THE Cornwall and Devon Land Rover Club held their fifth Comp Safari event of the year at Vearndon Farm, Tetcott, on Sunday, September 10.
In difficult driving conditions caused by the recent inclement weather, the overall winner was Luke Rickard with an average run time of seven minutes and five seconds over the ten laps. Rickard’s cumulative time was one hour, ten minutes and 55 seconds.
Chris Wheeler came a close second on seven minutes and six seconds (cumulative 1:11:06) while Mark Swales followed in third place on seven minutes and 26 seconds (cumulative 1:14:20).
Comp Safari events comprise a number of laps around a set course with each lap being timed. Penalties are awarded for such things as missing course markers or being unable to complete a lap. The competition saw competitors undertake the ten laps with an opportunity to carry out running repairs between laps.
Each lap is then timed and added to give a cumulative total.
The Cornwall and Devon Land Rover Club are holding six Comp Safaris this year. Previous events have taken place in Truro, Wadebridge, Looe and Redruth. The final event of the season takes place at Thorns Cross near Exeter on Sunday, October 22, where the overall Comp Safari winner for 2017 will be crowned.
The Vearndon Farm event was held courtesy of local farmers, Adrian and Mervyn Chubb and organised by club members, Anna and Tony Brown of Holsworthy. Course marking and preparation was underway ten days before the event although some last minute changes were required due to the recent spate of bad weather.
Tony said: “The course was a very challenging one and brought the best out of the competitors.
“As well as helping us prepare the course, Adrian and Mervyn Chubb were on hand throughout the day with Adrian on-call with his County tractor to undertake recovery when required.”
The event proved extremely popular with ten drivers taking part and a number of spectators from the local area enjoying a great day out.
Anna said: “This is a great sport and we would encourage more people to join the club either as competitors or followers.
“We’re all now looking forward to the final event of the season in Exeter next month.”
In reference to the muddy conditions, CDLRC committee member, Julia Cuming, added her thanks to the land owners, saying: “We just hope they aren’t going to charge us for all the mud the competitors took home on their vehicles!”