British Hillclimb Championship Gurston Down 23rd & 24th May 2026
RYDER SETS A SEARING PACE IN WILTSHIRE SUNSHINE
The British Hillclimb Championship presented by Nova Motorsport reconvened for Rounds Seven and Eight at the fast Gurston Down course over the Spring Bank Holiday weekend of the 23rd and 24th of May, with one of the points-paying Top 12 Run-Offs taking place each day. The Wiltshire hill is famous for its downhill start and high speeds among the chalk downs, with the course celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2027. The 1057yds course only hosts the British Hillclimb Championship once a year now after the August meeting fell by the wayside when a new-look calendar was produced post-Covid in 2021. A time of under 30 seconds is going some but the hill record is a staggering 25.00 seconds, set by Alex Summers’ Cosworth XD-powered DJ Firestorm in 2022.
Harewood in West Yorkshire played host to the previous British Hillclimb Championship meeting a fortnight beforehand and four-time champion Wallace Menzies took his first Run-Off win of 2026 in Round Five by just 0.07 seconds from Will Hall, with Trevor Willis in third as 2025 title holder Matthew Ryder non-scored in 12th after electrical gremlins intervened. Ryder responded in the later Top 12 Run-Off to prevail by 0.27 seconds from Hall as Menzies completed the podium. Hall leads championship on 57 points from the tied Ryder and Menzies on 51 arriving in Wiltshire.
The British Hillclimb Championship presented by Nova Motorsport reconvened for Rounds Seven and Eight at the fast Gurston Down course over the Spring Bank Holiday weekend of the 23rd and 24th of May, with one of the points-paying Top 12 Run-Offs taking place each day. The Wiltshire hill is famous for its downhill start and high speeds among the chalk downs, with the course celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2027. The 1057yds course only hosts the British Hillclimb Championship once a year now after the August meeting fell by the wayside when a new-look calendar was produced post-Covid in 2021. A time of under 30 seconds is going some but the hill record is a staggering 25.00 seconds, set by Alex Summers’ Cosworth XD-powered DJ Firestorm in 2022.
Harewood in West Yorkshire played host to the previous British Hillclimb Championship meeting a fortnight beforehand and four-time champion Wallace Menzies took his first Run-Off win of 2026 in Round Five by just 0.07 seconds from Will Hall, with Trevor Willis in third as 2025 title holder Matthew Ryder non-scored in 12th after electrical gremlins intervened. Ryder responded in the later Top 12 Run-Off to prevail by 0.27 seconds from Hall as Menzies completed the podium. Hall leads championship on 57 points from the tied Ryder and Menzies on 51 arriving in Wiltshire.
British Hillclimb Championship Round Seven
The opening British Hillclimb Championship presented by Nova Motorsport Top 12 Run-Off was held on Saturday afternoon and formed Round Seven on the calendar. The field had just one timed run to seal their place in the competition for British championship points. The double-driven Greenen brothers Empire went first with Adam at the wheel and he was also the 12th-fastest qualifier, the 1600cc machine equalled its qualifying time with 28.86 seconds to draw the first line in the sand. Classmate Jason Tunnicliffe was up next and the 1-litre turbo Empire shaved 0.58 seconds from Greenen’s initial time to become the new leader on 28.28 seconds. Alex Summers got into the run-off with the tenth-fastest run aboard his self-designed and built AFS P4T single seater and the Opel V6-powered device took 0.13 seconds from Tunnicliffe to lead the way on 28.15 seconds. Three of the first four cars to take to the hill all came from the 1600cc split and the ultra-committed Andy Greenen had impressively outqualified the 2015 British Champion Summers but the Empire Evo3 missed the top spot by 0.06 seconds with a 28.21-second shot. However, Greenen did trim 0.07 seconds from Tunnicliffe’s marker to guarantee himself at least one point towards the British Championship. The Cosworth XD-motivated OMS 28 of Harry Pick was next to go and he too couldn’t match Summers as he fell 0.03 seconds shy on 28.18 seconds to slot into second place. Three-time British Hillclimb Champion Trevor Willis came to the line next with his RPE V8-equipped OMS 28 and the pace moved up a gear as ‘Scary Trev’ lopped 1.09 seconds from Summers’ effort to become the latest leader on 27.06 seconds. The successful Gould GR55B chassis of Dave Uren, which was a championship winner and long-time Shelsley Walsh hill record holder with Martin Groves at the helm, qualified in sixth and Uren took the Gould up the course 0.05 seconds quicker than Willis to sit at the top of the tree on 27.01 seconds. The next two cars to run were from the Up to 2000cc Forced Induction split and Alex Coles went first, becoming the new leader by 0.26 seconds with his supercharged Force TA as the lower capacity car set a 26.75-second charge. Fourth qualifier Paul Haimes in the first of the Gould GR59 chassis to run immediately bested his 2-litre Forced Induction classmate Coles by 0.25 seconds for a new benchmark time of 26.50 seconds. Three cars remained and all of them were from the top Over 2000cc Racing Car class. Championship leader Will Hall was the first to go and found over three tenths from his qualifying time, becoming the first driver into the ’25s’ and the Gould GR59 went 0.79 seconds clear at the top with a rapid 25.71-second climb after reaching a massive 158.6 mph over the finish line. Four-time British Champion Wallace Menzies brought his spectacular-sounding Cosworth XD-powered Gould GR59 to the startline as the second-fastest qualifier but the Scot couldn’t match Hall with his 26.06-second attempt so slotted into second place with just the top qualifier Matthew Ryder left to run. The current title holder fired off the line and was already one tenth up after just 64 feet, the momentum continued as Ryder was 0.13 seconds clear at the intermediate split before the Gould GR59J flashed across the finish at 157.5 mph to take the Round Seven win by 0.22 seconds in a time of 25.49 seconds.
