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A Novice Trial

HERO-ERA

9th March 2025


A Novice Trial
Winners: Nick Fieldhouse/Miles Fieldhouse (MG B Roadster)
Photograph: © HERO-ERA/Ian Skelton

Organiser: HERO ERA

Date: 9th March 2025

Clerk of the Course: Andy Pullan

Route: 120 Miles (4 Regs, 3 Tests)

Base: Hellidon Lakes

Starters: 35


On the premise that the only way to learn the art of regularity rallying is to get out into the lanes and trying it, HERO-ERA have promoted the Novice Trial, a mixture of classroom tutorials and practical exercises, culminating in a full rally.

Hellisdon Lakes, near Daventry, was the base for the seventh edition of the event. Thirty-five crews assembled for the training which started with a welcome session on Friday evening, followed by a day of training on Saturday. The latter included a walking test that provided an introduction to how tests are laid out and depicted in a roadbook.

The competition on Sunday began at 09:00, with four regularities and three tests to be tackled in a 120 mile route.

The first reg, a Jogularity, started at Byfield and wound its way via Eydon, Moreton Pinkney and Weston, before finishing at Helmdon. It was just over nine miles in length and there were three timing points.

Two cars shared the honour of dropping just one second on the section. These were brothers Rikki Watson/Russell Watson (BMW 1602) and the father and son team of Nick Fieldhouse/Miles Fieldhouse (MG B Roadster). Sixteen year old Miles Fieldhouse was taking part in the first of four events that were part of his prize for winning the 2025 Bob Rutherford Scholarship.

Two tests were then run at former RAF Finmere near Buckingham. These were scored on the class improvement system, where the fastest in the class scores zero and those behind two, four seconds and so on.

Fieldhouse/Fieldhouse were fastest of all crews on both tests and so kept their score at the single second lost on the first reg. Watson/Watson were second in their class on Test 1 and third on Test 2, adding six seconds to their total. Tim Sawyer/Chris Papaioannou (VW Golf GTi) had picked up six seconds on the opening section, but then were fastest in class on Test 1 and second on Test 2, this put them one second behind Watson/Watson.

On HERO-ERA events there is no leniency regarding taking the wrong route on a test; for instance, some organisers have a minor penalty for going the wrong side of a cone, but on HERO rallies this is classed as a wrong test; this carries the heavy penalty of 30 seconds. Fourteen cars were judged to have got Wrong Tests on the first visit to Finmere.

A Novice Trial
Runners Up: Rikki Watson/Russell Watson (BMW 1602)
Photograph: © HERO-ERA/Ian Skelton

The second regularity looped from Preston Bissett to Steeple Claydon and Padbury before finishing at Gawcott. Navigation was via speed tables and tulips. Again it was nine miles long and had three timing points.

Fieldhouse/Fieldhouse extended their lead further as they put in the best performance over the section, dropping just one second. This meant that they arrived at the mid-point coffee break at the Tipi Cafe with a lead of ten seconds over Watson/Watson, while Sawyer/Papaioannou were two seconds further back.

There was a tight battle for fourth place at this point with four cars covered by four seconds, Neil McConachie/Lorrain McConachie (Mazda MX5) were at the front of this pack.

After the break crews returned to Finmere for the third and final test, which was Tests 1 and 2 joined together. Fieldhouse/Fieldhouse were five seconds quicker than any other crew on the test and pulled further away from the field. Behind them Sawyer/Papaioannou passed Watson/Watson, but were only a second ahead.

In need of assistance from the Sweeps after the test were the Chinese pairing of Yao Pan/Xinran Liu whose Rover Mini suffered a cracked vacuum pipe to the distributor. The problem was fixed and the pair went on to finish in fourth place overall, having passed the gaggle of cars in front of them on the two final regularities. Their compatriots, Lei Zhu/Zihan Zhu (Mercedes Benz 190), tied for best performance on Reg 3, but a wrong approach on Reg 2 and a wrong test spoilt their day.

The route headed back to the north, taking in the two final regularities on the way. Regularity Three was in the lanes to the west of Banbury, starting at Milcombe and finishing near Radway. There was a four way claim for best performance on this section; naturally Fieldhouse/Fieldhouse were amongst them, as were Lei Zhu/Zihan Zhu.

Sawyer/Papaioannou still held second place having dropped one second less than Watson/Watson on the reg.

Competition concluded with a reg that used map navigation and a speed table. It was eight miles long and ran from Avon Dassett to Upper Boddington; there were three timing points.

Fieldhouse/Fieldhouse cemented their victory by dropping three fewer seconds than anyone else over the section and finished with a winning margin of twenty seconds. Watson/Watson put in the second best performance and, with Sawyer/Papaioannou being eight seconds early at one timing point, this pushed the brothers back up to the runner up spot at the Finish.

All thirty-five starters made it to the finish, with the vast majority having visited all the controls.

At the front Miles Fieldhouse had put in a faultless display, dropping just seven seconds over the twelve timing points during the day. It was a performance that would have pleased Bob Rutherford immensely.


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