May 16, 2016
Gurston Down Speed Hill Climb hosts the first of two visits of the British Hill Climb Championship on 28th and 29th May. Both the Avon Tyres / TTC Group MSA British Hill Climb Championship and the Avon Tyres / TTC Group MSA Hill Climb Leaders Championship will be competing.
The weekend will be full of glorious sounds, smells, skill and speed. Over 130 cars and drivers will compete in standard road cars, specially prepared hill climb cars and spectacularly fast fast sport and single seat racing cars. All of them will pit their wits against each other, the clock and the fast, twisty course at Wiltshire’s famous Speed Hill Climb Venue.
Copyright: Akina Media
Spectators have unrivalled access to the hill, 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. There will be three practice runs, two in the morning and one after lunch.
On Sunday there will be an early morning practice followed by one timed run before lunch and the first of two top twelve run-offs. After lunch the second timed runs are followed by the second top twelve run-off.
The Top Twelve Run-Off allows the fastest twelve 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! The current leader in the championship is Scott Moran, five time champion and hill record holder at 25.37s…
History will also be made this weekend. A WORLD first for a hydrogen fuel cell car and the first standard production car powered by hydrogen fuel cell to compete in a Speed Hill Climb event – a Toyota Mirai.
The Mirai, part of Toyota’s press fleet, is being driven by journalist and racing driver David Finlay. David is the editor of the online motoring magazine www.roofsideup.com, and is also part of the Multi-Car Hillclimb Challenge.
The Lotus 7 Club Championship bring 30 cars in a variety of classes. The competition between these drivers is fierce and tends to lead to class hill records!
The Porsche Club’s National Championship bring six 911’s.
BARC South West members also compete in a class of the own.
The Fastest Time of Day is far too difficult to call. You’ll need to be there to find out!
Class Preview in Detail:
The BARC South West B Licence Class will run first. The class has a variety of cars and drivers. James Gibson in his OMS Hornet should see off Steve Holland’s Caterham and Marin Watson’s Westfield.
The Porsche Club’s National Championship Class has an all 911 line-up. The form book says Peter Turnbull, Jonathan Williamson and Paul Howells should be in the top three but Robert Lancaster-Gaye’s lovely 911 Turbo should be in the mix.
Copyright: John Brown
History is made when the quietest, greenest and most unusual car, a Toyota Mirai competes in the Chairman’s Invitation Class. It’s an electric car with the electricity being generated by a hydrogen fuel cell. The car, part of Toyota’s press fleet will be driven by David Finlay, journalist and racing driver, as part of the Multi-Car Hill Climb Challenge.
The Road Going Series Production Car Class up to 2000cc has just three cars entered. The honours are likely to go to Paul Webster, Gurston’s competition secretary in his Mazda MX5 but Steve Harris in his rapid Vauxhall Corsa won’t let Paul have it all his way
Copyright: Akina Media
The over 2000cc Road Going Series Production Car Class, also has just three cars entered. Simon Neve’s Mitsubishi Evo 2.3t has the form to win. But we didn’t see the car in April. Neil Duncanson in his Audi Quattro and Jamie Powell in his Mitsubishi Evo, who is new to Gurston, will have their work cut out to snatch a win.
Copyright: Akina Media
The Road Going Specialist Production Car Class brings the Warburton’s, David and Allan, Caterham to the hill. Adrian Lewis will have to work for a win.
Copyright: Akina Media
The up to 1400cc Modified Series Production Car Class sees Andrew Russell’s Gineta G15 up against David Bean’s Mini. Andy will probably take the win.
Copyright: Akina Media
The 1400cc to 2000cc Modified Series Production Car Class pits the two Peugeot 205’s of Ralph Pinder and Colin Satchell against Dee Stapley’s MGF. This year’s previous events in the national championships suggest Colin, the current leader of the Avon Tyres / TTC Group MSA Hill Climb Leaders Championship, will take the class.