Result
1. Matthew Ryder 4000cc Gould GR59J 25.49
2. Will Hall 4000cc Gould GR59 25.71 +0.22
3. Wallace Menzies 3300cc Gould GR59M 26.06 +0.57
4. Paul Haimes 1300t Gould GR59 26.50 +1.01
5. Alex Coles 1340s Force TA 26.75 +1.26
6. Dave Uren 3500cc Gould GR55B 27.01 +1.52
7. Trevor Willis 3200cc OMS 28 27.06 +1.57
8. Alex Summers 2500cc AFS P4T 28.15 +2.66
9. Harry Pick 2650cc OMS 28 28.18 +2.69
10. Andy Greenen 1598cc Empire Evo3 28.21 +2.72
11. Jason Tunnicliffe 998t Empire Evo3 28.28 +2.79
12. Adam Greenen 1598cc Empire Evo3 28.86 +3.37
The opening British Hillclimb Championship presented by Nova Motorsport Top 12 Run-Off was held on Saturday afternoon and formed Round Seven on the calendar. The field had just one timed run to seal their place in the competition for British championship points. The double-driven Greenen brothers Empire went first with Adam at the wheel and he was also the 12th-fastest qualifier, the 1600cc machine equalled its qualifying time with 28.86 seconds to draw the first line in the sand. Classmate Jason Tunnicliffe was up next and the 1-litre turbo Empire shaved 0.58 seconds from Greenen’s initial time to become the new leader on 28.28 seconds. Alex Summers got into the run-off with the tenth-fastest run aboard his self-designed and built AFS P4T single seater and the Opel V6-powered device took 0.13 seconds from Tunnicliffe to lead the way on 28.15 seconds. Three of the first four cars to take to the hill all came from the 1600cc split and the ultra-committed Andy Greenen had impressively outqualified the 2015 British Champion Summers but the Empire Evo3 missed the top spot by 0.06 seconds with a 28.21-second shot. However, Greenen did trim 0.07 seconds from Tunnicliffe’s marker to guarantee himself at least one point towards the British Championship. The Cosworth XD-motivated OMS 28 of Harry Pick was next to go and he too couldn’t match Summers as he fell 0.03 seconds shy on 28.18 seconds to slot into second place. Three-time British Hillclimb Champion Trevor Willis came to the line next with his RPE V8-equipped OMS 28 and the pace moved up a gear as ‘Scary Trev’ lopped 1.09 seconds from Summers’ effort to become the latest leader on 27.06 seconds. The successful Gould GR55B chassis of Dave Uren, which was a championship winner and long-time Shelsley Walsh hill record holder with Martin Groves at the helm, qualified in sixth and Uren took the Gould up the course 0.05 seconds quicker than Willis to sit at the top of the tree on 27.01 seconds. The next two cars to run were from the Up to 2000cc Forced Induction split and Alex Coles went first, becoming the new leader by 0.26 seconds with his supercharged Force TA as the lower capacity car set a 26.75-second charge. Fourth qualifier Paul Haimes in the first of the Gould GR59 chassis to run immediately bested his 2-litre Forced Induction classmate Coles by 0.25 seconds for a new benchmark time of 26.50 seconds. Three cars remained and all of them were from the top Over 2000cc Racing Car class. Championship leader Will Hall was the first to go and found over three tenths from his qualifying time, becoming the first driver into the ’25s’ and the Gould GR59 went 0.79 seconds clear at the top with a rapid 25.71-second climb after reaching a massive 158.6 mph over the finish line. Four-time British Champion Wallace Menzies brought his spectacular-sounding Cosworth XD-powered Gould GR59 to the startline as the second-fastest qualifier but the Scot couldn’t match Hall with his 26.06-second attempt so slotted into second place with just the top qualifier Matthew Ryder left to run. The current title holder fired off the line and was already one tenth up after just 64 feet, the momentum continued as Ryder was 0.13 seconds clear at the intermediate split before the Gould GR59J flashed across the finish at 157.5 mph to take the Round Seven win by 0.22 seconds in a time of 25.49 seconds.
