Gurston Down Championship Rounds 9-12 – 4th and 5th July
WORDS – John Brown
PICTURES – Vince Feeney
Gurston was blessed with summer sunshine and a capacity entry for the Tony Marsh Memorial Weekend at the beginning of July. As well as Rounds 9 – 12 of the Turbo Dynamics Gurston Down Championship and rounds 5 and 6 of the Online Cleaning Technologies Top Ten Challenge there was a wide variety of entries from 8 guest clubs and championships. These included a welcome return from the Paul Matty Lotus Challenge who were last at the hill, we think sometime around 2010-2011.
Gurston Down classes
As the Championship reached its halfway stage the top two scorers crept a little further away from the field though they could hardly have been closer to each other as after the 11th round they were tied on points to the nearest 1/100th at the top of the table.
We had 3 entrants in 4-STD, Standard cars which was won on Saturday by Rob Thomson in his Mazda MX5 with a time of 40.80 which is just 0.11 away from the class record. On Sunday he transferred to the Bristol MC Visconte MX5 class and won that in 40.65, proving that the Standard class record could be his if he comes back again. Lyndon Evans in his Honda Civic was second on Saturday and won the class on Sunday in the absence of Thomson.
As ever the two drivers in Class 4-MX5 entertained us with their various lines through Carousel but this weekend Richard Morton won twice on Saturday and once on Sunday before he ran just a little bit too wide at Carousel to allow Chris Burch to take the honours on that run. His first run on Saturday of 39.08 had been below the class target and overall the two drivers both moved up a couple of places in the Championship to 4th and 5th.
Richard Morton (Mazda MX5)
John Davey was beaten for the first time this season on Sunday in Class 4a – Road Going Series Production up to 1400cc and it wasn’t his regular rival David Nutland who did it but Julian Rinaldi in a Ford Fiesta. Julian had been over a second behind John on Saturday but found all of that time on Sunday to win by just 12/100ths in 39.87 although John’s consistent times, close to his class target, moved him up to 3rd place in the Championship.
John Davey (MG Midget)
The three drivers mentioned above who moved up the overall table all benefited from an uncharacteristic mistake from Russell Davies in Class 4b for Road Going Series Production 1400 to 2000cc when he ran wide in Carousel as brilliantly caught in Vince Feeney’s photo below. That trip on the grass and the consequent slower progress cost Russell about 6 seconds and this was equally reflected in his Championship score for that run.
Russell Davies (Honda Civic Type R)
Of course a driver can drop their 6 worst scores at the end of the season and so that will probably be one of Russell’s. In the end he did not win the class either as on both days non-Championship runner Martin Walters, on his first visit this year in his Abarth 500 Essesse, got below 38 seconds (37.89 and 37.92) to take home the wine glasses.
Martin Walters (Abarth 500 Essesse)
There was a good variety of non-Championship entries on Saturday in Class 4c – Road Going Series Production over 2000cc which was won by Graham Ramsay in his SEAT Cupra (40.96) from Jon Young in his MG ZS and Stephen Lloyd in his Audi A5 Sportline. On Sunday they had all disappeared and the only entrant, Gary Hull in Aaron Perrott’s Aston Martin Vantage, took the solo win on 37.71.
Clive Skipper was again missing from Class 4d – Road-going Specialist Production Cars and with Rob Brodie competing up at the BHC round at Harewood there were no scorers in this class either which was won by Downton Motor Club class record holder Richard Burnett in his Westfield on both days in 34.41 and 33.99. Second was Gary Dawkins in his Lotus Exige who had cured the problem which kept him from competing on the Sunday at our last meeting.
It seemed like a time for the ages when Clive Stangle reset the record for Class 4-4wd Road-going to 32.78 to win the 2025 Championship. On Saturday Dan Young in his Subaru, featured in all its glory in last month’s report, won a 2 car class against Simon Neve in a time of 37.94. Sunday, however, saw the return of Jack Ellis and father Nick in their Subaru. Jack had held the record all through 2025 with a time of 33.23 until Stangle’s assault on it in August and when practice began on Sunday he showed he was out to regain it with times of 32.75 and 32.21. He went even better on his first class run with a 32.12 and followed that up with a 32.40 to win from his father by over 2,3 seconds! In 3rd was the only Championship scorer in the class, Steve Cox in his VW Golf.
Jack Ellis (Subaru Impreza)
Graham Beale missed out last month because he was helping run the meeting and so he was determined to make a mark this time around in Class 6 – Modified Limited Production Marque Sports Cars over 2000 c.c. His Championship target was 33.64 and he not only beat that but on his first run on Saturday he also beat Simon Purcell’s 10 year old class record of 33.19 with a 33.06 in his Ginetta G33. This time also qualified Graham for the Top Ten Challenge run-off on Saturday but he decided not to risk the car for the outside chance of scoring a point.
