September 8th – Championship Finale

The final event of the year at Gurston Down Speed Hill Climb took place on Sunday 8th September. These were the final two rounds of the Meadens Skoda Gurston Down Speed Hill Climb Championship and the final round of the Cavendish Ships Stores BARC SW Top Ten Challenge.

The weather was a little cool in the morning but soon warmed up. It was great to see that all the drivers were offered a third practice in the morning as the first two ran though very quickly. After lunch the real competition began.

With the overall Meadens Skoda Gurston Down Championship decided, Mark Crookall taking his third overall championship in succession with only what can be called some outstanding performances. There were plenty of battles in some of the classes that had yet to be decided.

The Cavendish Ships Stores BARC SW Top Ten Challenge was decided at this meeting. Chris Cannell in the Force SR8 took the title.

More on the two championships in a separate report.

Fastest Time of the Day and the Russell Challenge Trophy went to Pete Hammock in his Empire Wraith. It all seemed to come together for Pete on Sunday, the car being brand new at the beginning of the season, his time of 30.86s taking the award.


Class Reports:

The Triumph Register Class

The Triumph Register always brings a huge class of classic British cars to the hill. September was no exception. It was Steve Small and the lovely TR7 V8 that dominated both practice and the timed runs. His best timed run was the second run in the late afternoon when he finished on 36.63s. Roderick Warner in his TR7 V8 was second finishing over three seconds behind Steve, finishing on 40.26s. Roderick in turn was three seconds ahead of the TR6 of Dale Strachan after the first timed run. But he put a great second timed run pipping Dale Huxford in his Spitfire to third. Dale Strachan finished on 43.26s and Dale Huxford on 43.49s.

The MG Class

There were twelve car and driver combinations in the class. The super light weight Sprite of Ben Rolls dominated this class from the out set, his best timed run was 38.85s. It was up to the rest of the class to chase for second place. After the first timed run, there were three drivers split by just 0.4s. Peter Clark in his Midget ended second on 40.78s, Robert Bell in his F took third on 40.98s and Steve Luscombe in another Midget fourth on 41.08s.

The Austin Healey Class – Big Healey and Warwick Cars Class

There were six cars in the Big Healey and Warwick cars class entered. The 100/6 shared by Pat Cooper and John Tewson, in John’s hands just pipped Pat to the win. He improved his first timed run and finished on 38.20s with Pat just 1.30s behind on 39.50s.

The Austin Healey Class – Austin Healey Sprite Class

The Austin Healey Sprite Class had six drivers entered. The top three after the first timed run were within a second of each other. Steve Casson in the light weight Sebring, leading over Colin Gale and Maxwell Shand. Steve didn’t improve his first timed run which was 39.49s, Colin and Maxwell both improved their times but they were by enough to over-come Steve. Colin was second on 39.66s and Maxwell third on 40.09s.

The Isle of Wight Car Club

Jennie and Clive Stangle in their Mitsubishi Evo 5 took a commanding lead over Steven Wells in the SEWC SubZeroMore. Jennie and Clive set and reset the class record during the timed runs. Clive finished on 33.94s, a new class record and Clive’s first sub 34s run in the car. Jennie finished on 35.19s.

Regular Gurston Classes

The Gurston Down MX5 Class supported by the Window Doctor

The 2017, 2018 and 2019 Meadens Skoda Gurston Down Champion, Mark Crookall, was on sparkling form again in his Mazda Roadster RS. He reset the class record in both the first and second timed run. The first timed run was 38.99s and the second timed run 38.73s. That time would have given Mark third in the Up to 2000cc Road Going Class and don’t forget, the Mazda Class doesn’t allow any significant modifications, basically, they are standard cars! Jason Richardson in his Mk2.5 RS was second. His first timed run ended in a bit of a spin, but his second timed run was 39.61s. He managed to just stay ahead of Chris Burch, who shares Mark’s Mazda, who finished on 39.70s. Sadly, Jason is taking some time off and has sold the car to another regular in the class, Paul Wheatley.

Road Going Series Production Class up to 1400cc Class

John Davey, Managing Director of our Top Ten Challenge sponsor, Cavendish Ships Stores had issues with his gearbox during the first practice so didn’t take any further part in the meeting. This left David Nutland in his Mini to run alone. He finished on 41.10s.