Result
1. Matthew Ryder 4000cc Gould GR59J 25.49
2. Will Hall 4000cc Gould GR59 25.71 +0.22
3. Wallace Menzies 3300cc Gould GR59M 26.06 +0.57
4. Paul Haimes 1300t Gould GR59 26.50 +1.01
5. Alex Coles 1340s Force TA 26.75 +1.26
6. Dave Uren 3500cc Gould GR55B 27.01 +1.52
7. Trevor Willis 3200cc OMS 28 27.06 +1.57
8. Alex Summers 2500cc AFS P4T 28.15 +2.66
9. Harry Pick 2650cc OMS 28 28.18 +2.69
10. Andy Greenen 1598cc Empire Evo3 28.21 +2.72
11. Jason Tunnicliffe 998t Empire Evo3 28.28 +2.79
12. Adam Greenen 1598cc Empire Evo3 28.86 +3.37
British Hillclimb Championship Round Eight
Round Eight of the British Hillclimb Championship presented by Nova Motorsport closed the meeting on Sunday afternoon. The 1600cc class Empire of Andy Greenen was the first to go in the Top 12 Run-Off and he set a target of 28.57 seconds that the next runner Andy Bougourd couldn’t match, the 2000cc Normally Aspirated class Force missing out by just five hundredths of a second with a 28.62 second-run. Greenen’s class rival Jason Tunnicliffe went next and bumped the similar Empire back to second place with a 28.27-second shot, the turbocharged Evo3 knocking three tenths off the normally-aspirated chassis’s effort as he secured at least one point. The self-developed AFS P4T of Alex Summers followed Tunnicliffe up the hill and the 2015 British Hillclimb Champion moved the goalposts by a significant margin as he went top by 0.82 seconds with a 27.45-second run, helped by a 64-feet time of 2.01 seconds. Harry Pick was next to the line but the Cosworth V8-engined OMS 28 couldn’t better Summers' target as he reached the finish 0.29 seconds slower than the V6-powered machine before it and set a 27.74 seconds time. The similar OMS 28 of triple British Hillclimb Champion Trevor Willis qualified in seventh and the RPE V8-powered chassis fired to the head of the field in 27.14 seconds, taking 0.31 seconds from Summers’ marker. The first of a pair of cars from the Up to 2000cc Forced Induction class went next and the supercharged Force TA driven by Alex Coles quickly became the newest name in the top spot after setting the first sub-27-second time, his 26.99-second ascent put the Force a narrow 0.15 seconds in the lead. Dave Uren followed Coles to the startline and the rapid Gould was expected to vault to the number one spot but a scruffy run saw the GR55B cross the line in 27.81 seconds to slip between Pick and Tunnicliffe for fifth at the time. The faster of the two Up to 2000cc Forced Induction class machines on the day launched his attack next and the turbocharged Gould GR59 of Paul Haimes removed Coles from the summit by an impressive 0.41 seconds with his 26.58-second joust as just the three fastest qualifiers remained. Quadruple champion Wallace Menzies was the first of the trio of V8-engined Gould GR59s to set off and the Scot duly lowered the benchmark time by another 0.41 seconds to 26.17 seconds. Will Hall had qualified with a time comfortably faster than Menzies had set in the Run-Off and the Judd-engined missile obliterated the leading time by a full 0.83 seconds to leave an imposing 25.34-second target for last-to-go Matthew Ryder to beat. The reigning champion all but matched Hall off the line as the two Goulds both covered the first 64 feet in less than two seconds, equal to 1G of accelerative force. A smooth but committed run followed and Ryder rocketed to the top in 25.27 seconds and claimed his second run-off victory of the weekend by 0.07 seconds.
