the ground can change by the minute, with a chance of rain and a quite mild temperature of 10`c anything could happen.

After our clubs latest efforts to improve our numbers, its great to welcome some new faces to the RTV section. Especially our latest and probably our bravest new members from the Disco 3 club. That’s rite Disco 3…

With every one signed on, and the morning drivers briefing done, we headed up to the ridge way to make a start.

It was quite funny to watch the first section being walked, as you could tell there was only 1 thing on their minds. Are those two really doing this in there disco 3’s.
And they did!!. Just proving that they are more than up for the job.
After a whilst it starts to rain. And yes the ground soon starts to change. Sections that were layed out the previous day with relative ease were becoming too slippery and with Dave Hunt knocking out a second piece of glass of the day and Phil Baker feeling left out and having a go at his rear window, the decision was taken to pull that section.

But the rain stopped and the ground dried, so we carried on without incident.
Thanks go to Richard Smith for a sterling effort for laying out on Friday, despite having his alternator decide to stop in the most alkwood of places.
Ben Benson came 1st swb coil, (it been a while). Tim Kemp 1st swb leaf and Dave Hunt 1st lwb coil.

Our next event is Harbury on the 20th may. My self and Carl Oconnor will be laying out. Were going for something a little different, an Rtv / Tyro. So those of you with more of a shine to your motor you will be more than welcome.

I hope to see you all soon.

Foot off the gas for now!!

Carl Gazeley
Rtv Secretary