1969 UAC Bangor Tests

ANOTHER WIN FOR WOODSIDE

This report and pictures by Esler Crawford was first published in Motorweek 19th July 1969.

Most of the followers of the gentle art of test driving, and his fellow competitors even more so, must be wondering when the reign of Robert Woodside and his Beach Buggy is going to come to an end. It looks as though this will only be brought about by old age or mechanical failure.

Last Wednesday night he had his sixth Ulster driving test championship win in succession and is virtually unbeatable even though there are two events still to take place. One more win will give Woodside the maximum possible total of 70 points, a feat never before achieved in the four year history of the championship where the Hopkirk Trophy has always been the subject of a very close battle right to the last round.

Woodside’s latest triumph took place in the grounds of Bangor Castle where the UAC had set out five tests to be attempted twice each. This is quite a good venue for driving tests as it is possible to simulate a reasonably good version of the traditional public road test of which there are far too few these days. However there were a few complaints from the experts that some of the tests were just a little too simple and did not place enough emphasis on driving skill.

Nevertheless test one was quite good entertainment for the spectators, involving a tyre squealing throw round the Mayoral rose bed in front of the castle itself. But after the 28 competitors had left about a hundredweight of rubber on the tarmac the test had to be scrubbed due to the cars’ times and numbers becoming mixed up!

However test two was all right, a short back and forward affair which only took the inevitable Woodside 14.0 seconds, using all the grass in the process. It was noted that on the second run the test Marshall had placed a pylon on that bit of grass! The next best efforts were not less than one second slower, a time of 15.0 being shared by Harold Hagan (MG Midget) and Derek Boyd (VW 1500).

Test three required a bit of care as it was bounded by a number of strong looking walls, but the Coopers of Ronnie McCartney and Charlie Irwin were quite at home in the confined space and were fastest was 27.4, and 27.8 respectively, while Ian Woodside dropped himself a couple of places in the final results by having a line fault and, amazingly, Robert did not even figure in the first six!

However “The King” had let the boys have their fun and it was the Buggy back on top in test four – a very tight affair – with a time of 18.0 as compared to the 18.8 of Irwin and 19.4 of Hagan.

The last test was much faster than the others but made up for this with a liberal sprinkling of cans and the spectators were treated to plenty of demonstrations of how to flatten a can in one easy lesson. This was mostly confined to the less expert but even Harold Hagan succumbed and a five second penalty dropped him a place in the final results. This mistake was made the more serious by the fact that fastest time went to his arch rival Roger Cree with 37.2, with the Woodside brothers sharing
second place in 38.8 and Ken Shields having a very good drive in his VW, taking fourth with 39.8.

At the end of the first lap Robert Woodside had a two second lead over Cree with McCartney third. And the second lap did nothing to upset the progress of the dreaded Beach Buggy which Went on to take fastest time in four of the five tests and stretch its lead to eleven seconds at the finish. However McCartney did manage to squeeze ahead of Cree who just managed to hold off a very determined second lap challenge from Harold Hagan while Ken Shields, obviously in a hurry to get back to his holidays in Donegal, was a very good fifth with his Volkswagen.

RESULTS

General classification:

1. R. J. Woodside (GP Beach Buggy) 231.8 marks lost;
2. R. J. McCartney (BMC Cooper S) 242.8;
3. G. R. Cree (AH Sprite) 244.4;
4. W. H. Hagan (MG Midget) 245.2;
5. W. K. Shields (VW 1500) 248.4;
6. I. Woodside (MG Midget) 249.8;
7. C. Irwin (BMC Cooper) 250.0;
8. C. S. Crawford (MG Midget) 251.6;
9. D. D. Boyd (VW 1500) 254.5;
10. W. D. C. Grant (BMC Cooper S) 263.6.

Class 1, Beginners:

1. E. Crawford (GP Beach Buggy) 282.4;
2. R. R. Bell (BMC Cooper S) 284.4;
3. R. McCandless (AH Sprite) 293.0.

Class 2, semi-experts:

1. A. J. Lucas (BMC Mini) 269.4;
2. R. Dugan (BMC Mini) 281.2;
3. S. Poots (VW 1500) 286.4.

Class 3, experts:

As general classification.

Ulster driving test championship (after 8 rounds with two to go)

1. R. J. Woodside (GP Beach Buggy) 60 points;
2. R. J. McCartney (BMC Cooper S) 46;
3. =W. H. Hagan (MG Midget) 43;
4. =G. R. Cree (AH Sprite) 43;
5. C. Irwin (BMC Cooper) 35;
6. W. D. C. Grant (BMC Cooper S) 27;
7. R. Mullen (BMC Cooper S) 26;
8. K. Irwin (MG Midget) 25;
9. I. Woodside (MG Midget) 24;
10. W. K. Shields (VW 1500) 13.