Result
1. Matthew Ryder 4000cc Gould GR59J 25.27
2. Will Hall 4000cc Gould GR59 25.34 +0.07
3. Wallace Menzies 3300cc Gould GR59M 26.17 +0.90
4. Paul Haimes 1300t Gould GR59 26.58 +1.31
5. Alex Coles 1340s Force TA 26.99 +1.72
6. Trevor Willis 3200cc OMS 28 27.14 +1.87
7. Alex Summers 2500cc AFS P4T 27.45 +2.18
8. Harry Pick 2650cc OMS 28 27.74 +2.47
9. Dave Uren 3500cc Gould GR55B 27.81 +2.54
10. Jason Tunnicliffe 998t Empire Evo3 28.27 +3.00
11. Andy Greenen 1598cc Empire Evo3 28.57 +3.30
12. Andy Bougourd 1630cc Force PT 28.62 +3.35
Matthew Ryder reduced his deficit to championship leader Will Hall to a slender four points after his double run-off victories.
Round Eight of the British Hillclimb Championship presented by Nova Motorsport closed the meeting on Sunday afternoon. The 1600cc class Empire of Andy Greenen was the first to go in the Top 12 Run-Off and he set a target of 28.57 seconds that the next runner Andy Bougourd couldn’t match, the 2000cc Normally Aspirated class Force missing out by just five hundredths of a second with a 28.62 second-run. Greenen’s class rival Jason Tunnicliffe went next and bumped the similar Empire back to second place with a 28.27-second shot, the turbocharged Evo3 knocking three tenths off the normally-aspirated chassis’s effort as he secured at least one point. The self-developed AFS P4T of Alex Summers followed Tunnicliffe up the hill and the 2015 British Hillclimb Champion moved the goalposts by a significant margin as he went top by 0.82 seconds with a 27.45-second run, helped by a 64-feet time of 2.01 seconds. Harry Pick was next to the line but the Cosworth V8-engined OMS 28 couldn’t better Summers' target as he reached the finish 0.29 seconds slower than the V6-powered machine before it and set a 27.74 seconds time. The similar OMS 28 of triple British Hillclimb Champion Trevor Willis qualified in seventh and the RPE V8-powered chassis fired to the head of the field in 27.14 seconds, taking 0.31 seconds from Summers’ marker. The first of a pair of cars from the Up to 2000cc Forced Induction class went next and the supercharged Force TA driven by Alex Coles quickly became the newest name in the top spot after setting the first sub-27-second time, his 26.99-second ascent put the Force a narrow 0.15 seconds in the lead. Dave Uren followed Coles to the startline and the rapid Gould was expected to vault to the number one spot but a scruffy run saw the GR55B cross the line in 27.81 seconds to slip between Pick and Tunnicliffe for fifth at the time. The faster of the two Up to 2000cc Forced Induction class machines on the day launched his attack next and the turbocharged Gould GR59 of Paul Haimes removed Coles from the summit by an impressive 0.41 seconds with his 26.58-second joust as just the three fastest qualifiers remained. Quadruple champion Wallace Menzies was the first of the trio of V8-engined Gould GR59s to set off and the Scot duly lowered the benchmark time by another 0.41 seconds to 26.17 seconds. Will Hall had qualified with a time comfortably faster than Menzies had set in the Run-Off and the Judd-engined missile obliterated the leading time by a full 0.83 seconds to leave an imposing 25.34-second target for last-to-go Matthew Ryder to beat. The reigning champion all but matched Hall off the line as the two Goulds both covered the first 64 feet in less than two seconds, equal to 1G of accelerative force. A smooth but committed run followed and Ryder rocketed to the top in 25.27 seconds and claimed his second run-off victory of the weekend by 0.07 seconds.
Result
1. Matthew Ryder 4000cc Gould GR59J 25.27
2. Will Hall 4000cc Gould GR59 25.34 +0.07
3. Wallace Menzies 3300cc Gould GR59M 26.17 +0.90
4. Paul Haimes 1300t Gould GR59 26.58 +1.31
5. Alex Coles 1340s Force TA 26.99 +1.72
6. Trevor Willis 3200cc OMS 28 27.14 +1.87
7. Alex Summers 2500cc AFS P4T 27.45 +2.18
8. Harry Pick 2650cc OMS 28 27.74 +2.47
9. Dave Uren 3500cc Gould GR55B 27.81 +2.54
10. Jason Tunnicliffe 998t Empire Evo3 28.27 +3.00
11. Andy Greenen 1598cc Empire Evo3 28.57 +3.30
12. Andy Bougourd 1630cc Force PT 28.62 +3.35
Matthew Ryder reduced his deficit to championship leader Will Hall to a slender four points after his double run-off victories.
Classes
Class A(i) Road Cars - Series production up to 2000cc: The brightly-hued Lotus Exige of Michael Thomson set the pace on both days to win in 36.24 seconds but Jonathan Langmead’s Lotus Elise improved by over a second as he closed to within 0.32 seconds on Sunday.
