The British Hillclimb championship got off to a thrilling start at Prescott near Cheltenham last weekend (22/23 April), with many classes and overall honours decided by tenths, and sometimes hundredths of seconds.
The first run off saw defending champion Wallace Menzies setting fastest time of the day, a little over half a second quicker than second placed, and fellow Gould single seater driver Matthew Ryder. Third place went to the OMS of Trevor Willis, a further tenth of a second back.
Round two honours went to Scott Moran in his Gould. The Ludlow driver outpaced Matthew Ryder by just two tenths of a second, Ryder having to content himself with second spot once again. Wallace Menzies could not match his day one time, which was the fastest of the weekend, but his third place finish ensured a healthy haul of championship points from the Championship opening weekend.
With the event also hosting the opening rounds of the Midland Hillclimb Championship there were some terrific class battles including in the road going production car category where honours went to Alfa Romeo 4C of Rodney Eyles.
Among the specialist production cars, honours went to Richard Price in his Caterham 7 but he was pushed all the way by Steve Garner in his Westfield and another Caterham in the hands of Raymond Lohr.
Competing in the Hill Climb Super Sports category, it was first time out for Allan McDonald in his Force SR4 and he marked it with a class win ahead of the GWR Raptor2 of Richard Matossian and Martin Watts in his Sylva Riot.
In the smaller engined single seaters, between 600 and 1100cc, Dave Tatham did a remarkable job, setting a sub 40 second time in his DJ Firehawk to finish less than two tenths of a second ahead of the Empire Evo of Tom Weaver while Stuart Bickley finished third in his Force TA.
It was the female drivers who dominated the Formula Ford category with Sarah Bosworth edging out Caroline Ryder, both drivers in Van Diemens.
Among the 1100cc to 1600cc racing cars, Richard Spedding and Dave Warburton had a terrific battle with Spedding just getting the upper hand in his GWR Raptor 2 over the Gould GR59 of Warburton.
Johnathan Varley clinched the 16oocc to 2000cc single seater honours in his GWR Predator, edging out the Force TA of Welshman Eynon Price.
One of the closest battles of the weekend was among the large engined single seater with the top 4 separated by little more the four tenths of a second. Wallace Menzies topped the times in his Gould GR59 ahead of the DJ Firestorm of Alex Summers while two more Goulds in the hands of Scott Moran and Matthew Ryder completed the top four.
The Fassi Classic Speed Championship, as the name suggests, caters for classic cars with the main championship being run on a handicap basis. Class honours went to Stephen Akers in his Morris Mini Cooper S, the Clan Crusader of Henry Mitchell and Jeremy Rivers Fletcher, driving his Triumph 2.5litre Special.
The next hillclimb action at Prescott will be on the weekend of 13th/14th of May with the Saturday seeing the hugely popular Prescott Italia, supported by Auto Italia Magazine while on the Sunday, the Bugatti Owners’ Club will host the non-competitive Classics at Prescott.