BRITISH AND MIDLAND HILL CLIMB CHAMPIONSHIPS - EVENT REPORT
- Dom Bessell
- Apr 27
- 4 min read
Saturday began in wonderful sunshine as 192 fantastic hillclimb cars took to the track. The day reserved just for practice saw a few thrills, and a few spills too. First was Jensen Ker in an OMS 28, who made a mistake into the Pardon hairpin that put an early end to his day.
Aside from a couple of other scary moments up and down the paddock, the sunny weather a clean track cemented a productive Saturday practice day for our competitors. Graham Wynn took to the track in his brand new FORCE TAS, the class G car for Sports Libre cars over 2000cc. A couple of teething issues to begin with but quickly rectified for Graham to set the fastest time in Class.
Sean and David Gould put on show an old championship winning car. The Gould 84G won the British Hillclimb Championship in 1985, its creator David with son Sean will take to the Hill in a number of key events in the British Hillclimb Championship. Fantastic to see history on display alongside the modern bespoke machinery.
Sunday came to just as good weather, though a couple of degrees cooler. With a final practice in the morning before the competition runs commenced, it is the final chance for the competitors to fine tune their cars and themselves before the competition runs commenced. The first timed run immediately produced action as our Australian friend Dean Tighe qualified into the first top 12 run off in his first attempt in the season! Scraping in as the 12th qualified he was first to take to the Hill in the first run off of the day. The Star Wars wrapped car looking splendid in the hushed tones of clouded covered sun. He would go onto finish 11th in his first ever run off, congratulations Dean! Reigning champion Matt Ryder took the first run off win of the year, with just three hundredth of a second margin over Will Hall, Wallace Menzies rounded out the podium step from the first run off.
Some class records were broken! Drivers taking advantage of the ideal track conditions to push themselves and their cars to the limit. Rodney Eyles in Class A (ii) took the opportunity to break the record twice! The existing record, set in 2021 by Stephen Moore, stood at a 48.82. Rodney in his first timed run pushed the mark out to a 45.65, then miraculously went faster again! A couple of tenths improvement to set a 45.43 which put him a near 3 entire seconds ahead of the rest in his class, a decade in hillclimbing terms!
The New Barn Cars MOT Speed Championship held their third round of the 2026 season, the annual photo taken on the start line with this years competitors posing around the Honda Civic Type R driven by the father-son duo of Jonathan and Ben Ellwood. Competition for the Championship was tightly fought amongst the 25 competitors. Novice David Arrowsmith charged to victory in both of the timed runs, closely followed by George Perks who took the run up position on both occasions. Third place was shared by Andrew Till in round 5, round 6 went to both Christopher Higenbottam and Richard Banks who both improved their handicap by the same margin.
Award Winners
Congratulations to our class winners! The full list of award winners and results can be found in the Results document below
Class A (i) - Robert Wilson, Lotus Elise - 47.82
Class A (ii) - Richard Snow, Porsche Cayman GT4 RS - 46.88
Class A (iii) - Rodney Eyles, Porsche 911 - 45.43 (New Record)
Class B - Richard Price, Caterham 7 - 45.14
Class C (i) - Paul Talbot, BL Mini 1275GT - 48.28
Class C (ii) - Mike Geen, Peugeot 206 GTI - 56.62
Class C (iii) - Paul Howells, Porsche 911 RSR - 47.97
Class C (iv) - Stephen Moore, Mitsubishi Evo 6 - 45.52
Class D - Rob Lloyd, MK CUP 400 - 43.22
Class E - Scott Moran, Mitsubishi Evo 6 - 46.14
Class F - Matthew Price, Radical SR3 - 43.47
Class G - Graham Wynn, Force TAS - 40.92
Class I - Alex Summers, DJ Firehawk - 37.80
Class J (i) - Jimmy Harris, Van Dieman RF85 - 47.39
Class J (ii) - Jason Tunnicliffe, Empire Evo 3 - 37.80
Class K (i) - Johnathen Varley, GWR Predator - 37.24
Class K (ii) - Paul Haimes, Gould GR59 - 37.05
Class L - William Hall, Gould GR59J - 35.21
Class M - Andy Tippet, Brabham BT30X-1 - 45.80
Class P - Simon Braithwaite - Ford Escort RS1600 - 50.19 (New Record)
New Barn Cars MOT Speed Championship -
BOC Handicap - Saloon Cars
BOC Handicap - Sports Cars
BOC Handicap - Racing Cars
Run Off One Winner - Matthew Ryder, Gould GR59 - 35.29
Run Off Two Winner - William Hall, Gould GR59J - 35.28
Fastest Time of Day: William Hall, Gould GR59J - 35.21 (First Timed Run)
NEXT UP AT PRESCOTT
Our next event is our well loved Prescott Italia, the non-competitive event enables members of the general public to take their road going Italian car up the famous Prescott Speed Hill Climb. A family friendly event where passengers can join for the scenic rides too.
Hill Drive Tickets are available for £65 to enable yourself to drive your Italian vehicle in the event. Passengers are welcome to enjoy the ride with you and share the experience at this fantastic day out! Tickets for the event can be found via the link below.
Admission Tickets
BOC Members – Free
Hill Drive Entry - £65
Adult Early Bird Admission - £12
Under 16 - Free
Carer - Free (limited to one per eligible person)
Car Club Display - £120 per day
Friday night camping ticket - £10
We hope to see you on the Hill!
Thumbnail Photo: Joy Batchelor