Class A(ii) Road Cars - Series production over 2000cc: Richard Snow set consistent times less than one tenth apart during his two timed runs and the 34.80 seconds that the Porsche Cayman GT4 RS set on Saturday secured the victory by 1.21 seconds. Tim Elmer’s modern incarnation of the Alpine A110 overcame Anthony Adams’ improvement on Sunday to take second place from the Porsche Cayman as the French coupe beat the German machine by a slim 0.14 seconds.
Class A(iii) Road Cars - Series production four-wheel-drive: Former single seater pilot Rodney Eyles guided his total-traction Porsche 911 Turbo to the top in 33.58 seconds to comfortably seal the win by 3.55 seconds from Anthony Hawkins' Toyota Yaris GR hot hatch.
Class B Road Cars - Specialist production: After setting a 33.59-second best time on Saturday, class winner Richard Price’s Caterham Seven had a couple of seconds in hand from the tussling Fisher Fury kit cars of Rob Brodie and Jamie Toon. The latter was ahead by 0.28 seconds after Saturday's timed running but Brodie found 1.90 seconds on Sunday to topple Toon by one and a half seconds.
Class C(i) Modified Cars - Series production up to 1400cc: Eric Morrey was pleased with his 36.29-second ascent on Saturday to head Paul Talbot's Mini Clubman by a quarter of a second after their initial runs. Talbot went up quicker than Morrey on Sunday but his charge of 36.47 seconds wasn't enough to unseat the victorious Hillman Imp by 0.18 seconds, for which the turbocharged 998cc engine was built from a 100000-mile block!
Class C(iii) Modified Cars - Series production over 2000cc: Paul Howells' raucous Porsche 911 RSR made a good gain on Sunday to take the class honours by 1.30 seconds with a 34.68-second shot to head Jonathan Williamson’s Porsche 911 Carrera, whose best effort of 35.98 seconds was set on Saturday.
Class C(iv) Modified Cars - Series production four-wheel-drive: The brutal Subaru Impreza of Steven Darley battered his competition with a 32.07-second flyer on Sunday to clinch the spoils and had more than two seconds in hand from his nearest competitor. Stephen Moore’s Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6 led the chasers some 2.25 seconds down, with his time of 34.32 seconds set on the first run, but Geoff Chalk finished just 0.06 seconds behind in third after the Subaru Impreza found 0.77 seconds on Sunday.
Class D Modified Cars - Specialist production: Robert Toon was the sole entry in the class but he hurled the Morgan +8 to the top with gusto in a best time of 36.40 seconds.
Class F Sports Libre Cars up to 2000cc: Mike Lee and Allan McDonald went at each other with hammer and tongs all weekend. A narrow 0.11 seconds split them on Saturday before the former’s Force LM improved by just 0.01 seconds more than the Scot’s Force SR4 found on Sunday to seal a hard-fought win by a slender 0.12 seconds in a time of 31.84 seconds.
Class G Sports Libre Cars over 2000cc: Graham Wynn’s Force TAS had the bigger-engined Sports Libre class to itself but the 2.5-litre Opel V6-powered car still showed a mighty turn of speed with a 28.79-second best, missing out on a run-off spot by just 0.37 seconds.
Class I Racing Cars over 600cc up to 1100cc: Wil Hamer’s time from the first run was good enough for the class honours but the OMS 28 driver set a personal-best on the hill of 29.35 seconds on Sunday to hit the point home, his eventual margin of victory stood at 0.39 seconds. Tom Weaver was at the wheel of an Empire Evo3 for the first time at the weekend and found close to one second on Sunday to pip Ben Hamer in the OMS 28 he shared with his brother by just 0.01 seconds for second place.
Class J(i) Pre '94 FF1600: Sam Wilson set a new FF1600 hill record of 35.72 seconds on his first timed run before the Jamun M90 driver shaved five hundredths off his Saturday benchmark the following afternoon, leaving it at 35.67 seconds as he claimed the class glory. Stuart Lugger wasn't too far away as he broke into the ’35s’ also, with a time of 35.94 seconds securing the silver medal for his Swift SC93F.
Class J(ii) Racing Cars over 1100cc and up to 1600cc: The competitive 1600cc Racing Car division saw Jason Tunnicliffe’s turbocharged Empire Evo3 eke out a 0.21-second winning margin from Andy Greenen’s non-turbo Empire. The latter topped the class on Saturday by three tenths but Tunnicliffe’s 28.06-second shot on Sunday trumped Greenen’s opening 28.27-second effort as the former leader failed to improve. Adam Greenen was 0.41 seconds adrift of his brother in third aboard their shared Empire. Olivia Cooper won a tight battle for fourth as the Force TA bested Allan Warburton’s Gould GR59 by a tenth, the latter’s chassis is a regular contender in the Top 12 Run-Offs with son David at the wheel but he was absent this weekend.
