WOW! WHAT A WEEKEND!

Saturday May 26th and Sunday May 27th saw our first visit of the year by the Avon Tyres / Wynn Developments British Hill Climb Championship and the Avon Tyres / Wynn Developments Hill Climb Leaders Championship.

It was a little damp on Saturday morning for practice but soon brightened up. Gurston Down’s weather looked like it might throw a spanner in the works with an amazing thunderstorm overnight on Saturday which started around mid-night. Sunday morning’s practice could only be described as damp and then after batch two the heavens opened. It looked like it would make the whole event rather interesting. By first timed runs the weather has improved and the course was quite dry.

Sunday’s competition runs brought some stunning performances and not just in the two Top Twelve Run-Offs, one of which ended as a dead heat.

Fastest Time of the Day went to Will Hall in the Force WH-XTEC with a time of 26.39s.

Round 7 of the Avon Tyres / Wynn Developments British Hill Climb Championship ended in a draw. With the timing down to hundredths of a second it is very unusual for there to be a dead heat. Will Hall and Trevor Willis both managed 26.55s runs taking the win and ten points each in the championship.

Round 8 saw Will Hall take the win and the Fastest Time of the Day (26.39s) mentioned earlier. You can see the full presentation including Will’s speech on Facebook.

WILL

More details of the run-offs can be found later in this report.

Class Results in Detail:

The first class to take to the hill was the BARC South West B Licence Class . This class had a wide variety of cars driven by MSA B Speed Licence holders. The first two places, unsurprisingly, going to the fast and lightweight Caterham of Steve Holland and the Westfield of Martin Watson. Steve was in second place after the first timed runs but put in a sterling performance to snatch back the win finishing on 33.15s. Martin improved on his time too with a 33.63s but Steve’s improvement was just that little bit better. Sarah Fudge came next, with a 38.69s second timed run giving her third in the Lewis Dean Subaru Impreza. Christopher Davies was fourth, ahead of Dean Cubitt, finishing on 39.40s and 39.91s.

Next up were the Porsche Club’s National Hill Climb Championship Class. The all 911 line-up saw Paul Howells in the RSR win by a good margin over Peter Turnbull and Tim Barber in their respective GT3s. Paul’s time was 33.75s, Peter’s 35.04s and Tim’s 35.13s.

The Road Going Series Production Car Class up to 2000cc rounded off batch two. There were four cars entered. Richard Brant and his beautifully presented Clio 172 was on top form from the start and finished his second timed run with a 38.14s run. The other Clio of Paul Hearne taking second on 40.22s.

The Over 2000cc Road Going Series Production Car Class started batch three. Sean Fudge in the Subaru Impreza won the class with a 37.80s run with Gordon Weston in the Prostate Cancer Porsche 924S second on 41.80s.

The Road Going Specialist Production Car Class had two entries. With the super fast and well driven Westfeild Superbusa of Adrian Lewis winning the class with a 35.24s second timed run to take the win from the MD of Cavendish Ships Stores, Gurston Down’s Top Ten Challenge sponsor, John Davey’s TVR Vixen.

The up to 1400cc Modified Series Production Car Class took to the hill next. The super quick Minis of James White and Neil Turner seemed to be in a class of their own this weekend. James was ahead after the first timed run but Neil put in a great time in the second run taking half a second out of his previous time, finishing ahead of James. Neil finished on 35.81s and James 35.94s.

Then it was the turn of the Over 2000cc Modified Series Production Car Class. This was another class that was close run between two car / driver combinations. Stephen Moore switched classes bringing his modified Mitsubishi Evo rather than his road going specification car. But he just couldn’t quite match Steven Darley’s lighter series one Subaru Impreza. Steven finished on 32.59s and Stephen on 33.30s.

Andrew Griffiths in his Caterham Hayabusa won the Modified Specialist Production Cars Class after putting in a great second timed run. It was very close after the first Andrew and Simon Jenks were separated by just one hundredth. Andrew’s final time was 31.14s and 31.84s for Simon.

The two gorgeous cars entered in the Historically Interesting Class were as competative as usual. It looked like the Lola T142 of Roger Deans had the class to himself after the Chevron B19 shared by Richard and Amanda George didn’t take it’s first timed run. But the Chevron was sorted by the second times run. Amanda George took the win with a 35.82s run with Roger Deans second on 36.59s.

