REVIEW OF THE 2005 TRIALS SEASON

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OK, let's get the basic statistics, which some find fascinating and others find tedious, out of the way first. No fewer than 44 different drivers competed in one or more of the MCC events in 2005, with 11 of those competing in all three. Mal and Donny Allen were the only Marlin team to win Medals in all three events with Silvers on the Exeter and the Edinburgh, and a Bronze on the Lands End. Bryan and Pat Phipps scored Golds on both the Exeter and the Edinburgh but retired on the Lands End although they did finish 2005 with a commanding lead in the Marlin MCC League by virtue of their 2004 scores.

There were only ten Marlin drivers registered in the ACTC Championships this year, down a little on previous years, with the Allens, Pete and Carlie Hart, and the Phipps the highest scorers. Eric Smith was the only one of the ten who didn't compete in MCC events so that ups the total number of current Marlin competitors to 45. I've not bothered to go through every event in detail but I have spotted at least three more 'unregistered' drivers who've competed in ACTC events so I think it's a reasonable statement to say that they were around 50 Marlins active in classic trials in 2005.

However we all have to face the fact that Marlins are not currently the most competitive cars in Class 7. Andrew Martin and his Dutton Melos may have been in a class of their own this year - winning the Crackington Cup - but if you look at the "Average Scores" column of the Crackington Final Table you'll see that Harvey Walters, Tommy Kalber, and Ray Goodright were all scoring in the 7s whereas the three best Marlin drivers were all in the 6s. There's no doubt that a properly-sorted Melos, sharing major mechanicals with the highly-developed Class 3 Escorts, is a very competitive Class 7 car but many of us find it somewhat ironic that the specifications of the Class 7 kit cars are very tightly controlled and we are then expected to be competitive against the "modified-beyonds" where (almost) anything goes. Harvey's Ford Pop may have a Pop bodyshell but that covers a mixture of Escort and Capri mechanicals. Ray Goodright's Arkley may have started-off as a Spridget with fibreglass bodywork but it now sports a Ford engine and running gear with 15" wheels. Although David Prowse's Class win on a tough Lands End was an indication that it is possible to beat-the-best in a Marlin, thank goodness that Roger Bricknell (Vincent) and Julian Dommett (1172 Dellow) have been absent for most of the year or things could have been much worse for the Marlin contingent.

And finally, there are at least ten Marlin owners who were new to MCC trialling in 2005 and three more entering the Exeter as their first trial. Gentlemen - after you've lost your trialling virginity with the MCC, may I suggest that you give at least one ACTC event a try in 2006? It's no coincidence that the top scorers in the Marlin MCC League are also the top Marlin drivers in the ACTC Championships. OK, so you may come away from your first ACTC event feeling a bit shell-shocked - particularly if you enter something like the Exmoor Clouds - but by competing in the 'one day' events you'll learn far more, and far more quickly, than you ever can by doing just the three MCC events, and you'll be able to come back to the MCC events with renewed confidence in yourself and your car.Go on, give it a try, you know it makes sense.

This page published 30 December 2005