Copyright: Akina Media
The Over 2000cc Modified Series Production Car Class has former Gurston champion, Simon Purcell in his Lotus Exige up against Geoff Tremlow’s beautiful Subaru Impreza, Tim Painter and Andrew Fraser’s stunning Aston Martin Vantage, Mark Walker’s Porsche and the Datsun 240z of Steph Colvin and Hannah Stapley. It will probably be between Simon and Geoff for first place.
Copyright: Akina Media
Mike Rudge will have his work cut out in the Modified Specialist Production Cars Class with a field of four highly competitive drivers. The class win could go to any of the drivers. It will depend on the day!
The up to 2000cc Sports Libre Car Class is likely to be headed up by the supercharged Force LM shared by Jonathan Gates and Peter Sexton.
Copyright: Akina Media
The over 2000cc Sports Libre Car Class sees the Manic Beattie of Nic Mann and the Mini Evo of Allan McDonald against Gurston regulars Chris Cannell, Sue Hayes (Force SR8) and Keith Diggle (WEV HCS). Nic Mann should win this battle.
Copyright: Akina Media
Les Buck goes in the up to 600cc Racing Car Class in his OMS Hornet.
The 601 to 1100cc Racing Car Class has a huge entry! Simon Fidoe in his Empire Wraith, Adam Steel (Marlet AS1), Steve Owen (OMS 28), Oliver and Liam Cooper (Force HC), to name just a few should make this a very close class.
Copyright: Akina Media
The Formula Ford Class sees Simon McBeath as favourite. Nev Rollason and Mark Alley won’t let him have it all his way. With similar cars, this class will be decided on the day.
Copyright: Akina Media
Geoff Hunt’s glorious Lotus 22 should be back and is the only car in the Racing Car Upto 1985 Class.
The 1100cc to 1600cc Racing Car Class puts Ed Hollier in his Empire Evo up against Peter D Smith’s Force, Sean Gould and Eynon Price’s Gould GR59 and eight other drivers! On early season form, there’s no real favourite here.
The 1601cc to 2000cc Racing Car Class – Normally Aspirated – has five cars and seven drivers competing. Tim Davies’ Pilbeam MP88 has Gurston form but Tim Elmer took the win at Harewood earlier in the month.
The 1601cc to 2000cc Racing Car Class – Forced Induction – bring David Uren and Nicola Menzies’ Force PC back to Gurston. The Marsh brothers, Simon and Peter will have to use all their local knowledge to catch David Uren.
Copyright: Akina Media
The Over 2000cc Racing Car Class will be another class that will be difficult to predict. Wallace Menzies should be back in his Gould GR55 NME after problems in Northern Ireland, Will Hall (Force) should have sorted his throttle issues now, Graham Wynn might be out in the ex-John Bradburn GR55. Tony Hunt and Terry Graves (GR55), Jason Mourant (GR55), Trevor Willis (OMS) and Sandra Tomlin (Pilbeam) will all have to work to beat Scott Moran (GR61x) who is properly “in form” this season and current leads the championship.
Copyright: John Brown
The Fastest Time of the Day should go to one of the Top Twelve Run-Off competitors but which one? Only time will tell!
Copyright: Akina Media
The Lotus 7 Club Championship has five classes in May. They are always entertaining and highly competitive. Classes are broadly based on BHP but the rules aren’t quite that straight forward. Note championship standings do not take account of the results of Curborough on 15th May.
Copyright: Akina Media
The Lotus 7 Club Championship Class 1 – Cars Up to 125 bhp – with five drivers in this class and with his current championship lead, Robert Jacobs is likely to take this class.
The Lotus 7 Club Championship Class 2 – Cars up to 150 bhp – List 1A Tyres – Mike Cocker, the current championship leader shouldn’t be far off the pace but the seven other drivers won’t let him take the class easily.
The Lotus 7 Club Championship Class 3 – Cars up to 150 bhp – List 1B Tyres – ten drivers compete for the honours. Richard Price must be favourite as he is the current championship leader.