The Up To 2000cc Sports Libre Car Class had a large entry. The British Championship regulations don’t have the up to 1400cc class that runs under the BARC SW regulations so the class had six entrants. Keith Diggle and the WEV HCS-BDG took the win with a 31.70s second timed run. The first appearance on a Norma on a British hill resulted in Duncan Barnes’s second place with a 33.38s. The Norma M20FC is quite a common sight on European hills and it was great to see.

The Over 2000cc Sports Libre Car Class has a former Manx Grand Prix winner (on a bike, of course), Allan McDonald and his Mini Evo. Unfortunately, during practice it threw a rod in hollow and didn’t make it to the line on Sunday.

The up to 600cc Racing Car Class had two entries, David Cuff in his Jedi Mk4 and David Tatham in his Terrapin M41A. David Tatham won the day with a 34.23s run.

The massive entry in the 601cc to 1100cc Racing Car Class proved to be as close as ever. The first nine drivers were less than one second behind the winner, Debbie Dunbar in the DJ Firehawk she shares with Lindsay Summers. Her second timed run took her from sixth to first, she stopped the clock on 30.05s. Andy and Adam Greenen in their Empire Evo were second and third stopping the clock on 30.20s and 30.22s respectively. Debbie just missed out on qualifying for the second Top Twelve Run-Off.

The Formula Ford Racing Car Class went next. Simon McBeath, the current class record holder took control of the class in the second timed run, from a much narrower lead in the first. His finishing time was 36.78s. Simon Andrews was second, with a 37.38s.

Les Mutch seems to be the man of the season in the 1100cc to 1600cc Racing Car Class. Les and his GWR Raptor won the class and qualified for both of the Run-Offs! He finished the day just over half a second in front of second place man, David Warburton. David in the Gould GR59 he shares with his father. He too qualified for the second Run-Off. These two were the only drivers to do sub-30s runs in this class. Les finished on 29.26s and David on 29.76s.

The 1601cc to 2000cc Racing Car Class – Normally Aspirated – had another big entry, with new car and driver combinations. The GWR Preditor of Jonathan Varley was third after the first timed run behind Tim Elmer’s lovely Dallara F399 and Terry Davies OMS. Despite improved performances by all the drivers in this class, it was Jonathan’s improvement that overcame the rest of the field. His finishing time of 30.10s took the win with Tim Elmer just 0.09s behind on 30.19s and Terry Davies third on 30.75s.

The Forced Induction 1601cc to 2000cc Racing Car Class came next. It was close after the first timed run, the top two being separated by just 0.02s. Paul Haimes and the Gould GR59 and Lee Griffiths in his OMS 25. The first three in this class qualified for the first Run-Off too. Paul won the class with a 29.22s and Lee second on 29,2s. Paul and third place man, Kelvin Broad in the Pilbeam MP101 also qualified for the second run-off!

With the majority of the Over 2000cc Racing Car Class coming to the line looking to qualify for the run-offs and the bar having been set very high by the smaller engined classes, these cars and drivers really had to take the course by the scruff of the neck and they did! It was Will Hall’s day, after two great runs, not only did he qualify first for both run offs but took the class and fastest time of the day with his time in the second run off. Trevor Willis was second and Jason Mourant third. Their times were 26.55s, 26.89s and 26.91s respectively.

Between the timed runs and the Top Twelve Run Offs we had the Lotus 7 Club Championship runners. The classes are based on horse power and tyres. They were as entertaining as ever to watch.

The Lotus 7 Club Championship Class 1 – Cars Up to 125 bhp – had three entries. Paul Boston had a good buffer after the first timed run but he wouldn’t have known that Richard Abraham hadn’t quite matched his pace after his second timed run. Paul went quicker, he finished on 38.28s with Richard on 39.04s.

The Lotus 7 Club Championship Class 2 – Cars up to 150 bhp – List 1A Tyres – David Nelson started favourite and looked like he had a good half second lead after the first timed runs. But Graham Howard went quicker in the second. David finished on 37.61s with Graham on 37.65s!

The Lotus 7 Club Championship Class 3 – Cars up to 150 bhp – List 1B Tyres – had seven entrants. The first two Richard Price and Robert Jacobs swapped places between the first and second timed runs. Robert was ahead by just 0.08s after the first timed run but Richard’s second timed run was an improvement of more than one second. Richard ended with a 35.86s and Robert on 36.36s.

