2025 Event Dates

Sep 29, 2024

Our 2025 Event Dates will be:

Sunday 13th April 2025 – Test Day

Weekend – 26th and 27th April 2025

British Hill Climb Championship Meeting – 24th and 25th May 2025

Weekend – 14th and 15th June 2025

Weekend – 5th and 6th July 2025

Weekend – 2nd and 3rd August 2025 – August 2nd is our 400th meeting

Champioship and Challenge Finale – 23rd and 24th August 2025

Drivers School dates are not yet finalised.

THE 2024 TURBO DYNAMICS GURSTON DOWN CHAMPIONSHIP – CLASS RESULTS

Sep 22, 2024

The 2024 Turbo Dynamics Gurston Down Championship finished on a high after our August meetings.

Our overall champion was confirmed as James Moore. James had a great season finishing second in the Online Cleaning Technologies Top Ten Challenge and winning his class championship too, quite an achievement.

CLASS RESULTS

Here are the class results in the Turbo Dynamics Gurston Down Championship.

Class 4-MX5 – Road Cars – Mazda MX5

Andrew Ward has had a very positive year, consistency has awarded Andrew with a class championship win.

Class 4a – Road Cars Series Production up to 1400cc

John’s season started quite badly, the MG Midget’s engine wasn’t ready and his Renault R8 just didn’t cut the mustard. This left John behind for all of the season until the final weekend. David Nutland was in such a great position before then. John’s sub-40 second runs made the class championship his.He also finished fifth overall.

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

Russell Davies has had another fantastic season. He had won the class championship and finished second in the overall championship. The second and third place men, James and Will, share James’ Renault Clio. Will had a great first season too.

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

Steve Cox in the VW Golf R has had another great season, not just winning the class but he qualified for a few Top Ten Run-offs too. Steve and the Golf really have come together in 2024, building on his success in 2023.

Class 4d – Road Cars Specialist Production, any capacity

Clive Skipper had a good season, keeping Rob Brodie at bay. Rob missed a few rounds because he was competing in the British Hill Climb Cup. Rob’s Fisher Fury seems to getting better and better.

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

Graham Beale in the Ginetta G33 had another great season. He also qualifying for multiple Top Ten run-offs and scored point there too. Graham takes the class championship and seventh overall. Paul Slade didn’t compete in all of the events but it was great to see the Jaguar E Type on the hill.

Class 7 – Modified Series Production Class up to 1400cc

Neil Turn and that super fast Mini takes a great class win. James White in Bright Eyes, another super fast Mini, finished second. A very consistent performance from Neil gave him the class win and fourth in the overall championship.

Class 8 – Modified Series Production 1401cc to 2000cc

Luke Chard-Maple in the Renault Clio supported by Bridgewater and Taunton College has had a superb first season. At one stage Luke was leading the championship but issues with the car caused the team to miss a number of rounds, taking the overall championship out of reach. We hope that Luke and the BTC team will be back next season as they will be one to watch..

Class 9 – Modified Series Production Over 2000cc

Geoff Chalke is one of our Drivers School success stories. Geoff attended an early Drivers School and had a few rather lucky escapes. But these didn’t stop him. A few weeks later after getting his car looked at by the scrutineers he came back and has had such a great season in his Subaru.

Class 11 – Modified Specialist Production Class, supported by Online Cleaning Technologies

Martin Watson has had a good season. The bar is very high in this class after Steve Holland’s 2023 performances. The class record being in the mid 30 second mark, which is a good run for some of the single seaters, Martin was always going to struggle to challenge for the Overall Championship. He has qualified for a number of Top Ten Challenges too.

Class 13 – Historically Interesting Class

Fyrth Crosse and his Dempster Ensign LNF3 has had another great season full of consistent performances and finishes giving him the class title.

Class 15a – Sports Libre up to 1400cc

Tim Pitfield and his DJ Firecat started the season well. But Tim had others plans. Tim and his son, Ben, have been competing in Tim’s Formula Ford for the second half of the season, so no additional points for Tim here.

