I knew it was a winner from the outset. The Land Rover has all the elements of an invention worthy of the 'greatest of all time' accolade — function, design, durability, engineering supremacy and soul.
—Richard Hammond, BBC Top Gear

In the UK and in many other countries around the world, proud owners of Land Rovers compete regularly in vehicle trials. The trials are designed to be a test of both driver and vehicle ability and are held regularly throughout the year at many different venues. The prototype Land Rover (built in 1947) was designed as an off-road utility vehicle. Ever since then, owners have ventured away from the tarmac and tested their vehicles in quarries, woodlands, mountains, rivers and the like. So what is involved, who can compete, what equipment is needed and how much does it cost?

Clubs

The vast majority of trials events are organised and run by Land Rover clubs whose members are owners and enthusiasts of the Land Rover marque. These clubs exist throughout the UK, some with just a few members and others with hundreds. Many clubs are affiliated with the Association of Land Rover Clubs (ALRC) and adhere to ALRC rules and guidelines for their competitions. Others operate independently, but all clubs are governed by the Motor Sports Association (MSA), which controls all aspects of motor sport in the UK, including safety and licensing. The MSA issues permits for each and every event, thus ensuring the sport is correctly regulated, legal, safe and insured.

As well as offering many social opportunities, membership of a club absolves the individual from the administration needed for an event to take place. Most clubs are run by committees who organise MSA permits months in advance, negotiate with landowners, arrange for officials and scrutineers, provide obligatory safety equipment and deal with a myriad of additional tasks to ensure events run smoothly. Clubs rely heavily on the generosity and willingness of landowners for the sport to survive. Without access to land, competitions cannot take place, so it is normal for the landowner to be remunerated, usually by an agreed fixed price for the event or a fee per entrant. It can take many months or years of gentle persuasion for a landowner to agree the use of his land.

A typical club membership fee is in the region of £10 - £30 per year.

Trials

Most clubs offer four types of vehicle trial: Road Taxed Vehicle Trial (RTVT), Cross-Country Vehicle Trial (CCVT), Tyro¹ and Competitive Safari. Each trial is designed to encompass different types of terrain, the experience and capability of the drivers and, importantly, the various vehicles offered — both past and present — in the Land Rover range. These include 'Series' vehicles², Defenders, Range Rovers, Discoveries and Freelanders. The competitions are open to both sexes, although unfortunately female entrants are few. Most trials take place at weekends or bank holidays in order to maximise the 'family-friendly' experience of events. While it is common to see Land Rover vehicles ranging from £500 - £20,000 employed at different levels of competition, occasional glimpses of £60,000 showroom-class models can be seen.

Road Taxed Vehicle Trial

This version of vehicle trial is without doubt the most popular in any club and frequently sees the highest attendance levels. As the name suggests, vehicles must be fully road legal, taxed and insured. Seat belts are only necessary if factory-fitted. The only modifications required are substantial front and rear recovery points to assist in the extraction of the vehicle should it become stuck. A towball mounted at each end is recommended.

Each vehicle is required to undergo an examination by the event scrutineer before the competition to ensure its validity and safety. For most club events, this is an important yet informal procedure that rarely sees a vehicle fail. A scrutineer, usually a club official, carefully checks the mechanical condition of the vehicle looking for items that could potentially break and risk the safety of vehicle occupants or spectators. Minor problems such as loose wheel bearings are noted and the entrant is advised to effect repair before the next competitive event. A major structural defect will be failed and the entrant forbidden to compete with that vehicle. This situation is extremely rare, however, since the vehicles are mostly driven to the trials on public roads and are often used daily by their owners. Validity checks ensure that the vehicle is, as far as practicably possible, 'standard'. The rules here are complex, but generally the vehicle needs to be as close to factory-built as possible, with permitted minor modifications. An obvious infringement would be replacing the standard 3.5L V8 Rover engine with a bigger unit manufactured by another company. Validity is designed to keep the competition 'level' and to prevent wealthy competitors from building unbeatable machines.