Class K(i) Racing Cars over 1600cc up to 2000cc Normally Aspirated: Channel Islander Andy Bougourd's best climb of 28.35 seconds inflicted a rare defeat on Johnathen Varley's GWR Predator by 0.21 seconds, the pair were just 0.02 seconds apart after the opening timed runs before the Force PT found a little extra time on Sunday.
Class K(ii) Racing Cars over 1600cc up to 2000cc Forced Induction: Paul Haimes' turbocharged Gould GR59 was in great form at the Wiltshire hill and qualified for both Top 12 Run-Offs in fourth overall as he won the class by half a second from Alex Coles’ supercharged Force TA, with Haimes best shot of 26.56 seconds set on Saturday.
Class L Racing Cars over 2000cc: The top division of British hillclimbing houses the fastest and most powerful machines, with the Top 12 Run-Off winners most likely to come from the split. The leading British Hillclimb Championship contenders duly booked their spots in the Run-Offs with each run, with Matthew Ryder taking the class award by just 0.02 seconds from Will Hall's similarly 4000cc Judd-powered Gould GR59 on 25.51 and 25.53 seconds respectively. Ryder’s two timed runs were only 0.01 seconds apart but it was Wallace Menzies who led the chase on Saturday with the Scot’s only competitive run in the ’25s’ of the weekend before Hall found 0.56 seconds on Sunday to take the runner-up spot.
Class N Sports Racing and Racing Cars manufactured before 1990: Robin Johnson trailed driving partner Joe Mackrell after the opening timed runs by 0.08 seconds in their shared Peugeot-engined Tiga SF83 single seater but Johnson turned the tables on Sunday with a time of 37.23 seconds to prevail by 0.23 seconds.
Gurston Masters
The stand-alone competition for BARC South West members was open to all classes and the winner would be whoever makes the greatest improvement on or is nearest to their class target time in the timed runs each day within a points-based scoring system. The DJ Firecat of Tim Pitfield took the glory on both days. The competition featured such diverse machines as Nic Mann’s amazingly engineered all-wheel-drive 1700 BDT-powered Mannic Beattie, which features a Chinook helicopter Auxiliary Power Unit that acts as the anti-lag system on the turbo, and journalist-cum-commentator Simon Taylor’s HWM ‘Stovebolt Special’. The 1950s device was built as a Formula Two car and was driven by Sir Stirling Moss no less before the car was shipped to the USA, where it was converted to run an early 'small block' Chevrolet V8 motor in Sports Car racing. The respected journalist and BBC broadcaster has owned the 5-litre machine for over 25 years and drives it on the road to each meeting from his home in London. The HWM is estimated to have racked up 50000+ road miles on his commutes to and from events.
Class A(i) Road Cars - Series production up to 2000cc: The brightly-hued Lotus Exige of Michael Thomson set the pace on both days to win in 36.24 seconds but Jonathan Langmead’s Lotus Elise improved by over a second as he closed to within 0.32 seconds on Sunday.
Class A(ii) Road Cars - Series production over 2000cc: Richard Snow set consistent times less than one tenth apart during his two timed runs and the 34.80 seconds that the Porsche Cayman GT4 RS set on Saturday secured the victory by 1.21 seconds. Tim Elmer’s modern incarnation of the Alpine A110 overcame Anthony Adams’ improvement on Sunday to take second place from the Porsche Cayman as the French coupe beat the German machine by a slim 0.14 seconds.
Class A(iii) Road Cars - Series production four-wheel-drive: Former single seater pilot Rodney Eyles guided his total-traction Porsche 911 Turbo to the top in 33.58 seconds to comfortably seal the win by 3.55 seconds from Anthony Hawkins' Toyota Yaris GR hot hatch.
Class B Road Cars - Specialist production: After setting a 33.59-second best time on Saturday, class winner Richard Price’s Caterham Seven had a couple of seconds in hand from the tussling Fisher Fury kit cars of Rob Brodie and Jamie Toon. The latter was ahead by 0.28 seconds after Saturday's timed running but Brodie found 1.90 seconds on Sunday to topple Toon by one and a half seconds.
Class C(i) Modified Cars - Series production up to 1400cc: Eric Morrey was pleased with his 36.29-second ascent on Saturday to head Paul Talbot's Mini Clubman by a quarter of a second after their initial runs. Talbot went up quicker than Morrey on Sunday but his charge of 36.47 seconds wasn't enough to unseat the victorious Hillman Imp by 0.18 seconds, for which the turbocharged 998cc engine was built from a 100000-mile block!
