Gurston Down Speed Hill Climb celebrated it’s 50th Anniversary on the 17th and 18th June with two meetings over the Tony Marsh Memorial Weekend.

The Anniversary Celebrations included a number of cars, motorbikes, drivers and riders who were part of the Gurston family over the years. We will publish a separate report of the celebrations later.

Sunday brought an array of around 130 different cars and 30 motorbikes on the hill. Conditions were similar to Saturday.

The Sunday’s event was the third round of the Meadens Skoda Gurston Down Hill Climb Championship and the Cavendish Ship Stores BARC SW Top Ten Challenge. There will be more news of that later.

Sunday’s meeting also decided the who will be awarded the Tony Marsh Memorial Trophy.

Full Event Results:

Invited Classes:

The Volvo Owners Club Class went first. There were two lovely cars. It wasn’t much of a surprise to see the current class record holder, Richard Conway in the PV544 take the class win from Kevin Diamond in an Amazon. Not quite his record breaking form he had at the April meeting but it was close. His time was 43.54s.

The Morgan Cars Class came next. There were some really love;y cars running the hill. The Morgan Plus 8’s were dominant. Both drivers, Robert Toon and Alan Foster were close. Robert’s first timed run came in at 39.22s ahead of Alan. But Alan had a great second timed run but it wasn’t quite enough. He ended on 39.39s.

The Bugatti Owners Club Championship went next. Richard Jones in the Brabham BT29X was quickest with a 31.67s first timed run. The battle was now for second. Mike Broome in the Alexis Mk17 F3, switched classes from the Historically Interesting Class and took second from Nick Stephens in the Lotus 51b. Second, third and forth were all within one second of each other and the result would have been very different after the first timed runs.

Dave Reed and Ian Perry went next in the Service Hydraulics Speed Championship. Unfortunately, Ian had a serious mechanical failure at the start of the first timed run and just about made it to Hollow before pulling off the track. Dave Reed’s time 39.80s was quicker than Saturday’s time too!

The Gurston Down Regular Classes:

The Mazda MX5 Class, supported by DoctorMX5 went next. Mark Crookall was favorite after Saturday’s performance and Sunday’s performance was no expect. Not only did he win the class, broke his existing class record again. It now stands at 40.55s. As a consequence he has maintained his lead in the Meaden’s Skoda Gurston Down Championship. He also retained the Tony Marsh Memorial Trophy!

The Road Going Series Production Class up to 2000cc, supported by Record-Designs was next up. Tim Forster and his Lotus Elan lead from the first timed run and went even faster on the second, his time 37.76s just 0.50s short of the current class record. Dean Cubbit (Mazda MX5) and Paul Dickinson (Honda S2000) had a great battle for second and third ater the first timed run. But Paul had a fantastic second timed run finishing on 38.19s with Dean on 39.02s.

Stephen Moore, the former double Gurston Down Champion and class record holder had a good day in the over 2000cc Road Going Series Production Class supported by Turbo Dynamics. He wasn’t as fast as the previous day and finished on 34.40s. The next three were Jon Maycock and his MX5, Simon Marsh in the Golf R and Shaun Fudge and his Subaru Impreza.

It was all change in the Fieldfare Trailer Centre supported Road Going Specialist Production Class. Alan Mugglestone in his Raw Falcrum finished on 33.23s, ahead of Adrian Lewis (Westfield Superbusa) and Nicholas Mugglestone (Raw Falcrum). Nicholas beat Clive Skipper by just 0.01s! The first four being separated by just 1 second!

The Modified Limited Production Marque Sports Cars up to 2000cc Class was a repeat of Saturday’s event. Steve Butts, a former Gurston Down Champion, and his Lotus Elise take the win with an improved time of 34.99s.

Simon Purcell and the Lotus Elise won the over 2000cc Modified Limited Production Marque Sports Car Class. He was a little quicker than Saturday on the first timed, his time 33.83s. However, things didn’t quite go to plan on the section, Simon has a little bit or work to do after a little off on the second timed run.

There was a surprise in the all Mini line-up in the up to 1400cc Modified Series Production Class. Neil Turner produced an identical time of 35.26s to take the win!

Richard Wood Yamaha Mini had a better day. He end a little ahead of Saturday’s best with a 38.14s in the Modified Series Mini Class.

The 1401cc to 2000cc Modified Series Production Class, supported by Tipadel saw Tom Reeves and his Peugoet 106 win again. This time he was managed a 38.63, almost a second faster than Saturday. A great performance!

Jason Tunnicliffe and his 205 repeated Saturday’s win in the over 2000cc Modified Series Production Class, supported by Meadens Skoda. He also improved on his time and finished on 33.99s. Roy Baker in the Mitsubishi Evo saw a welcome return. He finished third behind Tim Painter’s Aston Martin Vantage GT4.

Victory in the Gates of Brokenhurst supported Over 2000cc Modified Specialist Production Class went to Mike Rudge. He beat his Saturday best time and finished on 31.51s. Anthony Orchard and Martin Watson switched places with Martin grabbing second after a super second timed run.

Fyrth Crosse and his Ensign F3 also repeated his Saturday victory in the Historically Interesting Class, supported by Kelvin Jouhar. He improved his time too, 33.52s was almost six seconds ahead of the second place man, James Dean.

Derek Harris improved his time in his Mallock17b in the Hill Climb Super Sports Class. Derek improved time was 34.41s.

It was another good day for Keith Diggle and his WEV HCS. His 31.99s first timed run in the Lewis Property Services supported Sports Libre up to 2000cc Class. Tim Pitfield and the DJ Firecat was second. It’s good to see the car both cars and drivers back.

The Sports Libre over 2000cc Class, supported by Berazzi Wheels gave Chris Cannell and the Force SR8 he shares with Sue Hayes the class win. His time means he is currently second in the Cavendish Ship Stores Top Ten Challenge.

The 601cc to 1100cc Racing Car Class, supported by Drynham Project Management Limited was a repeat of Saturday’s results. James Moore and his Empire Evo 2 lead from the start. He improved his Saturday time by a small margin, his time of 31.26s.

The 1101cc to 1600cc Racing Car Class, supported by SM AeRoTechniques with Brian and Adrian Moody was interesting on Sunday. Neal Coles did another sub 30 second run, finishing a on 29.89s, just a shade quicker than Saturday.

The first five cars in the Formula Ford class were separated by less than one second. The class record holder Simon McBeath was pushed hard by Peter Hannam, Mark Alley and Russell and George Haynes. Sam took the win, 36.43s, Peter, 36.60s and Mark 36.73s.

Dave Lord and his Quest SF86 won the 1601cc to 2000cc Racing Car – Normally Aspirated Class. He couldn’t quite match his Saturday time but he was well clear of Roger Cook. His time was 34.01s.

The 1601cc to 2000cc Racing Car – Forced Induction Class saw Andrew McBeath and his OMS manage a 30.31s first timed run.

Sandra Tomlin could match the pace of her son Oliver in the Over 2000cc Racing Car Class. Oliver also secured Fastest Time of the Day in the Pilbeam MP97-03. His finishing time was 27.92s

 

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 – BARC SW, Gurston Down Speed Hill Climb