DAWSON & MARRIOTT TAKE LAYER MARNEY HONOURS

Ford Mondeo hybrid achieves staggering 123.77 mpg

Former World Championship rally driver and team manager turned economy driving specialist Andy Dawson shattered all the records in yesterday’s Layer Marney Cup, the historic Essex-based fuel trial which was first run in 1914. The event was revived in 2015 and now runs annually,. This year the Layer Marney Classic also included a gala dinner and was supported by Polygon and sponsored by Gulf Retail and Quick Fit Safety Belts.

Milton Keynes-based Dawson achieved an amazing fuel consumption of 123.77 mpg for the 80-mile route through Essex and Suffolk in a Ford Mondeo hybrid – a car he had borrowed from the Ford press fleet. He also shattered the all-time record for the ton miles per gallon measurement at 229.98. Dawson has been a regular winner on the MPG Marathon and was the first driver on that event to achieve over 100 mpg – in a Ford Fiesta diesel.

Commented the former rally and race driver: “It has been my aim to achieve more than 100 mpg in a petrol car for some time and last year in the MPG Marathon I missed it by a whisker. However, the Mondeo hybrid proved the ideal vehicle and while the route was short compared with our normal economy runs, it was very tricky including lots of villages and a drive through Colchester town centre”

 

However Dawson, navigated by John Chillman did not take home the historic Layer Marney Cup – that honour went to the man who normally co-drives for Dawson, film and TV producer Andrew Marriott. The rules state that hybrid cars – including those self-generating top up power like the Mondeo – weren’t eligible for the Cup, which was discovered in a garage five years ago. That find prompted the revival of the historic event which is based at the Layer Marney Tower stately home, near Tiptree, Essex

Marriott, navigated by his wife Caroline, had intended to compete in his 1963 Turner Mk 3 classic sports car but a problem with the starter motor meant he had to switch at the last minute to a 75,000-mile BMW X3 2.0 diesel he had bought two weeks earlier at Car Giant.

Utilising the skills he learned alongside Dawson, East Sussex-based Marriott achieved 52.92 mpg and a ton per mile figure of 101.06 which easily won him Class 11 for post 2005 cars.

Commented Marriott: “No question, I have learned a lot from Andy about economy driving but this came as a complete surprise”.

The countryside route started, following a fuel top-up at the Gulf filling station in St Osyth’s near Clacton upon Sea, at the historic St Osyth’s Priory, toured through several seaside towns before heading into Suffolk and Constable country and then to a lunch halt at Stratford St Mary near Colchester. The afternoon run took the cars to the finish and weigh in at the Tudor built Layer Marney Tower, where the 1914 event had also finished.  The Tower is owned by Sheila and Nick Charrington, who organised the event.

Although the top honours were reserved for modern cars, the undoubted stars of the show were the fabulous parade of veteran and classic cars which took part in the various decade categories. The oldest car category saw Andrew Lucas drive a 1914 Model T Ford, appropriately such a car competed in the inaugural run of that same year.

Three fabulous Bugattis were entered and Rupert Marks in his 1928 Type 44 won the 1926 – 1935 Class 3 against strong opposition which included his brother Chris in a Bugatti Type 55.  James Bettley won Class 4 in his Bugatti Type 57 while another member of the Marks family, Holly won Class 5 in a 1947 Lancia Apriia.

The competitive Class 6 (1955 – 1965) was won by Cara Bardwell in 1956 MGA Roadster, Bob Livemore won Class 7 in a 1969 Bristol and class 8 saw Henry Neville win with 1984 BMW 325 while a similar but later convertible 325 piloted by Ralph Morse took Class 9.

One of the most hotly contested categories was Class 10 (1996 – 2005) and victory went to Paul Hemsworth in his Chrysler Voyager. The three best fuel consumption figures came from the three hybrids entered while Gary Kendall’s all electric Tesla 75 took part in the “non-Trial touring” category and used £3.86 worth of electricity.

Said organiser Sheila Charrington, “Everything went to plan and what a superb result with records broken. We have plans to further enhance the Classic next year. My thanks go to all the competitors and officials who helped us make the event a success.”