The competition is arranged around a series of 8 - 10 sections - each section comprises ten or occasionally 12 gates. The gates are formed by vertical bamboo canes marked with red numbered tops on the right and white on the left. The idea is to drive the section from gate 12 to gate one in the correct order and in the direction indicated by the cane tops — hopefully without stopping or hitting any of the gates. Only one vehicle attempts a section at a time. Successful navigation from start to finish scores a 'clear' or zero points. A failure on the section, such as stopping or hitting a cane scores points depending upon the gate reached. For example, a failure between gate seven and six will score the next gate, ie, six, since gate seven was passed but gate six not reached. Hitting gate seven will score that gate. The winning competitor at the end of the day is the person who has competed on all the sections and has ended with the lowest total score. In theory, a competition sheet showing 'all-clears', or a score of zero, is possible, but this is rare and usually indicates a course designed with few challenges.

A typical competition fee is £10 - £15 per entrant.

Cross-Country Vehicle Trial

These trials run along the same lines as the RTVT competitions, but are much more severe. The course designer specifically looks for the most difficult terrain to provide enough of a challenge at this level. Specially modified vehicles are built by their owners, although rules limit the extent of the modifications. It is not unusual for vehicles to be road-legal, but this is not a requirement and most are towed to events since many are no longer serviceable at the end of the competition. Unlike RTVT, damage to vehicles is frequent. Bodywork suffers greatly from driver errors and drive trains and differentials are subjected to such great forces they often break. There are normally less entrants than RTVT; many do not have the mechanical expertise to build and maintain such a vehicle, or have the space, time or budget. Vehicles must be fitted with strong roll cages built to rigid specifications. Vehicles competing in ALRC clubs are required to be 'log-booked', a process of two examinations during construction by national ALRC officials to approve the roll cage and vehicle validity. Fire extinguishers must be carried on the vehicle and seatbelts are mandatory.

A typical competition fee is £10 - £15 per entrant.

Tyro

This beginner's trial is designed to suit novice or young drivers and entrants with expensive or prized vehicles. It is strictly non-damaging, with approach and exit angles, side slopes and water levels severely restricted to avoid touching the underbody or any other part of the vehicle. The design of the course takes into consideration the age and experience of drivers with noticeably large run-off areas and a lack of nearby trees. Drivers can take part from the age of 13 and many have never taken control of a moving vehicle, so very strict safety procedures are adopted. In order to compete, vehicles must be fully road-legal, taxed and insured with seatbelts fitted. A competent and experienced adult must accompany any driver who does not possess a full UK driving licence. Emphasis is placed more toward the driving experience rather than being competitive, but it is not unusual to see an embarrassed father being beaten by his 15-year-old daughter!

A typical entrance fee is £5 - £10 per entrant.

Competitive Safari

Comp Safari is high-speed stuff and probably the most spectacular to watch. The course is typically 2 - 4 miles in length and special preparation is required in order to compete. The vehicles must be of a very high mechanical standard in order to cope with the rigours of the event. Scrutineering inspections, undertaken by national ALRC officials, are extremely tight and many vehicles fail. In addition to meeting CCVT criteria as a minimum, additional vehicle preparation is necessary such as high-intensity rear lights and engine cut-off points mounted on each side of the cockpit. Drivers also have to be licensed by the MSA, must wear approved safety helmets and be securely fastened in the vehicle by a minimum three-point harness.

The events can vary according to the preference of the clerk of course (CoC), who is in charge for the day. Typical scenarios are 12 laps/eight to count or ten laps/all to count. It is important to mention that this event is not a race. Vehicles are set off at one-minute intervals to give them clear space ahead, but many lower-powered vehicles are overtaken, especially in an open competition when there is no restriction on engine size or make. Each lap time is recorded and averaged based on the number of laps required to count. The winner has the lowest average lap time. Minimum lap times are set in order to prevent speeds becoming too excessive³ and to keep the course speed averaging 40 - 50mph. This does not prevent drivers making up lost time however, and course speeds often exceed 90mph.

A typical competition fee is £30 - £50 per entrant.

Why not have a go yourself?

With the exception of Comp Safari (which requires a licence), just about anyone with a working vehicle can get involved. Many clubs allow you to become a member on the day of the competition and will accept your subscription along with your entrance fee. Land Rover trials are one of the cheapest forms of motorsport available in the UK and they continue to grow in popularity. The national trials, hosted by an ALRC-affiliated club, take place each summer somewhere in the UK. Many hundreds of entrants participate in each discipline watched by thousands of spectators. If you take the time to attend a trial in your local area as a spectator, it will not be long before you get invited to experience the sport as a navigator in a competing vehicle. After that, be prepared to get your chequebook out; you will shortly be the owner of your very first Land Rover!