The Lotus 7 Club Championship – Class 4 – Car up to 210 bhp – Jeremy Davis and Michael Sankey will have good battle. Michael Sankey is the current leader in the championship.
The Lotus 7 Club Championship – Class 6/7 – Cars not in classes 1 to 4 – Shaun Elwell and Robert Margel, the current leaders in classes 6 and 7 will be a good bet for the win.
Another exciting weekend of at Gurston Down Speed Hill Climb – Don’t Miss It!
INFO:
Saturday 28th May
Practice for the first visit of contenders in the British Hillclimb and Leaders Championships.
Admission £6.00 per person, Car parking free, Children under 15 free.
Gates open 0800; practice from 0830; two practice sessions before lunch, one further practice session after lunch.
Sunday 29th May
Speed Event, Nat A; the first visit of he year of contenders in the British Hillclimb and Leaders Championships.
Admission £10.00 per person, Car parking free, Children under 15 free.
Gates open 0800; final practice from 0830; first class runs from about 1030; first top-twelve run-off at about 1300; lunch; second class runs from about 1415; second top-twelve run-off at about 1600.
Anthony Record – Press Officer Gurston Down Speed Hill Climb – BARC SW
May 15, 2016
Motorsport history will be made at Gurston Down Speed Hill Climb on the weekend of May 28/29. The most unusual, certainly the quietest, and probably the “greenest”, of the cars taking part in the British Hillclimb Championship event will be a Toyota Mirai, which has no engine but produces energy for it’s electric motor through a hydrogen fuel cell.
No such car has ever competed in the UK (or Europe) before, and the Mirai’s participation at Gurston will be under the watchful eye of motorsport’s governing body in this country, the MSA.
It will be a WORLD first for a hydrogen fuel cell car and the first standard production car powered by hydrogen fuel cell to compete in a Speed Hill Climb event.
The Mirai, part of Toyota’s press fleet, is being loaned to journalist and racing driver David Finlay for this event. David is the editor of the online motoring magazine roofsideup.com, and is also part of the Multi-Car Hillclimb Challenge. Sponsored by Primo plc Multi Vehicle Insurance, and raising awareness for the Nationwide Association of Blood Bikes, the Challenge involves competing in a different manufacturer press car at every round of the British Championship.
“I’ve been involved in some strange motorsport projects before, but never anything quite like this,” says David. “The idea of breaking new ground is very exciting. Of course the Mirai isn’t a racing car, but I’ll be driving it as quickly as I can, and whatever else happens I’ll be the most environmentally responsible driver at the meeting. The only thing the Mirai will emit is a very small amount of extremely clean water. I’ll do more damage to the environment if I sneeze.
“The Mirai is also exceptionally quiet. I’ll probably be able to hear the spectators talking about me as I drive up the hill, so I’d better not make a mess of it.”
Anthony Record – Gurston Down Speed Hill Climb Press Officer – BARC SW
May 1, 2016
Entry for the May National meeting has now closed. Look out for the preview soon, but with a full entry list it looks like it will be an exciting weekend……
Copyright – John Hayward
Don’t forget entries for both of the June meetings close on the 20th May.
Apr 21, 2016
On Sunday, Gurston Down Speed Hill Climb welcomed the National Hill Climb Association (NHCA) for the first time this season. The motorbikes and combinations were spectacular to watch!
The conditions were not really conducive to hill climbing in a car, let alone on a motorbike or combination. The track temperature was low after the over-night frost but it was dry and the sky was clear. The sun soon had the temperature rising….
In the Solo Motor Cycles 251cc to 350cc class, Paul Tilley and his 280cc Honda fought off Mike Lovelock’s Yamaha to win with a time of 43.27s. That might not sound fast but that’s faster than more than 40 of the 140 cars competing on Sunday!