Road Going Series Production Class up to 2000cc, supported by Record-Designs

This class has become very competitive this season. The top seven in this class were covered by just two seconds. The class championship leader and current class record holder, Miles Horne in his Peugeot 306 took the win with a 37.59s first timed run. Dean Cubitt in the Mazda MX5 was second on 38.48s with Russell and Chris Davies third and fourth respectively in the Honda Civic they share. They finished on 38.87s and 38.88s.

Over 2000cc Road Going Series Production Class, supported by Turbo Dynamics

Mike Rudge in the Ford Focus RS had a great day. He took the class win with a 36.22s first timed run. Paul Dickinson in the Renault Megane 250 Cup took second with a 37.11s first timed run.

Road Going Specialist Production Class, supported by Fieldfare Trailer Centre

Thomas McMillan in his Lotus Exige took control of this class from the first timed run. Thomas turned in a 36.00s second timed run, which left the rest of the class far behind. Bruce Bosley in the Caterham Super Sport took second on 38.37s and Andrew McMillan in the Lotus Exige was third on 38.61s.

The Modified Limited Production Marque Sports Cars up to 2000cc Class and the Modified Limited Production Marque Sports Cars over 2000cc Class were amalgamated

Graham Beale in the Ginetta G33 took the win over Simon Purcell in the Lotus Exige. Graham finished on 35.06s and Simon on 36.25s.

The up to 1400cc Modified Series Production Car Class

Neil Turner, the class record holder, in the Mini Cooper S won this class. He had a good lead over James White and the rest of the field after the first timed run. Unfortunately, James didn’t improve his time on the second run, meaning Neil takes the win. Neil’s time was 35.36s and James 36.54s.

Over 2000cc Modified Series Production Car Class, supported by Meadens Skoda

Jim Herbert in the Mitsubishi Evo took control of the class after the first timed run. Jim finished on 33.77s with Paul Meadows in the Renault Clio stopping the clocks on 38.57s.

The Modified Specialist Production Class, supported Gates of Brockenhurst

Richie Gatt in his Westfield and Martin Watson in his Westfield were just 0.02s apart after the first timed runs with Martin leading. That meant second timed runs were likely to be a decider. Martin improved his time by just over a half a second. Martin’s time was 31.91s. Richie Gatt didn’t improve his time so ended second on 32.58s.

The Historically Interesting Class (Pre 73), supported by Kelvin Jouhar

With just two lovely cars in this class. Mike Broome in the Alexis MK17 F3 was dominant. Mike’s time was 38.14s with Jeremy Smithson in the Lotus Elan finishing on 44.50s.

The Sports Libre up to 1400cc Class

Tim Pitfield in the DJ Firecat is the current class record holder and is having a great season. Sunday wasn’t any different. He did have a worrying mechanical issue during the day but that ended up being a very minor and simply fixed. He smashed the class record by more than one second, reducing it again this season. It now stands at 31.62s. Peter Steel in his Radical SR1 Gen 2 took second with almost identical times, 34.12s and 34.11s.

Sports Libre over 2000cc Class

Chris Cannell and Sue Hayes double drove the Force SR8 in this class. Chris had a great day, won the class on 30.95s and also added to his points in the Top Ten Challenge. As a consequence he won the Cavendish Ships Stores Top Ten Challenge for 2019.

The 601cc to 1100cc Racing Car Class, supported by Drynham Project Management

James Moore in the Empire 00 had a good lead after the first timed runs with a 31.56s. James didn’t improve on the second run but that time was good enough to secure first place. Murray Wakeham in the OMS CF96 was second on 32.36s with Tony Levitt in another Empire, this time an Evo, just 0.01s behind Murray after the first timed runs. Although both Murray and Tony improved their times, Tony’s was a little better. Tony finished second on 32.11s with Murray third, just four hundredths behind on 32.15s.

1101cc to 1600cc Racing Car Class and 1601cc to 2000cc Racing Car Class – Normally Aspirated were Amalgamated

This meant Roger Cock in the Pilbeam MP54 and Mike Lee in the OMS 3000M had a tough day. Pete Hammock and the lovely Empire Wraith was quickest. His time of 30.86s not only won the class but took the fastest time of the day too. Mike finished second on 31.54s and Roger third on 32.46s.

Our season, sadly, has now come to an end, well almost….

Don’t forget that we have our Annual Awards at The Stones, High Post, Near Salisbury on Saturday 2nd November. These are in the evening and those who would like to stay overnight should contact the hotel directly and mention the Awards Dinner and you’ll get rooms at discounted rates. More details of the Awards Dinner and an application form for the evening are available by following this link – ANNUAL AWARDS

As ever we would like to thank all those who made our weekend and season possible!