Graham Beale (Ginetta G33)
Neil Turner was back in his Mini in Class 7 – Modified Series Production cars up to 1400cc and with times of 36.84 (Sat.) and 36.04 (Sun.) he easily held off David Bean in his Mini although David set a season’s best on Saturday.
On to Class 8 – Modified Series Production Cars 1400 – 2000 c.c. and the continuation of Karl Stevens effort to win the Championship. Having already reduced his target on 5 occasions this season it took until the end of Sunday to make his 6th reduction, this time by another 6/100ths to 35.68. For the first time this year he had some serious opposition for the class win from Mike Harriman in his Renault Clio who lost out by just 0.48 (Sat.) and 0.37 (Sun.).
In Class 9-4WD Jim Herbert had been puzzled by a lack of pace back in June and also had a lack of confidence in what the car was doing under him but a watching Clive Stangle identified a problem and for this meeting Jim and the car were back on form with times in the 33 second bracket. A first Saturday run of 33.16 was an improvement on his target by over half a second and was only 4/100ths away from Stephen Moore’s class record. His best on Sunday was 33.19 and he left the meeting in a much happier frame of mind. Once again Rupert Ryall was his only rival, but this month a bit further back as Jim improved.
Having first used slicks on his Westfield Superbusa at the Gurston Masters in May, Adrian Lewis was back out in Class 11 – Modified Special Production cars andwas fast enough on Sunday (33.11) to qualify for the Top Ten Challenge run-off. His only rival, Lloyd Bettinson in his Fisher Fury Phoenix had the misfortune to have a front hub break on his first Saturday run leading to the loss of the wheel but he was back out on Sunday to be just behind Lewis with a 33.82.
Lloyd Bettinson (Fisher Fury Phoenix) chased by a wheel
Just a small turnout in Class 13 – Historically Interesting with regulars Fryth Crosse (Ensign) and Mike Broome (Alexis) joined once again on Saturday by Ian Baxter in his ex-Brian Redman Brabham. It was Baxter who led to begin with on Saturday but an improvement of nearly a second by Fryth saw him take the class win on 35.22. An improvement to 34.62 was then enough on Sunday to beat Mike Broome and overall he now lies 7th in the Championship, just 0.36 behind Stephen Snell, of whom more shortly.
We were down to just one runner in Class 14 for Classic Clubmans with Luke Trotman withdrawing and Charles Jones not entered and so Ben Rolls just had the clock to beat and with 4 runs on or under 34 seconds he eventually, on Sunday afternoon, beat his target by 1/10th sec with a 33.56 to leapfrog Charles Jones in the Championship though both have scored in fewer than the maximum number of rounds.
The other leading runner in the Championship, apart from Karl Stevens is Tim Pitfield in his DJ Firecat in Class 15a – Sports Libre cars up to 1400cc. Like Karl he lowered his class target for the 6th time this season (to 32.50) and after 11 rounds the 2 of them were tied in the lead of the Championship to the nearest 1/100th of a point. Karl then beat his target in Round 12 while Tim was just 5/100ths slower. It is looking likely that the double points scoring rounds will be critical in deciding this championship. Tim qualified for both Top Ten Challenge run-offs but chose not to run in the second one as his car was overheating.
Paul Davies and Peter Steel in their Radicals comprised Class 15b for Sports Libre between 1400 and 2000cc. As ever the two were very close but it was Steel who generally held the upper hand winning three out of the 4 runs, but their best times across the weekend were just 5/100ths apart in favour of Steel (31.83).
The only entrant in Class 16 – Sports Libre over 2000cc over the weekend was Chris Dunscombe in his spectacular Peugeot T16 bodied Mitsubishi Lancer on Sunday who had a best time of 36.90.
Chris Dunscombe (Mitsubishi Lancer / Peugeot T16) – photo by John Brown
Last month in the class for Racing Cars up to 600cc, it was Calum Kemp who won on Saturday and Euan Kemp who won on Sunday and this month it was exactly same scenario with Calum (season’s best 36.08 on Saturday) being slightly quicker overall than Euan (36.13 on Sunday). Reg Allen continued to chase the brothers on Sunday finishing just 0.78 behind Calum. In the Championship Euan currently leads Calum by just over a point, both having scored in 9 rounds.
David Cuff was again a non-starter in Racing Cars 600-1100cc but he and daughter Lucy are expected to be sharing the car next month. The battle at the front between the top 3 of Mark Crookall, Ben Bonfield and Tom Williams (back in a repaired car) was ever changing and the following is a summary of their times, starting with the best: 30.66 (Mark), 30.79 (Ben), 30.86 (Mark), 30.91 (Tom), 30.97 (Ben), 31.01 (Tom), 31.02 (Tom), 31.12 (Mark – twice), 31.19 (Tom), 31.20 (Ben) and 31.22 (Ben). What this translated into was a win for Mark on both days with Tom second on Saturday and Ben on Sunday and all 3 qualified well up for the run – offs.