Paul Tilley – Copyright Akina Media
There was a big entry in the Solo Motor Cycles 351cc to 500cc class. Tommy Hodge on his Honda Team GV CRF 450cc put in a couple of great times, his best 34.93s gave him the class win. Chris Keates (Honda), Richard Bowker (Honda) and Pete Ford (KTM) were all covered by less than a second. Chris grabbing second with a 36.69s run.
Tommy Hodges – Copyright Akina Media
The Solo Motor Cycles 501cc to 750cc class had another big entry. Mark Short’s Aprilla SXV 550cc took the win with a 35.28s, second run. Ahead of Guy Ursell (KTM), Keith Haines (Aprilla) and Dan Hurley (Husaberg).
Mark Short – Copyright Akina Media
The Solo Motor Cycles 751cc to 1300cc class saw Peter Jeffery on his KTM RC8 1148cc bike win the class with a strong 34.51s run. Second place could have been awarded to any of three riders. It was close, less than 0.3s separated Stuart Mills (Aprilla), Alan Jolly (KTM) and Doug Parnell (Aprilla) who finished second, third and fourth respectively.
Paul Jeffery – Copyright Akina Media
If you thought the solo motorcyclists were balmy, wait until you see the side-cars! The rider and pillion race up the hill, the rider laying on their front and the pillion hanging on or sometimes out of the combination! There are no seat belts or restrains to keep them all together!
Patrick and Paul Keates in the Baker F1 won the Sidecar class with a 38.11s run!
Paul and Patrick Keates – Copyright Akina Media
The meeting closed with a Top Ten Run-off. Paul Jeffery won with an even faster time than his class time at 34.10s. Paul with his Aprilla managed a 1.96s 64ft time which is an acceleration of more than 1g! Over 102mph through the Hollow speed trap and 99.8mph over the finish! An amazing run.
Paul Jeffery – Copyright Akina Media
Thank you to all the riders who came to Gurston Down Speed Hill Climb last Sunday. We look forward to seeing you again in June!
We would like to thank everyone who made the day possible, the NHCA team, the office staff, the marshalls, 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 Gurston Down Speed Hill Climb – BARC SW
Apr 21, 2016
Sunday saw a sharp frost at Gurston Down Speed Hill Climb but the sun was out and it promised to be a glorious day. The meeting was the first round of the Meadens Skoda Gurston Down Championship and the Cavendish Ships Stores BARC SW Top Ten Challenge.
Practice was soon under-way. The track and temperature were both warming raising the expectation for another fine day’s competition….
The Volvos started the day’s action. Practice went Richard Conway’s way in the PV544 but that wasn’t to be in the competition runs. Chris Davies’ Amazon edged Kevin Diamond’s Amazon out but just 0.10s.
Chris Davies – Copyright Akina Media
The TR’s were next up. Practice saw Steve Small in his TR7 V8 shine and the competition runs were no different. Roderick Warner (TR7 V8) took second from the TR6 of Nick Smith.
Steve Small – – Copyright Akina Media
The ‘Big Healey’ Class was won by Richard Mason (3000 Mk 2) with a 39.72s. But it wasn’t an easy win. John Tewson had one timed run and produced a 39.80s only to miss his second timed run. There was less than one second between the top four!
Richard Mason – Copyright Akina Media
The Austin Healey Sprite Class lost a few after practice. Although Julian Wakeham was fastest in both practice and the timed runs with a convincing 39.19s.
Sunday’s ‘Classic Marques Speed Championship’ Class was close, just like Saturdays. Steve Cox in his TVR V8S (37.51s) took the win. Graham Millar (Mk2 Ford Escort) turned the tables on Matthew Eady in his beautiful Ginetta G4 and earned a second, Matthew having to settle for third by just 0.36s..
Steve Cox – Copyright Akina Media
The second day of the Mazda MX-5 Class gave Mark Crookall another win in his MK1 RS with a 42.18s run, Dean Cubitt came in just 0.24s behind. There were a few regulars missing from this class this weekend. The class will be one to watch!
