ROUND 4 & 5 ALL WHEEL DRIVE CLUB (AWDC) 5 GATE TRIALS CHAMPIONSHIP. RIBBESFORD FARM, STOURPORT-ON-SEVERN, DY13 OTE ON 30th APR – 1st MAY 2023.
Rounds 4&5 of the 5 gate champs took the team to Stourport on seven, a great sight and loads of area for different courses. This time there was a lot of hill climbs and testing the trucks to the max with some tight turns at the top.
Squid with his monster of a truck and with James in his little green defender, far from little this time as was showing all the big trucks how to do it. Day 1 went well with only taking out a tree at the top of the 2nd section and causing a side wall damage to the tyre. Back to the pits for a quick change and back out again. Up against 5 in the class this time with some new people taking part it was up against the wire. Kept on pushing and walking away with 1st in class for round 4 was a great result.
Tom was meant to be taking part in his green fleet 110 but on the way up he suffered a clutch failure and had the embarrassing phone call to RAC to be recovered back.
Round 5 was further on in the woods this time with even more trees and a lot of mud. The truck was ready to go after the tyre pressures lowered to 8 psi this time for better grip and trying to stay away from the exposed roots as the land dragon tyres tend to grip on them and cause damage….. of course, this happened to us. As we dropped of a steep bank with a tight right hand turn the tyres dug in and dig well. Hitting the root and snapping a rear shaft. It does not happen often but when they go, we are ready for it. Back to the pits for a change. 30 mins in the pits, out with the old and in with the 2nd hand and back we go.
Finished with a 1st as not all drivers have spares, and they went out and some just take it steady and want to last the day.
Very happy with the result for Squid and James. 1st in round 4 & round 5. Team work really does pay off. A great weekend.
