A case of better late than never for Milligans

IT was a case of better late than never for an Omagh husband and wife who enjoyed and endured a weekend never to be forgotten during the Motorcycle Club’s special 120th anniversary three-day trial race in the south west of England.

For those of you who didn’t see the final episode of the latest series of Top Gear on Sunday of last week, trial racing was originally created over 100 years ago for manufacturers to prove the reliability of their vehicles. Because roads were so bad, they normally set a challenge of just driving from London to Edinburgh in 24 hours and the winner was one of the few machines that survived and made it within the time limit.

Things have changed a bit since then, however, and now trial racing involves drivers and passengers attempting to get their vehicles, normally fairly aged automobiles and bikes, up muddy slopes and across cross-country terrain more suited to tractors – it’s a definite battle of attrition for man and machine!

Now, where the special three-day event, which was celebrating the 120 years of the MCC and its Edinburgh Trial, Exeter Trial and Land’s End Trial, differed was there was also a more sedate trial running alongside the ‘normal’ off-road sections which allowed competitors to remain on ‘roads’.

And that’s where Gary and Mandy Milligan come into the equation. They had entered the event in class R behind the wheel of son, Robert’s red Mini.

Milligan junior was to compete in the more hardcore version of the event in his usual navigator, Dave Middleditch’s Dutton only for it to fry a brand new clutch release bearing on the way to the start – a common theme for the weekend as you’ll see – and they were forced to drive Roger Ugalde’s Beetle for days two and three, having missed day one due to the mechanical issue!

While Robert and David only got to compete in two of the three days of the event, Gary and Mandy managed to compete in four of the three!, finishing a day later than everyone else because of a, you guessed it, failed clutch release bearing, which ended their battle at the top of the class with Martin and Lesley Neal at Burnham on Sea.

Despite the issue, they were determined not to completely throw in the towel, so they booked into a hotel there, picked up a spare part the next morning, son Bob came down and between them changed it and drove up to the finish 24 hours after their due time to finish the event!

“When Robert told me about it first, it sounded like this road going trial was a jaunt about, enjoy the scenery, join up with the main trial for lunch and the social function in the evening and that was it, but it turned out anything but that!,” explained the Omagh Motor Club stalwart, who is a mainstay of the Northern Ireland Sprint and Hillclimb championships.

He continued: “It started in Nailsworth in the Cotswolds and headed down through Somerset, Exeter, down round Dartmoor, Newquay and back to Nailsworth again, it was about 520 miles!

“We went out about 440 miles and at least half or two thirds of that was wee single track roads, the like of which we have nothing like in Northern Ireland. You were through fords, up steep hills that were a struggle in first gear. It was a real adventure, it wasn’t the wee jaunt around the countryside that Mandy and I thought we were going to get!”

And while some might decide enough was enough at that point, Gary enjoyed the camaraderie of the event so much he’s considering bringing his own Mini to Edinburgh for the Trial there in October!

“It’s a whole different type of motorsport, it’s like nothing I’ve ever encountered before,” he observed.

“It was a whole experience that I’ve never come across before and they are a unique bunch and the camaraderie amongst them was fantastic.

“It was definitely an experience and something alien to us but I’ve got the bug and I was looking on the phone on the way home and I see the Edinburgh one is in October and it’s 24 hours, so I might give that a rattle!”