Mark Crookall – Copyright Akina Media
Paul Webster (his Mazda MX-5 – Stripy) gave the Greenen brothers, Andy and Adam (Honda Civic Type R) a real run for their money today in the Road Going Series Production Class up to 2000cc. Adam, who ran in an earlier batch, posted a 37.99s which gave Andy a tough target, unfortunately he couldn’t beat his brothers time so ended up second. Adam scores 20.36 points in the Championship.
Adam Greenen – Copyright Akina Media
The over 2 litre Road Going Series Production Class, Stephen Moore’s, the 2015 Meadens Skoda Gurston Down Champion, time of 34.61s was enough to fend off the Stangle’s Audi TT. Shaun and Sarah Fudge switch classes and ran their Honda Civic in the up to 2000cc class after the Subaru developed an engine problem. Stephen Moore, joint leader in the championship with 21.50 points.
Stephen Moore – Copyright Akina Media
Andrew Forsyth in his 1.3 Westfield Megabusa took another class win in the Road Going Specialist Production Class bettering yesterday’s time by 1.5s with a 34.51s.
Andrew Forsyth – Copyright Akina Media
Graham Beale’s Ginetta G20 took the honours in the Modified Limited Production Marque Sports Cars up to 2000cc Class. Graham scores 21.00 points with his win.
Graham Beale – Copyright Akina Media
The over 2000cc Modified Limited Production Marque Sports Car Class saw Simon Purcell’s Lotus Exige take the win (34.57s) with Steve Holley (TVR Griffith) second from Bob Mortimer and his Porsche 911. Simon scores a joint leader score of 21.50.
Simon Purcell – Copyright Akina Media
Derek Mullis won the 1400cc Modified Series Production Class with a 38.44s run. Earning him 21.50 points in the Meadens Skoda Championship.
Derek Mullis – Coptright Akina Media
Mark Walker in his Porsche Cayman managed to stave off the Aston Martin Vantage GT4 of Tim Painter by 0.25s. Tim and Andrew Fraser have a light-weight 4.3 supercharged Vantage that’s “in progress”. Can’t wait to see that!
Mark Walker – Copyright Akina Media
Ritchie Gatt (33.29s) beat Steve Holland to the Over 2000cc Modified Specialist Production Class win in his Westfield Sei to make it two class wins in a row and scores 21.50 points in the championship.
Fyrth Crosse’s Ensign LNF3 won the Historically Interesting Class in 35.16s. Hugh Kemp (Palliser WDF3), couldn’t match Fyrth’s pace, managing 36,31s.
Fyrth Crosse – Copyright Akina Media
Yesterday’s result was reversed in the Sports Libre Class up to 2000cc, Peter Sexton,(Force LM), the Gurston Down Hill Climb Championship sponsor, came in with a 29.81s run in that car he shares with Jonathan Gates, who was second.
Peter Sexton – Copyright Akina Media
The over 2000cc Class was dominated by the Force SR8 of Chris Cannell and Sue Hayes who ended the day first and second. Jeffrey Way’s amazing Chevrolet Camero sounded awesome leaving the line. Chris earns 21.50 points with this win.
Jeff Way – Copyright Akina Media
The 500 Owners Association class was a close run event. Charles Reynard’s Cooper taking the win from Alistair Dent’s Hornet.
David Cuff took the Up to 600cc Racing Car Class in his Jedi Mk4 with an improved time over Saturday.
The 601 to 1100cc Racing Car Class saw Stephen Loadsman (OMS) challenge Tony Levitt’s Empire Evo in the first timed run but he didn’t make the second so lost out to Tony’s first run time of 34.49s.
Tony Levett – Copyright Akina Media
Russell Haynes in his Zeus won the Formula Ford Class from Paul Morcom.
Russell Haynes – Copyright Akina Media
Peter D Smith’s Force took the 1100cc to 1600cc Racing Car Class from Richard Gaylard also in a Force. But it wasn’t to be a repeat of Saturday’s FTD.