The Lotus 7 Club Championship – Class 4 – Car up to 210 bhp – had just one entrant, Tom Price. His best run was his second timed run, stopping the clocks on 34.78s.

The final class runs were The Lotus 7 Club Championship – Class 6/7. These are the most powerful cars in the Lotus 7 Club Championship. The class had seven entries. Half a second separated the first three in this class, Robert Margel, Shaun Elwell and Mark Durrant. But Robert Margel in his Hayabusa powered car took the win with a 32.72s, second timed run. Shaun second and Mark third, finished on 33.45s and 33.59s respectively.

 

After each timed run, there were the Avon Tyres / Wynn Developments Top Twelve Run-Offs that score points for the British Hill Climb Championship.

Round 7

The first run-off was a draw. Will Hall in his Force WH-XTEC and Trevor Willis in his OMS28 both finished on 26.55s. With Jason Mourant in the GR55 third, Dave Uren forth and Terry Graves fifth.

Round 8

The second run-off was won by Will Hall. His time of 26.39s was also Fastest Time of the Day. Trevor Willis was second, Jason Mourant, third, Dave Uren forth and Wallace Menzies fifth.

Full details of the results of the two rounds of the British Hill Climb Championship can be found at www.britishhillclimb.co.uk

 

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, Steve Lister, A-Cute Medical Services, Venture Security and Peter Crutcher from Ringwood PA.

 

 

Anthony Record – Press Officer Gurston Down Speed Hill Climb – BARC SW

COMPETITOR INFORMATION – REVISED DOCUMENTS

Here are the final documents for the British Hill Climb Championship Weekemd.

Final Documents:

Final Instructions

Batch List

Entrants List

Paddock Plan

The May and August event is run under the class definitions of the Avon Tyres / Wynn Developments British Hill Climb and Hill Climb Leaders Championship. The classes are defined within the regulations which can be found at www.http://britishhillclimb.co.uk

the following document explains the differences between the Gurston Down Class and the British Hill Climb Classes.

Gurston to BHC Classes

Anthony Record – Press Officer Gurston Down Speed Hill Climb

 

 

COMPETITOR INFORMATION – ENTRY AMMENDMENTS

There have been the following ammendments to the entry list for the Avon Tyres / Wynn Developements British Hill Climb Championship and Hill Climb Leaders Championship.

There will be revisions to the Batch List and the class amalgamations printed in programme.

The following cars / drivers have withdrawn:

138 – Graham Wynn
96 – Rob Kenrick
91 – Chris Cannell
79 – Mike Broome
61 – Eric Morrey
25 – Rob Brodie
3 -Richard Spedding
The follwing cars / drivers have been added:
133 – Paul Haimes – Class K(ii), first in Batch 6.
912 – Steve Owen – Class I, running last in Batch 3, Double driving with Harry Pick (112)
95 – David Tatham, – Class H, running after David Cuff (94) in Batch 4
Cass Changes:
Class H will not be amalgamated.
There will be reflected in the REVISED Final Instructions, Batch Lists and Entry List published later this evening – Thursday 24th May 2018.
E&OE
Anthony Record – Press Officer – Gurston Down Speed Hill Climb

COMPETITOR INFORMATION – REVISED DOCUMENTS

There have been changes to the documents issues earlier this week.

The revisions can be found on the Competitor Information Page (click here) in the Entry Lists & Final Instructions Section.

They can also be found here:

REVISED FINAL INSTRUCTIONS – MAY 2018

REVISED ENTRY LIST – MAY 2018

REVISED PADDOCK PLAN – MAY 2018

PROVISIONSAL RUNNING ORDER MAY 2018 – This is likely to change

CAMPING:

PLEASE DON’T ARRIVE BEFORE 12:30 ON FRIDAY as the paddock areas and the course will NOT have been finished being cleaned before that time – Thank you.

Here is the Camping Plan for the May Meeting.

Camping is £10 per weekend and must be paid at Sign-On. The camping money is given to the local village!

 

E&OE

Look Out the British are Coming!

The weekend of Saturday May 26th and Sunday May 27th is the first of the two visits by the Avon Tyres / Wynn Developments British Hill Climb Championship and the Avon Tyres / Wynn Developments Hill Climb Leaders Championship to Gurston Down Speed Hill Climb.

