Marsh Memorial Trophy 2022 – Steve Holland

Sep 21, 2022

We are pleased to announce that Steve Holland in his Caterham, has won the 2022 Marsh Memorial Trophy.

The Marsh Memorial Trophy is awarded to the Turbo Dynamics Championship competitor who makes the best improvement during the Marsh Memorial Weekend.

E&OE

The Marshal of the Year Award 2022 – Alan Hancock

Sep 15, 2022

The Marshal of the Year Award is one chosen by the marshals on the hill. It is awarded to recognise the contribution made during the year to the Marshals, the Club, the Hill and the Drivers.

This year the award recognises someone who has supported all season in a range of roles, has supported the hill with setup and takedown and has done it all with a cheery attitude. He has accepted each role asked of him with enthusiasm and given his all.

The 2022 Penske Trophy Marshal of the Year is Alan Hancock.

In recognising Alan, that is not to diminish the efforts of all the other marshals at the venue. This year, of all years, has been exceptionally challenging. In particular, the events in Top Paddock in June showed the hard work and professionalism of the Top Paddock crew, the Rescue team and the on-site paramedic crew.

2023 SEASON – EVENT DATES

Sep 6, 2022

We are pleased to announce the 2023 Dates for events at Gurston Down Speed Hill Climb. Each weekend will consist of two events, one on Saturday and one on Sunday. All events will be rounds of our Championship and Top Ten Challenge.

19th March – Test Day

1st and 2nd April – Club Events with Invited Clubs

29th and 30th April – Club Events with Invited Clubs

27th and 28th May – British Hill Climb Championship

17th and 18th June – Club Events with Invited Clubs

22nd and 23rd July – Club Events with Invited Clubs – The Tony Marsh Memorial Weekend

26th and 27th August – Club Events with Invited Clubs – Championship Finale

E&OE

THE 2022 TURBO DYNAMICS GURSTON DOWN CHAMPIONSHIP – CLASS RESULTS

Sep 4, 2022

The 2022 Turbo Dynamics Championship finished on a high after our August meetings. The overall champion is finally confirmed as Clive Stangle, congratulations to Clive!

Here are the class results in the Turbo Dynamics Gurston Down Championship. We thank Turbo Dynamics for their continued support of our championship in 2022.

Class 4 – Road Cars – Mazda MX5, sponsored by The Window Doctor

Richard Morton, who shares the Mazda Roadster with Chris Burch, has had a great season. The lead in this class has been switching between the two throughout the season. They were separated by just one point, the class was decided by the two double-point timed runs at the August meeting. Richard’s wins on both runs gave him the championship. They both finished in the top ten of the overall championship too.

Class 4a – Road Cars Series Production up to 1400cc, supported by Cavendish Ships Stores

Stephen Wareham’s performance and a points total of 154 gave him second in the overall championship after the tie-break rules were applied. His performance lead him to maximum points scores on every event he ran and multiple class records. It would appear that the class was dominated by the Minis but John Davey in the MG Midget was a thorn in their side for many of the events. The class results may have been very different had he not had technical issues with the car in July.

Class 4b – The Road Cars Series Production 1401cc to 2000cc

This double points at August Sunday decided this class. Daniel Friel and Russell Davies in their respective Hondas have been swapping places all season. At the end of July, their performances were so evenly matched, that the August events became the decider. Daniel finished ahead of Russel in three of the four rounds, sealing his class win.

Class 4c – Road Cars Series Production Over 2000cc, sponsored by Turbo Dynamics

Clive and Jennie Stangle in their Mitsubishi Evo dominated this class in 2022. Clive won the class and the overall championship. Jennie had a great season too, on her last run of the year, finally managing her first sub-35-second run.

Simon Neve finished third, not only contending with the Stangle’s, he had tough competition from Steve Cox in his Golf R, who finished just 5 points behind, on 105 points.

Class 4d – Road Cars Specialist Production, any capacity

Clive Skipper and Chris Burridge have had a pretty good season, fighting each other hard in their shared Caterham. Chris taking a few wins during the season was not enough to take the class championship from Clive.