The Fastest Time of the Day went to Simon Marsh in the 1601cc to 2000cc Racing Car Forced Induction Class where he beat his brother Peter in their DJ Firehawk. It was, only 0.10s in it!
Simon Marsh – Copyright Akina Media
Ben Stapley made the winners announcements and John Davey from Cavendish Ships Stores, the Cavendish Ships Stores BARC SW Top Ten Challenger sponsor, presented the awards.
Copyright – Anthony Record
We would like to thank everyone who made the day possible, the office staff, the marshalls, 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 Gurston Down Speed Hill Climb – BARC SW
Apr 21, 2016
A rather cold morning greeted the competitors, crews, marshalls and spectators to the opening event at Gurston Down. The weather was more conducive to staying inside in the warm!
The weather Friday was torrential downpour after downpour. Cars, campers and tow vehicles got stuck just a few feet into the camping / trailer field. Ben Stapley, Gurston Down’s Chairman, spent most of the afternoon and evening towing people into and out of the field. Thankfully, the rain subsided..
Saturday morning came, it was bitterly cold. At 07:30 when more cars starting arriving, there was a proper chill in the air and one on the hill. It was going to be a tough day!
Practice was soon under-way. By the start of timed runs the track temperature hadn’t really risen much but it did eventually dry and gave some interesting results….
First up was the ‘SBD Road Legal Cars’ Class, Chris Berrisford, in his Subaru Impreza, was the quickest, with a new class record, shaving almost two seconds off the previous record with a 36.04s run. Leaving the rest to fight for second, James Hunt took that despite not taking his second run.
Chris Berrisford – Copyright Akina Media
The Austin 7’s were next. The “Road” Class saw Alistair Frayling-Cork’s 7 Special take the honours, ahead of Bernard Cowley. The ‘Race’ division was close. Paul Geering and Martin Whittaker were within 0.2s on their first timed runs. Paul put a fantastic run together and ended up almost half a second ahead with a 47.46s despite Martin improving his time.
Alistair Frayling-Cork’s and Paul Geering – Copyright Akina Media
The ACSMC ‘Road Legal’ Class saw Dave Gardener (38.72s) take the win by just over a second from Keith Hazel (39.85s).
Gurston rumbled to the sound of the TVR Cars Class. Jes Firth and his 5.0 Griffith produced the best time at 36.98s with the next three places being covered by just under one second.
Jes Firth – Copyright Akina Media
The Westfield Cars Class looked like it was between two after the first run, Keith Adams and Martin Harvey were within 0.2s of each other. But Martin couldn’t match Keith’s 36.85s second run so he grabbed the win.
Keith Adams – Copyright Akina Media
The SBD HSA Speed Championship – Sports and Saloons brought out an amazing performance by Justin Andrews in his Subaru Impreza ending up with a 35.31s run. The HSA Championship may be a single class at Gurston Down but the results are divided up into their correct classes when calculating their overall HSA Championship scores. David Newman (Mazda MX-5) was pleased with his result fending off two other MX-5. The Sport Racing and Racing Class was won by Peter Goulding in his Mygale FF.
The huge ‘Classic Marques Speed Championship’ Class was close. Just over a second covered the first six drivers. Steve Cox in his TVR V8S (38.39s) took the win. Graham Millar (Ford Escort) was pipped to second place by just two hundredths by Matthew Eady in his beautiful Ginetta G4.
Justin Adams – Copyright Akina Media
The new Mazda MX-5 Class took to the hill next. Mark Crookall in his beautiful MK1 RS had to work hard after an eventful first run. His off at Karousel left one of the longest set of 11s we’ve seen there for sometime! The pressure was on. He managed a 44.10s just beating Stephen Devereux’s first run time of 44.17s.
Mark Crookall – Copyright Akina Media
Tim Forster (Lotus Elan) and Steve Harris (Vauxhall Corsa) made the Greenen brothers, Andy and Adam in their Honda Civic, work to earn the win in the Road Going Series Production Class up to 2000cc. Andy knew what he needed to do after Adam, who ran in an earlier batch, posted a 38.87s. Andy made the win his by posting a 38.72s time.
