Congratulations to Ross and Sophie on their second 12 Car win. A greasy and drizzly night made things challenging for the six starters. A full write-up of the event and a breakdown of the results can be found on the event page here.
Seven crews registered their interest in competing. The route was something Dave Whittock prepared pre- covid and was resurrected and used on this pre - festive event. 55 miles of the Mendip lanes all on Map 183 with 9-time controls and 18 route checks gave crews a challenging time ahead.
We unfortunately lost one crew before the start due to a positive Covid test, so with 6 crews remaining, everyone gathered at the Odd Down Football Club for the start. A very cold evening lay ahead with mud and some patchy ice to contend with.
The route headed south through Twinhoe and out to Midford for TC 2, most crews at this point were clean. A relaxed section down the main road to Norton st Philip to TC 3.
The event then skirted the village of Faulkland before heading out around the narrow lane north of Lullington to arrive at TC 5 in Buckland Dinham.
The scoreboard at this point showed a clean sheet for Ross and Sophie with Matt and Sukie 1 minute behind. TC 6 was tucked away at Mells Down but only two crews managed this without penalty except for car 3 Shaun Drew dropping 1 minute and car 5 Mark Summers on 5 and car 6 John Dando again on 5.
The next part of the route took in the narrow slippery lanes around Nettlebridge, Matt and Sukie missed a route check in this maze giving them a 10-mark penalty and handing a comfortable lead to Ross and Sophie.
At TC 7 manned by Stan Cole, Matt dropped a further 5, Ross dropped his first 2 of the night so far and Mark on 5. Heading now towards the finish with two TC’s left to conquer the pressure started to tell with Mark dropping 2, Ross 3 and Matt dropping a further 6. All that was left was a short section around Nunney and back to the pub at the Masons Arms in Frome.
The pub was full of stories especially from Gavin Rogers and Andy Lowe who took a slight detour into a field on a particular greasy stretch of road between TC3 and TC4 and had to be assisted out by John Dando running at 6 but had 4wd, then further assisted by the closing car Rod Colman/Mark Dunkerley who eventually extracted them.
Congratulations to Ross and Sophie as this was her only second event. A great event enjoyed by all and thanks to all the marshals who stood out in the cold, and thanks to the Masons Arms for its hospitality.
Mike Patton
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