Class C(iii) Modified Cars - Series production over 2000cc: Paul Howells' raucous Porsche 911 RSR made a good gain on Sunday to take the class honours by 1.30 seconds with a 34.68-second shot to head Jonathan Williamson’s Porsche 911 Carrera, whose best effort of 35.98 seconds was set on Saturday.
Class C(iv) Modified Cars - Series production four-wheel-drive: The brutal Subaru Impreza of Steven Darley battered his competition with a 32.07-second flyer on Sunday to clinch the spoils and had more than two seconds in hand from his nearest competitor. Stephen Moore’s Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6 led the chasers some 2.25 seconds down, with his time of 34.32 seconds set on the first run, but Geoff Chalk finished just 0.06 seconds behind in third after the Subaru Impreza found 0.77 seconds on Sunday.
Class D Modified Cars - Specialist production: Robert Toon was the sole entry in the class but he hurled the Morgan +8 to the top with gusto in a best time of 36.40 seconds.
Class F Sports Libre Cars up to 2000cc: Mike Lee and Allan McDonald went at each other with hammer and tongs all weekend. A narrow 0.11 seconds split them on Saturday before the former’s Force LM improved by just 0.01 seconds more than the Scot’s Force SR4 found on Sunday to seal a hard-fought win by a slender 0.12 seconds in a time of 31.84 seconds.
Class G Sports Libre Cars over 2000cc: Graham Wynn’s Force TAS had the bigger-engined Sports Libre class to itself but the 2.5-litre Opel V6-powered car still showed a mighty turn of speed with a 28.79-second best, missing out on a run-off spot by just 0.37 seconds.
Class I Racing Cars over 600cc up to 1100cc: Wil Hamer’s time from the first run was good enough for the class honours but the OMS 28 driver set a personal-best on the hill of 29.35 seconds on Sunday to hit the point home, his eventual margin of victory stood at 0.39 seconds. Tom Weaver was at the wheel of an Empire Evo3 for the first time at the weekend and found close to one second on Sunday to pip Ben Hamer in the OMS 28 he shared with his brother by just 0.01 seconds for second place.
Class J(i) Pre '94 FF1600: Sam Wilson set a new FF1600 hill record of 35.72 seconds on his first timed run before the Jamun M90 driver shaved five hundredths off his Saturday benchmark the following afternoon, leaving it at 35.67 seconds as he claimed the class glory. Stuart Lugger wasn't too far away as he broke into the ’35s’ also, with a time of 35.94 seconds securing the silver medal for his Swift SC93F.
Class J(ii) Racing Cars over 1100cc and up to 1600cc: The competitive 1600cc Racing Car division saw Jason Tunnicliffe’s turbocharged Empire Evo3 eke out a 0.21-second winning margin from Andy Greenen’s non-turbo Empire. The latter topped the class on Saturday by three tenths but Tunnicliffe’s 28.06-second shot on Sunday trumped Greenen’s opening 28.27-second effort as the former leader failed to improve. Adam Greenen was 0.41 seconds adrift of his brother in third aboard their shared Empire. Olivia Cooper won a tight battle for fourth as the Force TA bested Allan Warburton’s Gould GR59 by a tenth, the latter’s chassis is a regular contender in the Top 12 Run-Offs with son David at the wheel but he was absent this weekend.
Class K(i) Racing Cars over 1600cc up to 2000cc Normally Aspirated: Channel Islander Andy Bougourd's best climb of 28.35 seconds inflicted a rare defeat on Johnathen Varley's GWR Predator by 0.21 seconds, the pair were just 0.02 seconds apart after the opening timed runs before the Force PT found a little extra time on Sunday.
Class K(ii) Racing Cars over 1600cc up to 2000cc Forced Induction: Paul Haimes' turbocharged Gould GR59 was in great form at the Wiltshire hill and qualified for both Top 12 Run-Offs in fourth overall as he won the class by half a second from Alex Coles’ supercharged Force TA, with Haimes best shot of 26.56 seconds set on Saturday.
Class L Racing Cars over 2000cc: The top division of British hillclimbing houses the fastest and most powerful machines, with the Top 12 Run-Off winners most likely to come from the split. The leading British Hillclimb Championship contenders duly booked their spots in the Run-Offs with each run, with Matthew Ryder taking the class award by just 0.02 seconds from Will Hall's similarly 4000cc Judd-powered Gould GR59 on 25.51 and 25.53 seconds respectively. Ryder’s two timed runs were only 0.01 seconds apart but it was Wallace Menzies who led the chase on Saturday with the Scot’s only competitive run in the ’25s’ of the weekend before Hall found 0.56 seconds on Sunday to take the runner-up spot.