 

Anthony Record – Press Officer BARC SW Gurston Down Speed Hill Climb

The Meadens Skoda Championship 2019 – Class Results

There have been some amazing performances, close finishes and records broken in the Meadens Skoda Gurston Down Hill Climb Championship. The final two rounds of the took place at our September meeting.

Many of the Class Championships were undecided prior to the September meeting so every point in every round suddenly became very important. A number of classes didn’t have championship contenders entered which meant the dropped score rules made a difference.

Thank you to all the entrants in the championship, we couldn’t run it without all your support!

We would also like to thank all of the class sponsors for their support during 2019.

Here are the Official Class Results for the Meadens Skoda Gurston Down Championship:

The top five in each class have been included in these results. The full results are available online on our website.

The Mazda MX5 Class, supported by The Window Doctor

This class turned out to be the one to watch again this season. Mark Crookall won the class championship and the overall championship too! Jason Richardson pushed Mark all year, they swapped firsts and seconds, broke the target time and the class record through-out the season. The record, set by Mark at the September meeting, now stands at 38.61s. Jason’s performances gave him third in the overall championship after the tie-break rules were taken into account.

Mark wins the Record-Designs Award.

Result 2019

Points

Mark Crookall

109

Jason Richardson

102

Chris Burch

83

Paul Wheatley

72

Malcolm Francis

64

 

Road Going Series Production Class up to 1400cc

The two contenders in this class have traded places all season. This class was another class settled on the tie-break rules. David Nutland in the Austin Mini won after John Davey had a number of mechanical issues with the Midget, one of which meant he had to withdraw from the September meeting. The class record, 40.55s, is held by David Nutland but this record is still higher than the class’s target time of 40.44s originally set by John. What will next season hold?

Result 2019

Points

David Nutland

84

John Davey

84

 

Road Going Series Production Class 1401cc to 2000cc, supported by Record-Designs

This class has been another very competitive class in 2019. Miles Horne brought his superfast Peugeot 306 back to the hill. Miles stamped his authority on the class in the very first round of the season by breaking the class record. He had some mechanical issues mid-season but things came good and he reset the record again in July. Dean Cubitt in his Mazda MX5 had to push hard to keep Chris Davies in the Honda Civic and Tim Forster in the Lotus Elan at bay and took second. Chris was third and Tim fourth.

Result 2019

Points

Miles Horne

102

Dean Cubitt

92

Chris Davies

80

Tim Forster

79

Russell Davies

67

 

Over 2000cc Road Going Series Production Class, supported by Turbo Dynamics

The Lewis Dean Subaru Impreza pretty much dominated this class this season. The car is shared by Shaun and Sarah Fudge. Shaun winning the majority of the rounds being beaten by Sarah twice and Steve Cox once during the season.

Result 2019

Points

Shaun Fudge

99

Sarah Fudge

88

Steve Cox

78

Tony Mullis

76

 

Road Going Specialist Production Class, supported by Fieldfare Trailer Centre

Mark Parrett, manager of Fieldfare Trailers, in his Autotune Gemini, won the class with some solid performances. The class is small and the class record very low, which means it is difficult to score maximum points. Nigel Holt changed his car in August to a non-road going Caterham, would this have made any difference? Looking at the class results in September, Mark would have still taken the class championship.

Picture by Ian Rawlings

Result 2019

Points

Mark Parrett

87

Nigel Holt

84

Adrian Lewis

50

 

Over 2000cc Modified Limited Production Marque Sports Car Class

The Porsche 911 and Phil Price were always the likely winners of this class. Paul Slade’s E Type just doesn’t have the grunt of the 911. Paul also had mechanical issues for the first part of season which meant he had lots of catching up to do.

Result 2019

Points

Phil Price

84

Paul Slade

41

 

Up to 1400cc Modified Series Production Class

Neil Turner, in the Mini dominated class, has reset the class record this season. The record now stands. As a consequence you may have expected him to have easily won the class championship. However, David Bean, in his Mini, chased Neil right to the end of the season and the points margin between them was just 2!

Result 2019

Points

Neil Turner

83

David Bean

81

Jim White

56

Connor Manley

41

 

Over 2000cc Modified Series Production Class, supported by Meadens Skoda

Mark Walker and the Porsche Cayman won this class. He’s had a great season after suffering reliability issues last year. Richard Hillyar in the rather rare and unusual Renault 21 Turbo took second.

