| Sporting
Trials |
 |
| Take
the nimblest, lightest, most ingenious and
cheapest hand-made cars you can imagine.
Take it to a venue in the middle of nowhere,
drive it through a marked section, up and
down muddy slopes in winter - That's Sporting
Trials! |
|
 If
car enthusiasts understood the combination of driving
challenge, ultra low-cost and the cameraderie that
Sporting Trials offers, it would be the most popular
form of motorsport in the country.
- Where
else would you find a uniquely designed car for
around £600?
- Which
other off-roader offers the agility and climbing
ability of a mountain goat and the power to weight
ratio of a high powered sports car?
- What
other motorsport can provide you and your passenger
with a full days sport for a £20 entry fee and
a gallon of petrol?
 Don't
bother searching - you won't find one!
Some
of the cars competing today are 25+ years old,
but in 750 Trials they are still competitive. Learning
to drive a Trials car won't happen overnight, but
with sixteen Trials per season in the 750 Motor
Club Championship, plus club trials and practice
days, you will soon learn. But before you dash
out and buy a car, come along to a Trials practice
day, speak to the drivers and the passengers -
they will give you all the help they can. Some
may even let you have a drive. You can also have
a go at marshaling on a section to give you a better
understanding of what's involved. Speak to the
organisers before a Trial starts and they will
be glad of your help.
Sporting
Car Trials are organised by different centres within
the 750 Motor Club, each centre running one or
more Trials in their area. The organiser, ie. Clerk
of the Course, will lay out either 6 or 8 sections
(hills), each section to be attempted 4 or five
times, giving a total of 30 or 32 sections.
Each
section can be slightly altered after each lap
and again for the afternoon session. Further alterations
may be made to ensure that the same sections are
rarely driven twice.
Each
section consists of a route marked out with 13
pairs of poles, the start gate followed by 12 more
gates marked "12" down to "1".
The
objective is to manoeuvre the car between the gates
without stopping or touching the poles.
If
gate 12 is hit, 12 penalty points are added to
the driver's score; likewise if gate 11 is hit
then 11 penalty points are added, and so on down
to gate 1.
If
the car comes to a stop for more than 5 seconds
between gates then the value of the last gate passed
is added to the score.
At
the end of the day the driver with the lowest score
is the winner.
Only
certain makes of road tyres are allowed on the
rear wheels. Prices start at around £26 each. On
the front, motorcycle tyres are used. Prices for
these are around £14 each. Tyre presures are set
on the day by the Clerk of the Course. This may
be "free", ie. 1 to 2 psi, or they may be set higher
at 3 to 5 psi depending on the conditions.
There
are three designated classes:
- A
- Expert
- B
- Semi-expert
- Novice
A
novice driver is allowed to win three novice awards
and will then move up to class B, although retaining
a novice status throughout the season for the 750
Motor Club Championship. At the end of the season
the scores are averaged out over the number of
Trials entered for both "A" and "B", with the top
two "B" drivers moving up to class A; the bottom
two "A" drivers go dowwn to class B.
The
750 Motor Club Championship takes place over sixteen
rounds. Points are awarded to each driver after
each round, with the drivers allowed to drop their
worst two rounds.
The
driver with the highest score wins the overall
Championship, with the highest scoring in each
of the three classes winning that particular class
award.
Then
you need to join our club. Contact Craig
Bazley (tel: 02392 785121) for further
details and an application form, or use this form with your browser's PRINT function.
|
What
is a Sporting Car Trial?
Tyres
and Tyre Pressures
Championship
Scoring