WOW! The first of the two visits to Gurston Down Speed Hill Climb 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 was amazing. The weather was kind, particularly on practice day but Sunday saw some amazing performances with long standing records being broken and two incredibly close run Top Ten Run-offs.
There were over 140 cars and drivers competing in everything from standard road cars, specially prepared hill climb cars and spectacularly fast sport and single seat racing cars.
Spectators saw some fabulous performances but more on that later in the report.
Saturday was practice day and the weather was almost perfect for racing. The course was warm and dry and the air temperature cool. The practice performances gave an indication of what was to come when the cars took to the track on Sunday.
Sunday’s weather was a little over cast for morning practice but it didn’t stop there being some great performances.
Fastest Time of the Day went to Will Hall in the Force WH-Xtec with a 26.03s second timed run.
Class Results in Detail:
The BARC South West B Licence Class
A good entry in this class of B Licence holders saw Martin Watson dominate the class in his Westfield. He lead the class from practice and dominated the timed runs finishing on 32.20s. Second was the Roland Hanbury / Campbell Adams OMS 2000M in Roland’s hands and third in Campbell’s hands, finishing on 37.20s and 38.26s. Russell Davies in the Honda Civic was fourth on 39.55s and Nigel Holt in his Caterham fifth on 40.44s. A personal best for Nigel.
The Road Going Series Production Car Class up to 2000cc and the Over 2000cc Class was Amalgamated
Mike Rudge and the Ford Focus RS won with a 36.77s first timed run ahead of Dean Cubitt in his Mazda MX5 on 37.57s a personal best for him too! Nick Revels, Gurston Down’s Competition Secretary, switched to the MG Midget he’s running in the Hill Climb Masters at St Goueno next weekend as he hadn’t had any seat time in the car.
The Road Going Specialist Production Car Class
Adrian Lewis and his Westfield Superbusa was dominant in this class from first practice. His second timed run stopped the clock on 34.92s with Mark Parrett in the Fairfield Trailers Autotune Gemini second on 41.29s. John Davey, the Managing Director of our Top Ten Challenge Sponsor, Cavendish Ships Stores, had issues with the gearbox not staying in gear in the TVR Vixen so he withdraw after practice. As he and the car are entered in the St Goueno.
Modified Series Production Car Class up to 1400cc
Eric Morrey in his turbo-charged Hillman Imp put in a great performance and managed to beat James White in the Austin Mini to take first in class. Eric first time run was 36.48s and James’s was 36.85s settled the class as neither improved their times in the second timed run.
Modified Series Production Car Class over 2000cc
The current class record holder Stephen Moore in the Mitsubishi Evo RS put in superb performance, lowering his existing class record with a second timed run of 32.16s. His margin over the rest of the class was handsom, more than two seconds. Jason Tuncliffe took second on 34.56s. Third was decided by the second timed runs as Tim Painter in the Aston Martin Vantage GT4 had tied with Jim Herbert in the Mitsubishi Evo 5.on 35.75s. Tim improved his time by more than a second. Jim improved his time but not by enough to that third. Tim’s second time run was 34.79s and Jim’s 35.37s. Stephen may be another contender for next months Tony Marsh Memorial Award.
Modified Specialist Production Cars Class
Simon Jenks in his Caterham S3 had a great weekend. Simon took the win with a 31.46s first timed run with Steve Holland second on 32.13s.
Up to 2000cc Sports Libre Car Class
It was Tim Pitfield his DJ Firecat was on sparkling form, his new slicks proved their worth right out of the box. Tim took the win with a 32.79s which had this been the usual Gurston class up to 1400cc would have been a class record. He should be a contender for the Tony Marsh Memorial Award which is awarded at the June meetings. Pete Steel and the Radical SR1 was second after having a few issues.
Over 2000cc Sports Libre Car Class
The mad Mini Evo of a former Manx Grand Prix winner (on a bike, of course), Allan McDonald took the win. Geoff Twemlow just couldn’t get his Saker GT to behave and decided that it would be better to withdraw. Alan times was 31.43s.
Up to 600cc Racing Car Class
Les Buck in his OMS Hornet was alone in the class and finished on 35.62s..
601cc to 1100cc Racing Car Class
The huge entry in this class really did produce some great performances. Robert Kenrick in the GWR Raptor 2, took the win, qualifies for both Top Ten Run-offs and set a new class record. The record has stood for 15 year! It now stands at 24.42s. The DJ Firehawk of Debbie Dunbar was second on 30.08s pipping Steve Owen by one hundredth, who took third. The next six places were covered by just one second.
Formula Ford Racing Cars up to 1600cc Built Before 1994
Samantha Lester in her Van Diemen FR92 was in sparkling form and took the class win with a 37.82s first timed run.
1100cc to 1600cc Racing Car Class
David and Allan Warburton in the Gould GR59 took the one two in this class, although issues with the car meant they couldn’t take the second timed runs. David finished on 29.03s and Allan on 30.30s.