Result 2019

Points

Mark Walker

77

Richard Hillyar

72

 

Over 2000cc Modified Specialist Production Class, supported Gates of Brockenhurst

Steve Holland in his Caterham has had a great season winning the class. Steve, Richie Gatt and Martin Watson had great battles when they all competed together. You really didn’t know which would come out on top.

Result 2019

Points

Steve Holland

94

Richie Gatt

81

Martin Watson

53

 

Historically Interesting Class, supported by Kelvin Jouhar

Jeremy Smithson in his beautifully presented Lotus Elan Fixed Head Coupe was the only entrant in this class.

Result 2019

Points

Jeremy Smithson

40

 

Hill Climb Super Sports Cars Class

There was just one entry in this class, Richard Fry in his rare Mallock 25/27.

Result 2019

Points

Richard Fry

32

 

Sports Libre up to 1400cc

Tim Pitfield in his DJ Firecat has had, what can only be described as, a fantastic season. Tim and the DJ Firecat have set and reset the class record at almost every event. The record now stands at 31.62s. Peter Steel and his Radical SR1, a new car to Peter this year, has been improving his times all season as has Craig Russell in his Westfield XTR2.

Result 2019

Points

Tim Pitfield

102

Peter Steel

90

Craig Russell

80

 

Sports Libre over 2000cc Class

Chris Cannell in the Force SR8 he shares with Sue Hayes has had a great season. Not only did he win the class championship but he took the Cavendish Ships Stores BARC SW Top Ten Challenge.

Result 2019

Points

Chris Cannell

90

Sue Hayes

80

 

601cc to 1100cc Racing Car Class, supported by Drynham Project Management Limited

David Cuff in his OMS CF97 has had to fight hard against Murray Wakeham in an OMS CF96 all season. Murray had some reliability issues mid-season which may have helped David with his championship challenge. They ended just one point apart, David ultimately winning.

Picture by Dan Young

Result 2019

Points

David Cuff

85

Murray Wakeham

84

Steve Loadsman

46

Alan Joy

35

 

1101cc to 1600cc Racing Car Class

Peter Hammock’s Empire Wraith have dominated the class for much of the season. Mike Lee in the OMS3000M has made sure Peter didn’t have it all his own way, beating Peter a couple of times. In September Peter finished the season on a high by winning Fastest Time of the Day.

Result 2019

Points

Peter Hammock

82

Mike Lee

42

 

1601cc to 2000cc Racing Car – Normally Aspirated Class

Roger Cock in the Pilbeam MP54 had a great season. Tony Wilshire brought his Ralt RT34 to the hill for a few events and made Roger work for every point.

Result 2019

Points

Roger Cock

73

Tony Wiltshire

38

 

1601cc to 2000cc Racing Car – Force Induction

Paul Haimes and his lovely turbocharged Gould GR59 was the only entry in this class.

Result 2019

Points

Paul Haimes

32

 

Racing Car Over 2000cc

As many of your know, Paul Crute had a rather dramatic incident in his lovely Jaguar powered OMS. Fortunately, Paul was uninjured. We understand that Paul and the car will be back with us next season. We look forward to seeing Paul again next year.

Result 2019

Points

Paul Crute

48

 

We would like to thank all of our sponsors for their support in 2019.

We would also like to thank everyone who made our events and championship possible.

E&OE

Anthony Record – Press Officer – BARC SW, Gurston Down Speed Hill Climb

RESULT – The Cavendish Ships Stores BARC SW Top Ten Challenge

The Cavendish Ships Stores BARC SW Top Ten Challenge title was decided at the September meeting. Chris Cannell and the Force SR8 won the title.

In previous years the Top Ten Challenge had already been won at the July meeting but the 2019 season was different. Mathematically, Chris could have been beaten but as we all know, motorsport can be full of surprises.

The Result of the Cavendish Ships Stores BARC SW Top Ten Challenge 2019 were:

Results 2019

Points

Chris Cannell

47

Peter Hammock

40

Steve Holland

37

Paul Crute

29

Murray Wakeham

28

Ritchie Gatt

25

Tim Pitfield

24

Tony Wiltshire

23

Paul Haimes

20

Mike Lee

20

Martin Watson

16

Roger Cock

15

Second – Peter Hammock

Third – Steve Holland

We would like to thank all of our sponsor, Cavendish Ships Stores for their continued support in 2019.

E&OE

Anthony Record – Press Officer – BARC SW, Gurston Down Speed Hill Climb