Our 50th Anniversary Weekend brought some amazing weather and some superb performances by the riders of the Auto-Cycle Union’s National Hill Climb Association.
The fast, narrow and twisty course at Gurtson Down Speed Hill Climb is a challenge in a car and it’s a wholly different experience on a bike or a sidecar.
As part of our 50th Anniversary Meeting, Peter Isaac and his Velocette 500 returned to the hill. Peter a rider, who competed in our very first event, rode the hill on the motorbike he used in 1967 and still competes with!
Combined Results:
The first class to go on Saturday was the 100cc to 250cc Solo Motor Cycles. Callum Short on his Honda 250cc won the class with his first timed run which stopped the clock on 38.27s. Darren Butler on his Suzuki and Allan Harvey on his Yamaha were second and third, finishing on 39.23s and 39.74s, respectively.
Callum Short was on even better form on Sunday on his Honda. He took his second win of the weekend with an even quicker second timed run 36.93s. Darren Butler on his Suzuki and Allan Harvey on his Yamaha repeated their second and third from Saturday but they also improved their time. Darren finished on 38.51s and Allan on 39.70s.
The 351cc to 500cc Solo Motor Cycle Class went next. Chris Keates on the Honda CRF was just 0.09s in front of Mike Tilley on his Honda CR after the first timed run. But Mike pulled out a fantastic second timed run, pipping Chris to the win. Mike managed a 35.64s and Chris just couldn’t improve on his first run of 35.91s.
Sunday’s first timed run saw Mike ahead of Chris this time, his time of 35.40s was 0.43s ahead of Chris. But the second timed runs, Chris went faster still, 35.37s. Chris took the win with Mike second. Terry Hall and Richard Bowker were close for third and forth, Terry’s 36.49s just 0.19s ahead of Richard’s 36.68s.
It was Tommy Hodges weekend in the 501cc to 750cc Solo Motor Cycle Class. He won both days on his Team GV KTM. Saturday’s time was 33.56s whilst Sunday’s was quicker at 33.25s. He was almost a second ahead of Peter Short on the KTM both days. Stuart Mills was out on a Kawasaki Z750 on Saturday and took third by just 0.02s ahead of Guy Ursell. Stuart finished on 34.92s and Guy on 34.94s. On Sunday Guy took third with an improved time of 34.53s.
Paul Jeffery and his KTM RC8 were another tough partnership to beat in the the Solo Motor Cycle 751cc to 1300cc Class. On Saturday he produced a 33.13s run taking the win from Alan Jolly and his KTM. Alan’s time was 34.22s. On Sunday Paul’s first timed run of 32.55s was enough to push Stuart Mills’ 33.66 into second. Alan Jolly ended third on 34.67s.
Then came those amazing Side Cars. It was the Ian Guy / Steve English on the LCR Suzuki were another team that were unbeatable this weekend. Their 36.81s first timed run on Saturday gave them a win over Patrick and Paul Keates who finished on 37.07s.
Sunday was a repeat of the previous day. Ian Guy and Steve English of 35.30s gave them a new Side Car record. An outstanding performance! Patrick and Paul Keates finished second on 36.72s.
Paul Jeffery’s two great performances earned him Fastest Time of the Day on both days. His Sunday time of 32.55s was just 0.70s off the long standing hill record set in 2012 by Ben Wilkins of 31.85s.
We would like to thank everyone who made the day possible, the office staff, the marshals, timekeepers, scrutineers and officials without whom we couldn’t run the meeting. Thanks to Ashley Wood Recovery, TSL Timing, Insight Medical Services, Insight Security and Peter Crutcher from Ringwood PA.
Anthony Record – Press Officer – BARC SW, Gurston Down Speed Hill Climb