OPENING ROUND OF THE BRITISH HILL CLIMB CHAMPIONSHIP - DETAILS ANNOUNCED
- Dom Bessell
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
Set for a spectacular weekend, experience the fastest cars of the season and the fantastic Prescott Speed Hill Climb. Tickets are on sale now!
OPENING ROUND OF THE BRITISH HILLCLIMB CHAMPIONSHIP
2026 sees The Prescott Speed Hill Climb host both the first and last round of the British Hill Climb Championship, a drivers favourite to both kick off and close the season in fantastic fashion. Defending champion, Matthew Ryder, returns in his Gould GR59, with chasers Wallace Menzies and Will Hall, both in GR59 chassis, albeit using different powertrains, looking to overthrow the two-time defending champion.
SECOND ROUND OF THE MIDLAND HILLCLIMB CHAMPIONSHIP
Whilst the British Championship waits to kick off their season, the more local region based Midland Hill Climb Championship has already started. Running to the same class structure as the British Championship, it increases the competition faced by the national competitors and you can expect to see a couple of upsets thrown by the Midland competitors.
Leading the way overall is Wallace Menzies who put in a fine performance at Loton Park over rival Matt Ryder in the two run offs. There is sharp competition throughout all classes, this bumper entry is not to be missed!
THIRD ROUND OF THE NEW BARN CHAMPIONSHIP
The Bugatti Owners' Club New Barn Cars MOT Speed Championship moves into the third round of the championship which is especially designed for road going cars. The championship will be on show this weekend, receiving pride of place amongst the national competitors.
Leading the way is Andrew Till, who will look to extend their advantage over Christopher Higenbottam for the overall championship lead. In the Novice class, Lesley Martin holds a small gap over David Arrowsmith, both of whom put in a fantastic show in the last round at Shelsley Walsh.
INTERNATIONAL CHAMPION APPEARANCE
An additional champion will be putting up stiff competition at the season opener. Dean Tighe is the 2022 Australian Hillclimb Championship, a championship that runs over a single weekend and is an extremely different format to what Tighe will be experiencing this weekend. His championship winning Empire Wraith set sail to the UK many months ago, with Dean already successfully taking part in Shelsley Walsh's season opener just a few weeks ago.
Dean has already sampled a test of British Championship competition at Wiscombe Park in July of last year. He shared William Loughridge's Wraith, which although is the same chassis, has a slightly different engine, but this did not slow the Australian down who was consistently within a couple of seconds of William.
Competing in Class K (ii), he may not have the most powerful car, and top 12 run offs will be a challenge, but do expect this champion to disrupt the order within this class.
EVENT OVERVIEW
The weekend action kicks of "calmly", with Saturday exclusively reserved for practice, new set ups and new tyres to be tested and cobwebs to be shaken off, competitors will be making a variety of changes throughout the day.
Sunday hosts a final practice before the competition begins, the top 12 from the British and Midland Championships combined will then be invited to take part in a top 12 run off at the end of each set of competition runs where points are awarded to the top 10 in each run.
See below for the full entry list.
See the full event timetable below:
EVENT TIMETABLE:
Friday 24th April
1300hrs– Access to Orchard
1600hrs - Clubhouse opens
2100hrs – Paddock closes
Clubhouse open till late for food and drink.
Saturday 25th April
0700hrs– Paddock access opens
0830hrs – Practice commences
1345hrs – Lunch break (approx.)
1245hrs – Practice Continues
1730hrs – Hill Closes
Clubhouse open till late for food and drink.
Sunday 26th April
0700hrs– Paddock access opens
0830hrs – Practice continues
1100hrs – Competition runs commence
1345hrs – Top 12 Run Off
1400hrs – Lunch break (approx.)
1500hrs – Afternoon competition runs continue
1715hrs – Top 12 Run Off
1730hrs – Hill Closes (approx.)
Awards Presentation in the Clubhouse following the conclusion of the event.
Thumbnail Photo Credit: Joy Richings