Class 15b – Sports Libre Over 2000cc

PICTURE NIC MANN

Nic in the amazing Manic Beattie, had a pretty sound season. The car behaving most of the time gave him a number of Top Ten Challenge wins and fifth in the Online Cleaning Technologies Top Ten Challenge.

Class 19 – 601cc to 1100cc Racing Car Class

PICTURE JAMES MOORE

James Moore and the Empire Evo has had an almost perfect season. James has taken this class, which is very competitive, the Championship Overall and was second behind Paul Haimes, in the Top Ten Challenge. Mark Crookall in his OMS PT has had a great season, third in the Top Ten Challenge and sixth overall in the Championship. Sadly, Ben Bonfield’s season was very tough, he has had issues with cars and engines. This class is ever popular and there were many great performances.

Class 20a – Racing Cars up to 1600cc – Formula Ford

Class 21b – Racing Cars 1601cc to 2000cc (Force Induction) supported by New Techniques

Paul Haimes and the turbo-charged Gould GR59 season has be almost perfect. Paul has had some issues with the car but they haven’t stopped him from winning the Online Cleaning Technologies Top Ten Challenge and third in the overall championship. Paul is also have a good season in the British Hill Climb Champion.

Class 22 – Racing Cars Over 2000cc

Paul Crute in the lovely OMS28 Jaguar is on his own in this class.

We thank Turbo Dynamics for their continued support of our championship in 2024.

E&OE

THE 2024 ONLINE CLEANING TECHNOLOGIES BARC SW TOP TEN CHALLENGE – RESULTS

Sep 8, 2024

The 2024 Online Cleaning Technologies BARC SW Top Ten Challenge champion is Paul Haimes in the Gould GR59.

The 2024 Top Ten Challenge went all the way down to the last running of the Challenge. The double points bonuses from the Sunday’s in April and August were key to the results. The Championship regulations allowed double points for either the Sunday runs in April or August. Paul Haimes and James Moore benefited with a 20 point maximum, however Paul took the challenge with his consistent first place performances.

Both James Moore’s and Mark Crookall’s performances were very consistent but neither could match Paul’s pace.

Second – James Moore – Empire Evo

Third – Mark Crookall – OMS PT

A Few Honourable Mentions

Ben Bonfield’s engine troubles cost him dearly this year. Nic Mann, fifth and, Mike Lee, sixth, could well have been further up the table had they been with us all season.

Let’s not forget Gary Hull in the Jedi, who finished seventh. Gary has had a great season at Loton Park in Shropshire.

Some super performances all around!

CHALLENGE RESULTS ARE AVAILABLE HERE

We would like to thank Steve Holland and Online Cleaning Technologies for their support of our Top Ten Challenge. Steve has already agreed to sponsorship of the 2025 Challenge and will be back in 2025.

THE 2024 TURBO DYNAMICS GURSTON DOWN CHAMPIONSHIP OFFICIAL RESULTS

Sep 8, 2024

The 2024 Turbo Dynamics Championship was finally concluded after some stunning performances by so many drivers. We thank Turbo Dynamics for their continued support of our championship in 2024.

We are pleased to announce that James Moore in his Empire Evo is the 2024 Turbo Dynamics Gurston Down Champion.

James has had an outstanding season at Gurston Down. He has also been competing in the British Hill Climb Championship on his weekends off!

Second – Russell Davies – Honda Civic Type R

Russell was pipped by just 0.48 points, that’s just 0.48 seconds overall. Russell has had another great season, improving on last years third place.

Third – Paul Haimes – Gould GR59

Paul has had a great season winning the Online Cleaning Technologies Top Ten Challenge and he’s mounting a solid challenge to retain a top ten place in the British Hill Climb Championship too.

Neil Turner in the Mini, John Davey in the Midget and Mark Crookall in the OMS PT all scored over 300 points and were fifth, sixth and seventh respectively.

Full Overall Championship Results can be found here:

Championship Scores Overall – 2024 – Including Class Details

Full Class Championship Report to follow.