Andy Greenen – Copyright Akina Media
The over 2 litre Road Going Series Production Class, was won by Andrew Thorp in his Porsche Cayman (41.92s). Sarah Fudge (Subaru Impreza – 41.96s) just missed out on first place but was over the moon when she came second just 0.04s behind. And it’s her first award in ten years of competing at Gurston Down!
Andy Thorp – Copyright Akina Media
The Road Going Specialist Production Class always brings fast cars to the hill. Andrew Forsyth in his 1.3 Westfield Megabusa, managed the best time in the class with a 36.06s.
Andrew Forsyth – Copyright Akina Media
Graham Beale’s Ginetta G20 won the Modified Limited Production Marque Sports Cars up to 2000cc Class with a 40.50s run. Although Dee Stapley in her MGF was ahead after 64ft and said “it went down hill from then on!”
The over 2000cc Modified Limited Production Marque Sports Car Class saw that super quick Lotus Exige of Simon Purcell take the win (35.57s) with Steve Holley (TVR Griffith) take second from Bob Mortimer and his Porsche 911.
Simon Purcell – Copyright Akina Media
The rapid 1.4 Mini Cooper of Derek Mullis won the up to 1400cc Modified Series Production Class with a 38.74s second run. Richard Wood’s Yamaha Mini ended on 43.98s. Dave Mockford’s MG Maestro took the 1400cc to 2000cc Modified Series Production Class with a 46.17s run.
Derek Mullis – Copyright Akina Media
Stephen Moore, the 2015 Meadens Skoda Gurston Down Champion, switched classes and won the over 2000cc Modified Series Production Class with an impressive 33.88s. The 2.0 turbocharged Mitsubishi Evo 6 is such a quick car in Stephen hands. The Aston Martin Vantage GT4 of Tim Painter and Andrew Fraser wowed the spectators with a sound-track to die for! Tim was pushed into second by Mike Butler’s BMW M3.
Richard Gatt beat Steve Holland to the Over 2000cc Modified Specialist Production Class win in his Westfield SEi.
Fyrth Crosse’s Ensign LNF3 in it’s new original livery won a hard fought battle with Hugh Kemp (Palliser WDF3), in the Historically Interesting Class. Fyrth won by just 0.06s.
Fyrth Crosse – Copyright Akina Media
Derek Harris in his Mallock17b won the Hill Climb Super Sports Class.
The Sports Libre Class upto 2000cc was won by Jonathan Gates in the supercharged Force LM he shares with Peter Sexton, the Gurston Down Hill Climb Championship sponsor, who ended up second by just under half a second.
Jonathan Gates – Copyright Akina Media
The over 2000cc Class saw Chris Cannell in the matt black and orange twin engined Force SR8, win. Keith Diggle’s (WEV HCS) day ended on the first timed run after what he described as “first proper damage to the car in more than ten years”.
Chris Cannell – Copyright Akina Media
David Cuff took the Up to 600cc Racing Car Class in his Jedi Mk4.
The 601 to 1100cc Racing Car Class saw Tony Levitt’s Empire win with a 35.12s on his first timed run.
Tony Levett – Copyright Akina Media
Russell Haynes won the Formula Ford Class from Paul Morcom.
Peter D Smith’s Force took the 1100cc to 1600cc Racing Car Class and the Fastest Time of the Day with a 30.13s.
The 1601cc to 2000cc Racing Car Forced Induction Class was a head to head battle between Peter and Simon Marsh in their DJ Firehawk. It was close, but Simon eventually took the win with a 30.97s run.
Simon Marsh – Copyright Akina Media
Dave Wickham made the winners announcements and Sarah Howard presented the awards as Ben Stapley was busy helping campers and trailers both in and out of the field.
Peter D Smith thanked “Ed Hollier for deciding not to come today!”
Copyright – Anthony Record
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 Gurston Down Speed Hill Climb – BARC SW