Stephen Snell was joined this month in the Racing Cars 1100 to 1600 cc class by 2010 and 2011 Top Ten Challenge winner, Andrew Forsyth, in his OMS, and it was he who won the class with 30.40 (Sat.) and 30.26 (Sun.). Stephen meanwhile continues to improve and on Saturday he reduced his class target by 1/10th second to 31.76 but on Sunday morning he went even quicker and brought that down to a new PB of 31.19 (He had previously done a 31.64 in a run-off in June). This meant that he has now jumped up to 6th in the Championship.
In the 1601 to 2000cc (normally aspirated) Racing Car class our two championship regulars of Nigel Pitt in his Dallara and Steve Holland in his Force were joined for the weekend by Simon Carre from Guernsey who was getting in some seat time in his Dallara before the BHC visits the Channel Islands next week, and on Saturday by Andrew Dinner in his ex-Tom New (among others) Pilbeam MP62/82/88.
Simon Carre (Dallara F302)
Nigel Pitt was once again going better than ever in the ex-Tim Elmer Dallara getting a PB on Sunday afternoon with 29.56 which he then proceeded to lower to 29.25 in the run-off. One of the story lines of the season so far has been Steve Holland’s pursuit of the class record set by Trevor Willis back in May 2005 of 28.08 when the class was also open to forced induction cars. Trevor had also recorded a 28.07 in the run-off at the September BHC meeting that year, though of course that did not count as a class record.
For many years after that the class was dominated by forced induction cars until in 2016 the two engine types were separated so that normally aspirated cars would be attracted back to the hills. The revolution began slowly and it is only in the last few years that cars to challenge Trevor’s record have come to the fore, principally Johnathen Varley in the GWR Predator who back in May 2025 recorded a class winning time of 28.11 – close but not quite. Steve Holland brought his new Force TA in 2025 and by the end of the season he had a PB of 28.63, although he also missed both the July and the early August weekends. In 2026 he has been getting quicker and quicker and as he left here in June he was down to a PB of 28.24.
Steve Holland (Force TA)
As well as the usual Championship points scoring priorities this last weekend there was also the matter of the Tony Marsh Memorial Trophy which is awarded to the registered championship contender who breaks by the most or comes closest to their class record on one of the 4 class runs and this prestigious award was something else for Steve to aim at. His times on Saturday were a bit away at 28.82 and 28.65 but on Sunday morning it was a 28.36. Sunday afternoon and it all came together and a super-smooth passage through Carousel helped him to cross the line in 27.99 for a new class record.
Unfortunately the 0.09 improvement was not quite enough to win the Tony Marsh Trophy as Graham Beale’s time in his Ginetta of 33.06 had taken 0.13 off Simon Purcell’s record to win the cup.
The 1601 to 2000cc (forced induction) Racing Car class was once again just Jason Robinson in his Empire Wraith but after a good weekend in June when he got down to a PB of 30.17 the car decided it did not want to play this weekend and after 2 troublesome practice runs and one timed run of 40.30 on Saturday, and two more troubled runs on Sunday morning he packed up.
So after 12 rounds of the Championship the top 6 points scorers are Karl Stevens (239.82), Tim Pitfield (239.71), John Davey (231.60), Richard Morton (230.92), Chris Burch (226.26) and Stephen Snell (225.38).
TOP TEN Run-offs
The top 4 runners in the run off each day were identical with Steve Holland winning from Nigel Pitt, Mark Crookall and Tom Williams. Stephen Snell picked up 5th on Saturday when Ben Bonfield’s Jedi jumped out of gear on his run, but Ben was back to 5th on Sunday with Stephen 6th. Tim Pitfield had been 6th on Saturday but did not run on Sunday.
Peter Steel did not run on Saturday and came 7th on Sunday ahead of Paul Davies who had picked up the vacant 7th spot on Saturday. Tony Bonfield was 8th on Saturday but dropped to 10th on Sunday while Ben Bonfield’s problem on Saturday meant he finished in 9th, a spot taken by Dylan Ferrett on Sunday. Dylan finished in 10th on Saturday with what is possibly the slowest time ever for a run – off – 169.97. His car cut out on the run after Hollow and while he came to a halt for a bit he received no outside assistance. He eventually got the car started again and cruised slowly up to the top of the hill. With Steel and Graham Beale not starting he picked up the final point. Adrian Lewis was the final runner on Sunday and finished in 11th position.
