Angus Show Event Report 12/06/09

The 2009 Scottish Tractor pulling season opening round was held at Angus Show, the weather conditions were geat and once the track was prepared the pulling began.

The Superfarm class was first to run after Harry Panton tested the sledge with his truck puller European Express. The first tractor to hook to the sledge was AK1 a new tractor for the 2009 season, despite a bit of a bounce it was a good first run. Next up was local tractor Rob Roy with a few changes from last year the reigning champion took the lead, it was then the turn of Vital Spark after a slight problem which required the sledge to be reset, a strong run saw a new leader with 15m on the distance of Rob Roy. Diesel Ross the second new tractor in the class was next another good first run saw Diesel Ross match the distance of Rob Roy. AK1 came back for a second pull taking advantage of being test puller and it was a good decision putting 10m on his first run. Finally it was the facelifted Smokey II to pull showing the rest of the field a clean pair of heels and taking the win.

The next class was the under 401 Prostocks with six tractors in this class it is the biggest class in the championship. First to the sledge was Aftershock with a strong start he came to a halt at 50m which later turned out to be an engine seizure. Second to pull was Major Indecision a strong run saw winning distance for the class. Third to pull was Scotch Mist unfortunately a mechanical failure resulted in a tow back without budging the sledge. Next was Trouble who had a strong pull but also suffered a breakdown in the form of a burst radiator hose. Wicked then hooked to the sledge but with difficutly due to clutch problems. Finally last years champion TrueBlue hooked to the sledge and after a strong start to the pull the tractor was shut down at 43m.

The evening's pulling continued with the only Scottish Prostock Pist n' Broke the distance was not recorded but it was an average run, TrueBlue came back for a test run in this class to ensure all was well from the previous run. The horsepower was increased again with the only SuperStock machine entered at Angus Perkoil Express having a strong run taking the sledge all the way to 90m. The final appearance of the evening was Starlight Express the only none diesel powered tractor present with another increase in horse power the only Full Pull of the night was made.

The evening should have progressed with all the tractors having another go but the sledge developed a problem which despite the sledge crew's attempts could not be fixed. Thanks once again to the Angus show for having STPC tractor pulling. Apologies to the fans who didn't get a full show, with some repair work to be done to tractors and the sledge before New Deer show there will be spanners turning all over Scotland.

Results