Lord of the Lanes

Well what can I say….
… BADMC once again provided an absolutely fantastic event from start to finish.  It has to be said, a certain mindset must be bred into some people when they can make something that appears completely unsuitable and turn it into something absolutely EPIC!!!

The organising team and marshals were keen on emphasising the rules from the get-go, and strict orders were placed amongst the time-keepers involved.  As such a great understanding from all competitors was present, all the way from the drivers briefing through to the prize-giving.

Some of the most fantastic lanes available were handed over to the club for the day and as competitors we would like to extend a HUGE thank you to all the landowners, for without their lanes, farm yards, dirt tracks, sheds, silos and spare tractor tyres we would not have had an event at all.

Running first on the road was a baptism of fire, with the timekeepers wanting you to start the tests immediately on arrival.  This left little time to scan over the test diagrams and get ourselves up to speed with the desired route.  On that note, it meant, for the first loop of tests anyway, I was going to be a busy boy in the passenger seat ensuring Will was receiving calm and precise instructions for each and every cone.  By the second loop, I was merely ballast and the laughing/giggling began.  By the third loop we were realising that we were lucky to have woken up and set some very very quick times in the morning.  Robert Woodside Jnr, James Wilson and Eamon Byrne were all starting to trade times with us.

James Wilson has to get a special mention here for an absolutely legendary drive throughout the day.  Having hit the rear passenger wheel off a curb at Delamount Country Park, an expedient repair carried out, he chaffered Mini Veteran Robert Dickson around the countryside in a seriously competitive manner not fitting in with the outward appearance of his wee car.

At the end of the day though the Imperial car of Will Corry and I took home the overall win by a total of 54 seconds over Robert Woodside Jnr and Dean Beckitt in the Metric MX5.  Snapping at their heels was James Wilson and Robert Dickson a mere 8 seconds behind the jap-scrap.

Once again, a huge thank you to BADMC, the marshalls, timekeepers and landowners for making it such an awesome day out for the 50 strong field of competitors.
Autumn Lanes Final Results 2011

All photographs are © 2011 PeeSpeed Photography – please visit http://www.peespeed.com/

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