1601cc to 2000cc Racing Car Class – Normally Aspirated
Tim Elmer and his Dallara F399 had a great weekend. He made the class his own during practice and followed through in the timed runs. His final time of 30.21s put him well ahead of Roger Cock in the Pilbeam MP54 who was chased hard by Nikki Cottrill in the MP82. Roger finished on 32.99s and Nikki 32.12s.
1601cc to 2000cc Racing Car Class – Forced Induction
Richard Spedding in this GWR Raptor was the sole entrant in this class. He was here to qualify for the Top Ten Run-offs, which he did both times, and score championship points. He did exactly that, finishing on 27.20s.
Over 2000cc Racing Car Class
The Force WH-XTEC of Will Hall hasn’t been out on the hills due to engine issues. However, after the performance this weekend, they are BACK. Practice was close with most of the runner’s times just a few tenths or less apart. The first timed run went to Wallace Menzies in his Gould GR59 is the current leader of the British Championship who stopped the clocks on 26.30s but Will managed to pip that time with a 26.03s second timed run. That also gave him Fastest Time of the Day. Scott Moran in the Gould GR61x was third and Sean Gould in the new Gould GR59 Judd was fourth.
Racing and Racing Cars Built up to 1971
The Chevron B19 shared by Amanda and Richard George, in Richard’s hands took the win in this class with a 35.77s run. The Brabham BT35 with Christopher Jones was second on 36.04s.
Sports Racing and Racing Cars Built up to 1985
Roger Deans in the 5 litre car Lola T142 first timed run was 36.91s.
The Porsche Club’s National Hill Climb Championship Class 2
David Dyson and his 911 GT3 lead from the first timed run but it’s wasn’t certain by any means. His first timed run was 35.95s. Robert Lancaster-Gaye in his 911 GT3 worked hard but couldn’t quite catch David. David improved his time a little on the second timed run, 35.91s. Robert finished on 36.36s.
The Porsche Club’s National Hill Climb Championship Class 1
The all 911 line-up in this class. Phil Price a Gurston Down regular, joined the class and chased the eventual winner Paul Howells every step of the way. Paul’s first timed run 32.83s was good enough after Phil had issues on the second timed run.
Then it was the turn of the Lotus 7 Club Championship runners.
The Lotus 7 Club Championship Class 1 – Cars Up to 125 bhp
Paul Boston took the win in this class with a first timed run of 38.85s.
The Lotus 7 Club Championship Class 2 – Cars up to 150 bhp – List 1A Tyres
The huge entry in this class produced an amazing result. The top four in this class were separated by just 0.50s. Both of Clive Marsden’s runs were ahead of all of the other drivers. His first run of 37.30s was the winner. Graham Howard, Rob Clay and Alan Bowler were second, third and fourth respectively. Their times were 37.75s, 37.78s and 37.80s.
The Lotus 7 Club Championship Class 3 – Cars up to 150 bhp – List 1B Tyres
Richard Price took the class win with a 36.37s first timed run, a great performance. Robert Jacobs’s experience might have helped him with the second place on 36.88s. Philip Matchmix was third on 37.15s. Interestingly, Philip’s first and second timed run were identical times, a remarkable feat as the timing is to 0.01 of a second.
The Lotus 7 Club Championship – Class 4 – Car up to 210 bhp
Mike Cocker had a great first timed run, putting himself in first place. In the second timed run he went faster as did others in the class. Unfortunately, Jon Davies couldn’t match Mike’s first timed run. Mike went better in the second timed run and took the win by almost three quarter of a second.
The Lotus 7 Club Championship – Class 5
Michael Sankey looked like second might be where he would finish after the first timed run. He was behind Jeremy Davies by almost 0.75s. But a sterling performance in the second timed run turned that around. Michael finished on 34.55s and Jeremy on 34.80s.
The Lotus 7 Club Championship – Class 6/7
Simon Rogers took control of the class after the first timed run. He was almost one second over Shaun Elwell. But Simon had an issue and didn’t complete the second timed run leaving the door open for the others in the class. It was Shaun who snatched second, Robert Margel improved his time by over one second overhauling Shaun. Simon was first and Robert second and Shaun ended third.
Avon Tyres / Wynn Developments MSUK British Hill Climb Championship – Round 9
The weather greeted the first run-off with a very light drizzle. It didn’t seem to make any difference to the performances. Will Hall in the Force WH-XTEC was fastest with a 26.44s run. Wallace Menzies in the Gould GR59 second on 26.73s but he was almost than half a second down at the intermediate timing point but made half of that up in the Karousel to Ashes and the final section. Scott Moran in the Gould GR61X was third with a 26.90s.
Avon Tyres / Wynn Developments MSUK British Hill Climb Championship – Round 10
Scott Moran put in a great performance in the afternoon run-off. He won with a time of 27.07s. Wallace Menzies, second just 0.08s behind on 27.15s, Alex Summers in the DJ Firestorm just 0.02s behind Wallace, on 27.17s and Sean Gould in the Gould GR59 Judd just 0.01s behind Alex, 27.18s. The next three were separated by just 0.20s! Great performances all round. Unfortunately, Will Hall managed to spin and had a failed run.
E&OE – Anthony Record – Press Officer Gurston Down Speed Hill Climb – BARC SW