The Championship brings some of the fastest cars and drivers to the twisty course at Wiltshire’s famous Speed Hill Climb Venue. There will be over 140 cars and drivers competing in everything from standard road cars, specially prepared hill climb cars and spectacularly fast fast sport and single seat racing cars.

Spectators have fabulous unrivalled access to the hill, views of the course, paddock and facilities. We have excellent catering and refreshments on site too.

You really can’t get closer to the action!

Saturday is practice day. Each competitor gets the opportunity to take three practice runs, starting around 09:00. There are two runs in the morning and one after lunch. Practice usually finishing around 15:00.

Sunday is competition day, there will be an early morning practice, starting around 09:00 followed by one timed run before lunch and the first of two top twelve run-offs. Then after lunch the second timed runs are followed by the second top twelve run-off.

The Top Twelve Run-Off allows the fastest twelve, championship registered, competitors to take an additional run, after which the fastest ten score points for the British Championship. Ten points for a win, down to one for tenth. These run-offs ultimately determine who becomes the British Champion!

Alongside the British Championship and Leaders Championships, the Lotus 7 Club and the Porsche Club have rounds of their championships and the BARC South West Members have their own class.

As ever there will be a Fastest Time of Day! Who will it be?

Class Preview in Detail:

The BARC South West B Licence Class will run first. The class has a variety of cars and drivers who hold MSA Speed B Licences. On current form it’ll be between Martin Watson and his Westfield, Sarah Fudge in the Lewis Dean Impreza and Dean Cubitt’s and his Mazda MX5. These three will probably be fighting for the top three places. There are a number of new car and driver combinations that might just mix this class up a bit.

The Porsche Club’s National Hill Climb Championship Class has an all 911 line-up. This championsip is another one of those that is so difficult to predict. On previous form, Phil Price and his 930RS, Bob Mortimer in his 911 and Peter Turnbull’s 911 are likely to be in the top three. But you can’t discount any of the other drivers!

The Road Going Series Production Car Class up to 2000cc rounds off batch two. It has just four cars entered. It looks like it will be a Renault Clio one, two. Richard Brant and his Clio 172 will probably squeeze Paul Hearne and his Clio 172 Cup out to second if previous form is anything to go by.

Batch three gets underway with the Over 2000cc Road Going Series Production Car Class has five cars entered. With Stephen Moore in his Mitsubishi Evo RS, Justin Andrews and Shaun Fudge in their respective Subaru Imprezas, it’s going to be close. Stephen will probably end up on top.

The Road Going Specialist Production Car Class has just two entries, Adrian Lewis and his Westfield Superbusa and John Davey in his TVR. Adrian should take this class.

The up to 1400cc Modified Series Production Car Class sees some lovely machines entered. Not only do we have the Gurston regulars, David Bean, James White and Neil Turner in their Minis but we have two Hillman Imp powered cars and a Peugeot 106 too. Andrew Russell’s delightful Ginetta is always competitive but the one, two will probably be Neil Turner and James White.

The Over 2000cc Modified Series Production Car Class has a great entry. Tim Painter and Andy Fraser bring their lovely Aston Martin. But it will be a tough class with the two Subaru Imprezas of Steven Darley and Jim Herbert to content with. Winner, we will have to wait and see.

The Modified Specialist Production Cars Class, goes next. On previous form, Simon Jenks and his Caterham Supersports starts favourite but Andrew Griffiths, Richie Gatt and Steve Holland will not make it easy. In a class with these cars and drivers it could be anyones.

Next to come to the line will be the beautiful cars entered in the Historically Interesting Class. Look out for the Lola T142 of Roger Deans and the Chevron B19 shared by Richard and Amanda George. However, Mike Broome in the Alexis Mk17 F3 starts favourite. All of the drivers are very capable of taking the class win.

The up to 2000cc Sports Libre Car Class starts batch four. Duncan Barnes brings his Norma M20FC to the hill for it’s first outing and the first outing of a Norma in British Hill Climb. Those of you who know about or compete in European hill climbing will recognise the car as one of the most competitive cars on the European stage. The Norma is a big car and usually competes in the relatively wide and long courses in Europe. It’ll be interesting to see how the car copes with the narrow and short courses here in the UK. Chris Cannell should be back in the Empire Evo and will probably win this class.