Class N Sports Racing and Racing Cars manufactured before 1990: Robin Johnson trailed driving partner Joe Mackrell after the opening timed runs by 0.08 seconds in their shared Peugeot-engined Tiga SF83 single seater but Johnson turned the tables on Sunday with a time of 37.23 seconds to prevail by 0.23 seconds.
Gurston Masters
The stand-alone competition for BARC South West members was open to all classes and the winner would be whoever makes the greatest improvement on or is nearest to their class target time in the timed runs each day within a points-based scoring system. The DJ Firecat of Tim Pitfield took the glory on both days. The competition featured such diverse machines as Nic Mann’s amazingly engineered all-wheel-drive 1700 BDT-powered Mannic Beattie, which features a Chinook helicopter Auxiliary Power Unit that acts as the anti-lag system on the turbo, and journalist-cum-commentator Simon Taylor’s HWM ‘Stovebolt Special’. The 1950s device was built as a Formula Two car and was driven by Sir Stirling Moss no less before the car was shipped to the USA, where it was converted to run an early 'small block' Chevrolet V8 motor in Sports Car racing. The respected journalist and BBC broadcaster has owned the 5-litre machine for over 25 years and drives it on the road to each meeting from his home in London. The HWM is estimated to have racked up 50000+ road miles on his commutes to and from events.
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Dean Tighe - An Australian on Tour
The triple Australian Super Sprint and 2022 Australian Hillclimb champion Dean Tighe is embarking on a British Hillclimb Championship campaign in 2026 with his turbocharged Empire Wraith that wears a stunning Star Wars-inspired livery. The 325kg machine qualified for a Run-Off at the first attempt at Prescott and Tighe scored his maiden points with ninth in Round Three at Craigantlet in Northern Ireland, becoming the first Australian to do so. The 1340cc Empire's best result came later in the day at the Northern Irish venue with seventh in Round Four. The Mount Ommaney native would be sharing his Empire with countryman Alan Foley for the weekend. The weekend started well as the pair found their feet on the Wiltshire hill, with Tighe sitting in third place among the 2000cc Forced Induction set on 28.92 seconds and was 2.36 seconds off Paul Haimes' benchmark. Foley anchored the six-car class on 31.10 seconds as he built his experience of the hill and car. Unfortunately, the fact that the fearsomely quick hill can bite was proven after the turbocharged Empire suffered a major off at high-speed over the finish line with Tighe at the wheel during second practice on Sunday morning. The car speared off after setting a 28.79-second time and was recorded at 141 mph through the finish speed trap before coming to grief. The Wraith was a sorry sight after sustaining extensive damage but the carbon fibre tub protected the Australian admirably, who was able to walk away and reportedly came back to the venue after checks in time for the Top 12 Run-Off. Amazingly, Tighe aims to be back out at Doune in mid-June so would only miss the next rounds at Shelsley Walsh in between.
The triple Australian Super Sprint and 2022 Australian Hillclimb champion Dean Tighe is embarking on a British Hillclimb Championship campaign in 2026 with his turbocharged Empire Wraith that wears a stunning Star Wars-inspired livery. The 325kg machine qualified for a Run-Off at the first attempt at Prescott and Tighe scored his maiden points with ninth in Round Three at Craigantlet in Northern Ireland, becoming the first Australian to do so. The 1340cc Empire's best result came later in the day at the Northern Irish venue with seventh in Round Four. The Mount Ommaney native would be sharing his Empire with countryman Alan Foley for the weekend. The weekend started well as the pair found their feet on the Wiltshire hill, with Tighe sitting in third place among the 2000cc Forced Induction set on 28.92 seconds and was 2.36 seconds off Paul Haimes' benchmark. Foley anchored the six-car class on 31.10 seconds as he built his experience of the hill and car. Unfortunately, the fact that the fearsomely quick hill can bite was proven after the turbocharged Empire suffered a major off at high-speed over the finish line with Tighe at the wheel during second practice on Sunday morning. The car speared off after setting a 28.79-second time and was recorded at 141 mph through the finish speed trap before coming to grief. The Wraith was a sorry sight after sustaining extensive damage but the carbon fibre tub protected the Australian admirably, who was able to walk away and reportedly came back to the venue after checks in time for the Top 12 Run-Off. Amazingly, Tighe aims to be back out at Doune in mid-June so would only miss the next rounds at Shelsley Walsh in between.
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The British Hillclimb Championship presented by Nova Motorsport heads to the historic Shelsley Walsh venue in Worcestershire for Rounds Nine and Ten next, with the 121-year old course playing host on the 6th and 7th of June.