The 26th running of the Derek Walker Memorial Trial took place last weekend, organised and promoted by the MG Car Club (Ulster Centre), the event would take in a total of 20 tests in the Crossgar, Downpatrick, Ardglass area of Co. Down. Starting from Delamont Country Park the crws would be competing on tests comprising of tarmac, concrete and gravel in various farmyards, car parks and lanes along the route.
Andy Johnson, running as car no1 in his Sprite, got things under way at the first test in Delamont but disaster struck midway through the test and a sick sounding car was pushed off the test. A flurry of people arrived to Andys assistance and within a couple of minutes the car was back on song and ready for test 2 in the adjoining carpark.
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| Andy Johnson/Michael Johnson |
As the top seeds were completing the tests the lower seeds were watching very closely to see how the tests should be done and were trying to work out where time could be made and hopefully not lost. It wasn't long until the quick crews started to show off the "quick lines" with Noel Cochrane navigated by Trevor Reid demonstrated how a well driven Midget could be put through it's paces.
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| Noel Cochrane/Trevor Reid |
He was soon followed by one of the event favourites, Will Corry and Pete Moreland Moore in the K-Series engined Midget, a slight mistake after the start cost the pair a couple of valuable seconds. Running after the Midget classes was the Mini class, where a few more of the crews who would be fighting for overall honours were grouped. Quickest of the group and also quickest man on the opening pair of tests was James Wilson and Stephen Kearney who were 4.6 seconds clear of nearest rivals Robert and Catherine Dickson. The Dicksons had a fright on the start line of the opening test when the timekeeper informed them of water leaking from the car, a faulty temperature switch was to blame and a quick repair job involving a small branch saw the problem sorted and after topping up the rad the replica of Paddy Hopkirks 1969 Circuit of Ireland car was back on the line and ready for action. Third fastest was another Wilson Mini, this time driven by Sam Wilso with Simon Brewster on navigating duties.
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| Sam Wilson/Simon Brewster |
After the Delamont tests the crews headed to a pair of tests near Crossgar and then onto test five just outside Downpatrick, where Wilson continued to put in quick times but Corry was closing the gap and setting times on par with the Mini driver. After the first 5 tests Wilson was holding a 5.8 second advantage over Corry with Cochrane, Sam Wilson and Dickson seperated by by less than 2 seconds. Quickest of the Class 8 cars who were not eligible for overall awards was the Mazda MX5 or Robert Woodside and Bruce Drummond who were 2.6 seconds ahead of fellow MX5 crew Eric Patterson & Raymond Donaldson with the Starlet of Frank Lenehan and Olwen Blair another 1.1 seconds behind.
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| Frank Lenehan/Olwen Blair |
Into the next series of tests and the pressure was mounting on the leaders resulting in a failed test for both Corry and Wilson on test 9. Dickson capitalised most by going quickest overall on tests 6 to 10 and jumping up the leader board into 2nd place just 2 seconds off Wilsons total. Cochrane was best of the rwd's in third almost 6 seconds back on the 2nd placed Mini with Sam Wilson fourth. The fail time for Corry which is based on quickest in class +20seconds saw the Midget driver slip back to fifth place.
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| Will Corry/Pete Moreland Moore |
At half distance the top 6 was as follows
1. James Wilson/Stephen Kearney 417.8
2. Robert & Catherine Dickson 419.8
3. Noel Cochrane/Trevor Reid 425.2
4. Sam Wilson/Simon Brewster 426.1
5. Will Corry/Pete Moreland Moore 435.9
6. Norman Ferguson/Brendan Mooney 450.1
Class8 was as follows
1. Eric Patterson/Raymond Donaldson 427.3
2. Robert Woodside/Bruce Drummond 434.7
3.Gareth Dillon/Gordon Wotherspoon 434.8
4. Frank Lenehan/Olwen Blair 435.2
5. Declan Hendrick/Kevin Fagan 444.8
6. Raymond Wilson/Ernie Hunter 446.9
Over the next 5 tests it was again Wilson who was quickest by 5.3 seconds over Corry. The red Minis of Sam Wilson and Robert Dickson were dropping time but still held on to 2nd and 3rd places overall with just .2 seconds separating the pair. Corrys good run over theses tests saw him close the gap on third to .9 of a second while Cochrane dropped back to fifth.
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| Norman Ferguson/Brendan Mooney |
The final five tests saw Corry put in a big charge and jump into second place 21.8 seconds off Wilson. Sam Wilson kept the pressure on and claimed third overall ahead of Dickson who had a fail on test 18. Fifth went to Cochrane with Ferguson in 6th place ahead of Robert McGimpsey in 7th. John Kelly, Richard Earney and Michael Reid rounded out the top 10.
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| Robert & Catherine Dickson |
The win sees Wilson get his name on the Derek Walker Memorial trophy for the 4th time having also won it in 2009, 2010 and 2014
Top 10 overall
1 James Wilson 841.1
2 William Corry 862.9
3 Sam Wilson 873.2
4 Robert Dickson 891.9
5 Noel Cochrane 895.1
6 Norman Ferguson 912.9
7 Robert Mcgimpsey 925.9
8 John Kelly 933.5
9 Richard Earney 955.2
10 Michael Reid 995.8
Top 20 combined results
1 James Wilson 841.1
2 William Corry 862.9
3 Sam Wilson 873.2
4 Eric Patterson 879.1
5 Robert Dickson 891.9
6 Frank Lenehan 894.7
7 Noel Cochrane 895.1
8 Robert Woodside Jnr 899.7
9 Gareth Dillon 905.1
10 Ashley Lamont 910.9
11 Norman Ferguson 912.9
12 Robert Mcgimpsey 925.9
13 Raymond Wilson 927.9
14 John Kelly 933.5
15 Declan Hendrick 936.2
16 Andrew Earney 953.3
17 Richard Earney 955.2
18 Jamie Mcmillan 962.8
19 David Meeke 966.7
20 Mark Woodside 976.1
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| James Wilson receives the Derek Walker Memorial Trial trophy from Gordon Buckley (COC) |
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