The over 2000cc Sports Libre Car Class has a former Manx Grand Prix winner (on a bike, of course), Allan McDonald and his Mini Evo. You can see some of his in-car video on our Facebook page.

The up to 600cc Racing Car Class has just one entrant. David Cuff in his Jedi Mk4.

The ever popular 601cc to 1100cc Racing Car Class has a huge entry, over 20 cars! Simon Fidoe (Empire Wraith), Darren Gumbley (Force TA), Lindsay Summers and Debbie Dunbar (DJ Firehawk), Adam and Andy Greenen (Empire Evo) and Eynon Price (Force HC) to name just a few. Class winner? Could be any of the entrants and most will be looking to get a place in the Top Twelve Run-off.

The 1100cc to 1600cc Racing Car Class sees some new drivers car combinations that make this class even more difficult to predict than the up to 1100cc class. You’ll need to look out for the ex-Sean Gould, Gould GR59 driven by David and Allan Warburton, Oliver and Liam Cooper with the Force TA and Les Mutch in the GWR Raptor. They will be looking for great times in both timed runs to qualify for the Run-offs.

Batch five ends with some serious racing cars. The 1601cc to 2000cc Racing Car Class – Normally Aspirated – has another big entry. our cars and six drivers competing. Terry Davis’ OMS and Tim Elmer’s Dallara are both very capable of winning this class. But we have a new car from GWR, the Pedator driven by Johnathan Varley.

Batch six brings the even faster cars to the hill with the 1601cc to 2000cc Racing Car Class – Forced Induction – has four cars entered. Richard Spedding was third in the British Hill Climb Championship last year in this GWR Raptor so he’ll probably take the class and a place in the Top Twelve Run-off too.

The Over 2000cc Racing Car Class is the class that will probably bring the Fastest Time of the Day. With the British Championship in it’s early stages and being so close at the moment, this class could be very close. Wallace Menzies brings his Gould GR59b and Dave Uren and Nicola Menzies have the ex-Martin Groves GR55, Trevor Willis, the 2017 champion in his OMS will be one to watch. But you can’t really discount any of the driver / car combinations here. Will Hall and Jason Mourant will also be looking for run-off places.

Batch seven brings the Formula Ford Class. This sees the current class record holder Simon McBeath and three other drivers competing for the win. These car are so similar, the class will be close. The winner will be decided by hundredths as will all of the places!

Then it’s the turn of the Lotus 7 Club Championship runners. With the Lotus 7 Club Championship in it’s early stages, it will be tough to predict any of these classes. It will be down to performance on the day.

The Lotus 7 Club Championship Class 1 – Cars Up to 125 bhp – has three entries. Paul Boston has previous form at Gurston Down so he looks good for this class.

The Lotus 7 Club Championship Class 2 – Cars up to 150 bhp – List 1A Tyres – David Nelson starts favourite as he has won in previous seasons. But it is very early in the season.

The Lotus 7 Club Championship Class 3 – Cars up to 150 bhp – List 1B Tyres – has seven entrants. This class was decided by just a few hundredths of a second last year. Robert Jacobs the eventual winner. Based on his previous experience he should be in with a good chance of repeating his win.

The Lotus 7 Club Championship – Class 4 – Car up to 210 bhp – has just two entrants, Tom Price and Bruce Bosley.

The Lotus 7 Club Championship – Class 6/7 – sees seven cars and drivers entered. Simon Rogers won last year so he’’ probably be the man to beat.


Another exciting weekend of at Gurston Down Speed Hill Climb – Don’t Miss It!

Here’s the PROVISIONAL ENTRY LIST

Key info
Location: 1 mile west of Broad Chalke, 9 miles SW of Salisbury, Wiltshire. Turn off the A354 at Coombe Bissett on the unclassified road to Broad Chalke, follow AA signs.
Dates: Saturday May 26th and Sunday May 27th
Times: Saturday Practice from 0830 until 1500 approx. Sunday 0830 Final Practice then timed runs from approx 1030, then first timed runs followed by First Top Twelve Run-Off, then lunch and final timed runs from 13:00 Second Top Twelve Run-Off.
Admission: £10 for adults Sunday (£6 on Saturday), accompanied under 14s free, free paddock entry, free parking.

 

Anthony Record – Press Officer Gurston Down Speed Hill Climb – BARC SW