“Grassroots” according to its definition, refers to the ordinary people at the basic level of a society or organisation, rather than its leaders, signifying bottom-up movements or support from the common public for ideas, politics, or social change, originating from the fundamental base like plant roots.
When it comes to Motorsport, we all tend to have tunnel vision. Most of the time, we concentrate on the discipline we compete in, barely noticing the others. Over the years, I tried to broaden my horizons and look beyond the circuit racing I love so much. To this end, I have competed in Rallycross, Autotests, an Endurance Trial, a Classic Retro and of course Sporting Trials, also known as Mudplugs.
In recent times, I have been competing regularly in Mudplugs and appear to be finally getting some traction (pun intended). Back a few years, in fact a few decades(!) ago, I managed to win a 100cc Karting Championship. I was driving Donal Loughrey’s old CRG chassis and he coached me (before it became a phrase all young racers love to use!). It seems nothing changes, as I now double drive with Donal and he has managed to take the overall win, known as a Premier, already, at the wheel of his Fildes-Yamaha. As it was back in the day, he has been extremely helpful with tips and advice.
We had started with a misfiring VW powered machine, that I had bought on a whim, and used to look enviously at the screaming bike engined cars. When Sonya Fildes agreed to part with a Yamaha FJ1200 powered car, built by her dad Ken, Donal didn’t hesitate. Having being lying up, it needed a bit of TLC. Thankfully, from my point of view, fettling cars, or indeed anything mechanical, is one of Donal’s favourite pastimes, so off he went. Initially the car was not the most user friendly, with a very sharp clutch, and also wasn’t quite as manoeuvrable as we expected. A visit to POB Racing, who run all the similarly powered Legends race cars, and the motor was transformed. It sounded really sharp on its return and was also far more tractable than before. Donal then changed the rear suspension setup and for a week or two, it seemed every sentence he uttered contained “Akermann” or “Scrub” as his engineering mind went to work.
The discipline doesn’t sell well when you are describing it to people, but it really is a wonderful, and incredibly affordable, form of Motorsport. Donal and myself had arrived at our very first event assuming we would wipe the boards, or at the very least, put it up to the regulars. We were swiftly disabused of this notion when the results were posted at the end of the day! It is one of the few disciplines, if not the only one, where you can walk alongside the best drivers in the country as they tackle a section, before you have a go yourself. Add this to the fact that the really good guys and girls are extremely helpful and it’s not long before you’ll be tackling the steepest slopes with confidence.
There are six sections at each event and you tackle them all once before lunch, and once afterwards. There are ten “gates” two posts, numbered down from 10, and the object is to get the lowest score you can, notionally to get to the Zero and “clear” the section. The gates get gradually more difficult as you progress through the sections, and generally, you need to take a deep breath before you attack the 3-2-1 section!
Enda Byrne is a scrutineer for the class as well as a successful competitor and he gave us plenty of tips when we started. Siobhan McCann, who is a multiple Trial winner and formidable competitor, along with her late father Joe, were also a great help to us as we made our early progress. When we moved from the VW to the Yamaha, we loaned the VW out to series of “newbies”, which proved to be great fun. Ulick Burke, Brian Downes and Dan Sweeney have all done well on one off appearances and will be back for more.
Ex Veester Finbarr Murray and his buddy Connor Power (above) also started competing in the car we affectionately christened The Baron, and like us, got hooked pretty quickly. They subsequently bought a front engined Wilson-Suzuki and have both made great progress in recent times. Former Vee racer and gearbox specialist Alan Whitty also had a go and subsequently purchased a late model mid engined Sheane-Suzuki, which he double drives with former owner, and 1970s Formula Vee protagonist John Alvey. As a group, we have great fun and there is rarely a night goes by without some form of banter or slagging on our WhatsApp group.
You would probably think that, not being a high speed discipline, it would not be a benefit to budding racers or rally drivers but in reality, the opposite is true. Like Autotesting, it is really good for spatial awareness and even more so for vehicle dynamics, as often, traction in the name of the game.
It literally could not be cheaper either. if you can find an older VW engined machine, lying up, and there are plenty around, you could be the proud new owner for as little as a couple of grand. Granted the bike engined machines are more expensive, but if they are more competitive, then people like Siobhan McCann, Enda Byrne and Robin Taylor never got that memo! Entry fees are circa €50 for an event, and that is generally a full day out. The only other cost really is a good set of wetgear as both car, and driver can get destroyed with mud!
Last season, my form plateaued and, having moved up from Grade D to C, I hadn’t seen a trophy in months. This season, taking Donal’s advice to do more events and thus get more all important seat time, I found myself moved up to Grade B but happily, as I type this, I have taken second in Grade in three events on the trot and somehow, a sixth overall, so its definitely going in the right direction. I am not sure I will ever join the list of winners though, the standard at the sharp end is extremely high!
The above video, while a bit extreme, is not really representative, especially in terms of how muddy the driver is! That was a Kildare Motor Club in the Curragh recently and, with constant rainfall the ground was sodden. Fair play to Michelle Farrelly and team though, they ploughed ahead (another pun there, you can have that one for free!) with the event and it was really enjoyable. That said, both drivers and machines needed a good power wash afterwards!
If you would like to have a go, then come along to an event to see what it’s all about and say hello. But bring wellies! If you area former racer, like me, you will see plenty of familiar faces. Jonathan Fildes, recently joined by his son Jack, is a regular as is his sister Karen, who goes really well in one of Ken Fildes’ creations, with a 900cc Lancia motor. Former FF1600 ace Nikki Potterton has also returned to the port after a hiatus and , like Jonathan, has been joined by his son James. The Watkins family has long been involved in the discipline and Alan and Nicola are regulars, now joined by Alan’s son and daughter Alex and Saibh. Both are progressing well with Alex, incredibly taking an overall win earlier this year. He has also gone viral in an Instagram clip of him him cleaning a section in Ardsallagh, Navan recently!, which has over 2 million views!
Former Formula Vee exponent Enda Byrne, as mentioned above, is heavily involved and recently took the win at that slightly muddy Kildare event! He is captured superbly below by Peespeed Photography in mid air!
For more information, have a look at the official Sporting Trial/Mudplugging Facebook page HERE.
For licencing details and info on how to start competing, check out Motorsport Ireland’s Sporting Trials page HERE.