Youngest of the big three Motor Cycling Club endurance trials, which was first run back in 1910 on Boxing Day, when entrants made their way from London down to Devon. The event continues with a mix of vehicles on 2, 3 and 4 wheels, some entrants date back to the 20's - the event has now moved to the first weekend of the year and sees the entrants start at around 7:30 on the Friday night from various locations, making their way to the Haynes Motor Museum in Somerset. The event proper kicks off at midnight taking the entrants to special "green lane" stages - these were the bits of road they forgot to tarmac in the early 1900's, most tend to be hidden away in forests and have signs stating "unfit for motor vehicles"!! These pics were taken on Simms Hill at Ilsington near Bovey Tracey. This year the event was more difficult than normal, recent rain made the muddy and rocky slop incredibly slick and very few entrants cleared the stage.
Onto the pics, all taken on 1D3 with a 35-350L lens, ISO ranged from 800 through to 6,400 as the light dropped - next event is the Lands End trial which should take place at Easter - happy to post a couple more if people interested....
The event still has a large number of bikes as well as motorcycles and side-cars, the weather can be extreme, many years there can be snow and ice, this year at least the sun shone - Entrant 55 - Andy Syms & Mark Daubney on their Yamaha XT500
It is really difficult to show movement in some of these vehicles, however, getting all four wheels off the ground while going up a mud track looks fun - this is a trials special, aptly named Canon Alfa with Nick Framer at the wheel...
A slightly older entrant, Wolseley Hornet from the 1930's - most entrants are rear wheel drive, the co-pilots main job as the vehicle loses traction and momentum is to bounce up and down to get some grip into the wheels. Just love the facial expressions in this one, unlike many events you can get really close to the vehicles and the action...
Many entrants eventually lost traction, wheels spinning, bouncers bouncing, but in the end you just knew they were not going to make it - Ken Best & David Prowse in the Marlin Roadster, coming to a gentle stop...
This was a really unfortunate accident at the end of the day, this was the first incident I have seen in several of these events over the years. Reversing back down the slope was exceedingly difficult, the slick surface meant that breaks were not effective - this dramatic shot is the vehicle going over... The accident resulted in both occupants needing to go to hospital.
Onto the pics, all taken on 1D3 with a 35-350L lens, ISO ranged from 800 through to 6,400 as the light dropped - next event is the Lands End trial which should take place at Easter - happy to post a couple more if people interested....
The event still has a large number of bikes as well as motorcycles and side-cars, the weather can be extreme, many years there can be snow and ice, this year at least the sun shone - Entrant 55 - Andy Syms & Mark Daubney on their Yamaha XT500
It is really difficult to show movement in some of these vehicles, however, getting all four wheels off the ground while going up a mud track looks fun - this is a trials special, aptly named Canon Alfa with Nick Framer at the wheel...
A slightly older entrant, Wolseley Hornet from the 1930's - most entrants are rear wheel drive, the co-pilots main job as the vehicle loses traction and momentum is to bounce up and down to get some grip into the wheels. Just love the facial expressions in this one, unlike many events you can get really close to the vehicles and the action...
Many entrants eventually lost traction, wheels spinning, bouncers bouncing, but in the end you just knew they were not going to make it - Ken Best & David Prowse in the Marlin Roadster, coming to a gentle stop...
This was a really unfortunate accident at the end of the day, this was the first incident I have seen in several of these events over the years. Reversing back down the slope was exceedingly difficult, the slick surface meant that breaks were not effective - this dramatic shot is the vehicle going over... The accident resulted in both occupants needing to go to hospital.
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