Efficient Car Trial Team Wins Ferodo Trophy

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28629, 4 July 1958, Page 12

Efficient Car Trial Team Wins Ferodo Trophy

YVINNING four of the six major ’’ trials organised by the Canterbury Car Club , this season and placed third and sixth in the other two, N. W. Tillman, a Christchurch company manager, has won the Ferodo Trophy. His brother is co-driver, and Mr J. Adams navigator. Mr Tillman s Borgward has carried the team over more than 1000 miles of the toughest country available in Canterbury and the West Coast over the last year. The three men have now perfected a technique of trial driv-

ing which leaves little opportunity for errors. When the trial is in progress, each has his job to do. and the instructions are fed to the driver every mile. The co-driver is solely responsible for keeping the car on the route of the trial, the navigator feeds out a mass of mathematical information on the estimated time of arrival and the number of seconds which the car is running ahead or behind time. The driver’s job

is to keep the car on the road, and no matter how rough the country or hair-raising the drive, the calculating must continue without a stop if the car is to arrive at the checkpoint on time. So accurate has the Borgward been on recent trials that it has arrived at points within five seconds of its scheduled time of arrival with the regularity of clockwork. One of the cardinal rules of trial driving is to disregard every other competitor, says Mr Tillman. “It is very hard not to get

into a panic when you see other cars flashing past you, and you feel like the' only fellow in an army parade who is in step. But once you are distracted you have spoilt much of your chance of winning.” Mr Tillman recalled that in the North Canterbury trial which he won last Sunday, a discussion had arisen in the car on the Budget and the new company tax. “Before we realised it we were almost on top of a checkpoint. Such an error can cost you the trial and a lot of hard and fatiguing work.”

Mr Tillman finds it surprising the number of drivers who ford rivers incorrectly and blame their cars when it stalls in the middle. “On a trial, the engine must be kept racing in first gear when fording a river, and the clutch allowed to slip. This keeps the engine going and the exhaust clear, and there is no bow wave to enter the air cleaner. If the engine of the car is not waterproofed, the fan belt should be removed, since it sprays the water around the engine like a fire hose. “It is unfortunate that some trial drivers seem to think being first at a checkpoint is some sort of an achievement. They should remember that they are not going to win unless they finish. Even if they are running very late, it is better to lose a few points than not arrive at all,” said Mr Tillman.

Although many trial competitors use mudgrip tyres for better adhesion over muddy ground, the Borgward team seldom use them. They have found their advantages are outweighed by the dangerous sway which a car develops when driving fast on wet bitumen.