Class 5 – Modified Limited Production Marque Sports Car Class up to 2000cc

Only one championship entrant in this class so Tony Record, Gurston’s Press Officer, in his Mazda MX5 finished last in the class and as a bonus first too. There were a few personal bests, which are always a bonus. Tony finished on 104 points.

Class 6 – Modified Limited Production Marque Sports Car Over 2000cc

Graham Beale in the Ginetta G33 had a great season. Qualifying for multiple Top Ten run-offs as well as taking the 2022 class championship.

Class 7 – Modified Series Production Class up to 1400cc, sponsored by Cock and Sons

Neil Turner in the super-fast Mini has made this class his own this season.

Class 9 – Modified Series Production Over 2000cc

Jim Herbert and his Mitsubishi Evo win this class. Mark and Tim changed classes during the season, leaving Jim on his own.

Class 11 – Modified Specialist Production Class

Steve Holland in his Caterham has had a great fantastic season. Not only leading the class championship, and setting a new class record but he’s also finished 4th and the highest placed non-race car in the Top Ten Challenge. Martin Watson’s engine issue gave Ritchie Gatt this season’s second place.

Class 13 – Historically Interesting Class, supported by Kelvin Jouhar

Fyrth Crosse and his Dempster Ensign LNF3 have had a great season of consistent performances and finishes giving him the class title. The scores don’t show how good the battle between Sue Hayes and Mike Broome has been this season.

Class 15a – Sports Libre up to 1400cc

Last year’s Gurston Down Champion, Tim Pitfield and his DJ Firecat have been the only championship registered car in this class for 2022. Sadly that left him unable to defend his championship and then a gremlin in the car’s electrical system put him out since the April meeting Sunday. He amassed a total of 48 points.

Class 15b – Sports Libre 1400cc to 2000cc

Mike in the Force LM returned for the August meetings after having issues with the car earlier in the year and put in some great performances. Not only did he take the class win but he finished eighth in the Top Ten Challenge too.

Class 19 – 601cc to 1100cc Racing Car Class supported by Rhianco

Ben Bonfield has had a great season. He has finished second in the Top Ten Run-off and third in the overall championship. His performances since the early part of the season have made all the difference. Mark Crookall in first season in a proper racing car has proved just how capable a driver he is. We are looking forward to seeing more from Mark next season. Murray Wakeham hasn’t made Mark’s second place easy. Great performances by the entire class.

Class 20 – Racing Cars 1101cc to 1600cc

Andrew Forsyth entered just two weekends event in 2022 but his outstanding performances earn him the class title and fifth in the Top Ten Challenge.

Class 21a – Racing Cars 1601cc to 2000cc (Normally Aspirated) supported by New Techniques

Another great season for Tony Wiltshire and his Ralt. Class champion and Top Ten Challenge champion too. Ben Bonfield made his work for the latter of those.

Class 22 – Racing Cars Over 2000cc

Paul Crute in the lovely OMS28 Jaguar is on his own in this class. Hi finished with 112 points and third place in the Top Ten Run-off. A great season for Paul.

We would like to thank our hill and championship sponsor Turbo Dynamics and our class sponsors for their continued support in 2022.

E&OE

THE 2022 CAVENDISH SHIPS STORES BARC SW TOP TEN CHALLENGE – RESULTS

Sep 4, 2022

The 2022 Cavendish Ships Stores BARC SW Top Ten Challenge champion is Tony Wiltshire in the Ralt RT34.

Ben Bonfield and Tony Wiltshire have had a great battle this season. The final double point August meeting could have completely changed the outcome of the 2022 Cavendish Ships Stores Challenge. Ben suffered technical difficulties just before the August Sunday run-off forcing him out of the final challenge.

Paul Crute in the lovely OMS Jaguar was third, just a point behind Ben.

A Few Honourable Mentions

But we can’t write a report about this year’s Cavendish Ships Stores Top Ten Challenge without mentioning Steve Holland and his Caterham 7. His fourth place is not only a great achievement for any car and driver but Steve’s Caterham is the only non-racing car in the first eleven of this championship.

And Mark Crookall in the OMS PR. In his first season in a racing car, he has, not only scored great points in the Top Ten Challenge, finishing sixth but finished second behind, the superfast Ben Bonfield in his class. Some super performances all around!

We would like to thank Cavendish Ships Stores for the support of our Top Ten Challenge.