The Peter Blankstone "MAC" Trial

Peter Blackstone Sporting Trial 2025 - A Competitor's Tale

Date: March 16, 2025

Event: Peter Blackstone Memorial Sporting Trial

Weather: Typical British spring.

The Morning Briefing (AKA "How Hard Can It Be?") Another bright and early start for the Peter Blackstone Memorial Trial, where 35 brave souls gathered to throw their motors up impossible hills in memory of a man who probably never imagined his name would be associated with quite so much automotive carnage. The scrutineers were in fine form, finding fault with perfectly good cars while somehow missing the one held together with cable ties and optimism.

The Sections (Or: "Eight Ways to Question Your Life Choices")

Round One: The Awakening

The first round always starts with false confidence. "This doesn't look too bad," we all muttered, before Section 1 reminded us why we should have stayed in bed. Josh and Tristan Veale clearly didn't get the memo about struggling, posting a mere 1 point while the rest of us were still working out which way was up. Their Red Indi must have been fitted with some sort of gravity-defying device, or perhaps they'd simply made a pact with the trial gods. By Section 8, the reality was setting in. Thomas Bricknell and Beth Carroll were keeping pace with the leaders, though rumor has it Beth spent most of Section 3 offering helpful navigation advice that couldn't be printed in family magazines.

Round Two: The Reckoning

If Round One was the warm-up, Round Two was where the trial decided to get serious. This is where we discovered that Boyd Webster and Andrew Gains in their Blue Indi weren't just making up the numbers. Meanwhile, Simon Kingsley and son Matthew were having the sort of round that makes you wonder if the car knows something you don't. The marshals were in particularly fine form, with their uncanny ability to spot a wheel lift from three counties away while somehow missing the car that just reversed over their packed lunch.

Round Three: The Final Insult

By the third round, most of us had accepted our fate. The sections had evolved from "challenging" to "actively vindictive." This is where characters like Ian Veale and Lindsay Veale discovered that Section 6 had apparently been designed by someone with a twisted sense of humor and a grudge against gearboxes. Poor Neil Davis and Andrew Guthrie were having the sort of day that trial veterans euphemistically call "character building." Their 184-point total suggests they found plenty of character, most of it wedged between rocks.

The Heroes and the Heartbreak

The Untouchables:

Josh and Tristan Veale finished with 6 points, which is the sort of score that makes other competitors check their calculators and consider taking up bowls instead. They drove like they had a crystal ball, or possibly like they'd done the sections before in a previous life.

The Nail-Biters:

The battle for second was closer than a marshal's attention to his clipboard. Thomas Bricknell and Beth Carroll tied with Boyd Webster and Andrew Gains on 9 points, leading to the dreaded tiebreak. In a sport where clean sections are rarer than a dry day in Wales, Thomas and Beth's 21 cleans to Boyd and Andrew's 20 was enough to clinch second place. One can only imagine the conversation in the Webster camp about that one crucial dab.

The Survivors:

Special mention to the crews who made it to the end with their sanity (mostly) intact. Andy Wilks and Mark Smith proved that persistence pays off, while Alastair Moffatt and Dan Evans showed that Live axle doesn't always mean live burial. The Casualties Nine brave crews started but didn't see the checkered flag, including Jeff Armitstead and Stephen Postlethwaite, who presumably decided that discretion was the better part of valor after Round One. James Flanagan and Sarah Gale lasted until Round Two before concluding that some hills are better left unconquered.

The Tiebreaks Nothing quite captures the agony and ecstasy of trials like a tiebreak decided by clean sections. Alastair Moffatt and Dan Evans beat John Firth and Ann Boyes by 16 cleans to 15 - the difference between remembering to lift off the throttle at exactly the right moment and discovering that gravity still works.

The Classes

The Red Independent class was clearly the place to be, with both winners and runners-up calling it home. The Blue Independent crews proved that color doesn't matter when you're sliding backwards down a hill, while the Live axle brigade demonstrated that sometimes the old ways are still the most entertaining ways to get stuck. The Rookie class entries deserve special recognition for turning up at all. There's something beautifully naive about entering your first trial at a venue that's been humbling experienced drivers for decades.

Final Thoughts

The Peter Blackstone Memorial Trial once again proved that sporting trials remain the perfect antidote to anyone who thinks they can actually drive. It's a sport where a perfect score is 0, nobody expects to win, and the real victory is getting home with the same number of pieces you started with. Peter Blackstone would undoubtedly be amused to know that his memorial event continues to provide an annual reminder that hills don't care about your driving license, your expensive modifications, or your pre-event confidence. They just sit there, waiting patiently to remind you that gravity always wins in the end. Roll on next year - same hills, same optimism, same inevitable reality check.

Final score: 26 finished, 9 saw sense early, and one trial that reminded us all why we do this madness in the first place.