E&OE

Annual Awards Dinner 2024 – 30th November

Aug 30, 2024

Our 2024 Annual Awards Dinner will be held at The Stones Hotel, High Post, Near Salisbury on the 30th November 2024.

Please complete your forms and return them to John Davey as soon as you can.

Awards Evening 30th November 2024 – pdf version

Awards Evening 30th November 2024 – Word version

Awards Evening 30th November 2024 – Pages version

The Stones is also offering a discounted over-night stay for that evening. Please contact them directly, making sure you mention that you are attending the BARC South West / Gurston Down Annual Awards Dinner when calling.

Championship Finale – Entry Lists and Paddock Details

Aug 22, 2024

The full entry list and paddock plan can be found here.

Entry List and Paddock Plan

Please remember that the Final Instructions and other important information is accessible in our entry system.

The paddock is CLOSED until 1300 on Friday. Please don’t arrive before then as we will be preparing and cleaning the course and paddock!

GEOFF HUNT – OBITUARY

Jun 28, 2024

It is with great sadness that we have to announce the passing of Geoff Hunt.

Geoff was a long-standing member of the British Automobile Racing Club, a former regular Hill Climb competitor and a South West
Centre Committee Member. He will be remembered for many things; most notably being a true gentleman, always happy to help anyone, and his regular participation at Gurston Down in his beloved Lotus 22.

We are not sure exactly when Geoff first competed at Gurston which opened in 1967. However, if it was not from the very start, it was certainly only a year or so later. He later joined the Committee, again we are not sure of his exact service dates as his tenure predates our records which only go back as far as 1987. Geoff was active to the very last and would have been seen by many helping out at the May National Meeting which was only a week before his death.

Geoff will primarily be remembered for his beautiful Lotus 22, which will be present at his wake. However, Geoff competed in several cars over the years including an MGB, Cooper 500, March 733 (1598cc Twin Cam) and a Pilbeam MP51 which he purchased in 1980. He competed in both the Lotus and the March from the mid 70’s.

He retained the Lotus which he said he would never sell and did admit to being regretful at selling the March. So close to his heart was the Lotus, he even held a birthday party for it in the garden of his house where it was guest of honour. He last competed in the Lotus at Gurston in 2013 but only last year he threatened to get it out of hibernation to turn its wheels again.

A competitor and a gentleman who will be sadly missed by all that knew him.

Our condolences go to his wife Glynis, his family and friends.

Steve Harris – Rest in Peace

Jun 21, 2024

Sadly we have to announce that Steve Harris, a long time competitor at Gurston Down has died.

Steve competed at our very first meeting in 1967 and was another engineer from the Downton Motor Works and was the founder of the Downton Motor Club.

We offer our condolences to his wife Brenda, his family and friends.

Geoff Hunt

Jun 9, 2024

It is with great sadness that we have to announce that Geoff Hunt, the longest serving committee member at BARC South West and regular competitor until recently, has died.

Geoff was an outstanding member of the committee and a regular competitor at Gurston Down in the beautiful Lotus 22.

Our condolences to Glynis and his family. We will all miss him.

His funeral will be held on 3rd July 2024 at 11:45 at Knights Enham Church, Knights Enham, Andover, SP10 4DS and then after at Manor Farm, Knights Enham. SP10 4DS

Rest in Peace Geoff…

Here’s Geoff in 2013 in the Lotus 22.

Tim Pitfield – Retires from BARC SW Committee after more than 30 Years

Jun 9, 2024

Tim Pitfield has been a committee member at BARC South West Centre for more than 30 years, 32 years according to the records we can find. At our recent Annual General Meeting, Tim stepped down as an active committee member.

Tim has undertaken a wide variety of roles during his time on the committee and has worked tirelessly over the years to help make Gurston Down the success it is.

Simon Purcell thanked Tim and presented him with a decanter and glasses to remember his time with us. We will miss him but he’s not going to be taking a back seat. He has kindly agreed to continue the work he currently does and he’ll still be in the paddock, as a regular competitor.

On behalf of all the committee and the membership of BARC South West we thank you.