VISITING CLASSES
MGCC Speed Championship
A wide variety of MGs ranging from a pre war PA and TC (both supercharged) through an MGA and various Midgets to modern day MGF and TF variants was won by the only Austin Healey in the class – Simon Jones in his Sprite who was quickest on all runs.
National Historic Speed Championship
The National Historic Speed Club was founded in 2023 by Steve Akers to give owners of historic vehicles an outlet where they would compete against similar age (pre 1977) cars. Steve was competing in his Lotus Elan and came 3rd on Saturday and 2nd on Sunday but the winner on both days was recent recruit Andrew Webber in his Lotus 47D62R who has transferred over from the HSA Speed Championship as they are no longer hosting Classic car classes. He was quickest on 3 of the 4 runs and his final time of 38.25 was a new class record. Kevin Strange in his Morgan was quickest on the first run. An interesting variety of 9 cars including a Hillman Imp, a Volvo Amazon and a Triumph Dolomite Sprint. Unfortunately Peter Joy’s Lotus Elite which had been fastest in practice had terminal problems on its first timed run.
Andrew Webber (Lotus 47D62R)
Gilbern Owners Club
The Gilberns ( 2 cars and 3 drivers) only ran on Saturday but this class also produced a class record with Alex Ward in his Invader taking nearly 2 seconds off the record with a 61.55. Only Ian Linnard in his Invader took a second run.
Alex Ward (Gilbern Invader)
Bristol MC Visconte MX5 Challenge
Four cars and 5 drivers in this class on Sunday only and yet another class record was set by Rob Thomson at 40.65 although he had been behind James Hurford on the first run.
Rob Thomson (Mazda MX5)
Downton Motor Club Speed Championship
The Downton club returned for the third time this season with a good turn out of 10 cars on Saturday and 12 on Sunday. Dominic Bishop’s Radical was fastest on both days though he had lagged behind Mark Everett’s TVR Griffith on Saturday’s first run. A possible engine issue curtailed Mark’s running on Sunday but the one run he took all day was enough to get him into third behind the returning Derek Kessell’s Maguire Mini spaceframe who was not present on Saturday. Zak Cobb was again the quickest of the BMW Mini Coopers and it was good to see Peter Hannam out on Sunday in his Cooper T65, taking 6th in a tightly packed field where less than 4/10ths second separated 4th from 8th.
Midland Speed Championship
Three Westfields, an Aston Martin and a Mini Clubman provided variety in this class with the run wins shared between Graham Woodcock’s Westfield (2 on Saturday), Aaron Perrotts’ Aston and Craig Spooner’s Westfield (by 1/100th) on Sunday with the overall class win on Sunday going to Perrott.
Caterham and Lotus 7 Club Championship
A variety of Caterham 7 variants across 4 classes had their annual outing to Gurston Down with class wins on both days going to Ivan Pullen (Class 1), Robert Jacobs (3/100ths away from his own class record) (Class 2) and Jeremy Davies (Class 4).
In Class 3 the winner on Saturday was Dom Williams but then on Sunday morning he ran wide at Carousel and impacted the barrier outside the commentary box (see Vince Feeney picture below). Although he carried on to the top of the hill the car came back on the flat bed and was not seen again. In his absence the class win on Sunday went to Alan Bowler, whose co-driver, Regin Jensen, had come over from Demark to compete.
Dom Williams (Caterham 7) on his way to join the commentator
Paul Matty Lotus Challenge
After an absence of at least 15 years a large entry of 26 Lotus runners was entered for the latest round of their challenge. Unfortunately Paul Matty and wife June were unable to be present as Paul had had a heart operation the previous Tuesday but he kept in touch from home to work out the handicap prizes!
A few other non-starters reduced the final runners to 19 each day, with 9 of those being racing cars (8 single-seaters and one sports car). Quickest throughout was Tony Wallen in his Lotus 69 F3 with an 1800 BDG engine who on Saturday reduced the class record from 34.73 to 34.38 before then going even better with a 33.48 on Sunday. The previous record had been set back in 2005 by Tony Shute driving a Lotus Expose. David Hampton in his Lotus 69 F2 / Atlantic also with a BDG engine was second both days while into 3rd came Iain Stallard with the quickest of the Lotus Elans.
Tony Wallen (Lotus 69F3)
Notable among the drivers was Richard (Dick) Swindall in his Lotus Elan who is 91 years old and had driven the car down from Glasgow via his daughter’s in Hertfordshire.
Richard Swindall (Lotus Elan)
For those with an interest in all things Lotus there were 3 Elans, 3 Elises, I Exige and one 23, one 35, one 51c FF (modified), one 61 FF (modified) and four 69s of various specifications.
A welcome addition to the paddock at Gurston and we hope to see them again in the future (and not 15 years in the future!).
I am not sure when we last had a meeting with so many class records being broken, 7 with 2 of them being more than 20 years old.