Harewood Open and British Championship Hillclimb.
After a very, very long wet winter and spring JCB Photography was at Harewood Hill for a very late start to the 2024 Motor-sport season on the famous Yorkshire hill.
Practice Day event was original
scheduled for 24th March, the organisers had to make a
difficult decision to postpone the event, due to excessive rainfall
over the weeks leading up to the event, which had left the ground
waterlogged meaning large areas of the parking field and paddock
unusable. This event was rescheduled for Saturday 13th
April but again due to the waterlogged ground that event was
cancelled altogether and the Spring National Hillclimb event which
was due to take place on Sunday 14th April was rescheduled
for the 24th August.
All
this meant that the first Hillclimb
event
taking place at Harewood Hill was over
the weekend of 11th
and
12th
May
for
the Harewood
Open Hillclimb, on
the Saturday, as part of the
Harewood Speed
Hillclimb
Championship.
While
the first of what will be two visits by the British Hillclimb
Championship competitors on the Sunday, which would not be part of
the Harewood Championship.
Even
so
a
number of competitors from the British Hillclimb Championship and
Ferrari Owners Club would join the competitors from the Harewood
Hillclimb Championship on
the Saturday.
2023
Harewood Hillclimb Champion, Adam Riley, now sharing a front wheel
drive VW UP,
car #22, with Doug Mitchell. Adam
having
switched from
sharing
the rear wheel drive, turbo
engined
Honda
S2000 of
Carl Jackson.
Adam came away from the meeting leading the 2024 Championship and
came very close, just 0.24 seconds from setting a new 1A class record
for Road Cars Series Production, up to and including 1400cc set by
Mark Teale driving
a Suzuki Swift on
06th
June 2021.
So
I will be very, very surprised if this class record does not go
before the end of this season, based on Adams previous record
setting. With
the
best
6 scores to count, from the 8 Rounds of
the Harewood Speed Hillclimb Championship.
In
the Ferrari Hillclimb Championship run by the Ferrari Owners Club.
David Snelson driving a Ferrari 488 Spider car# 220 set a new class
record on Saturday. The record was set back in May 2019. Then he beat
his own class record again on the Sunday.
Full
timings
and
Results for
Harewood
Open Hillclimb
can be found here:
https://www.harewoodhill.com/_files/ugd/882d72_a2641b751e2b42ba80ccd7128c6af210.pdf
Harewood
Speed Hillclimb Championship Results:
https://www.harewoodhill.com/_files/ugd/882d72_388d09ee51bf44e4a52083f9df8e0dca.pdf
In
the Fastest Time of the Day Championship (FTD) 2023 Champion David
Tatham driving his DJ Firehawk, car #152, is the highest place
Harewood regular. All the other drivers above him are from the
British Hillclimb Championship. David did both days and is eighth in
the FTD Championship.
FTD
Championship Results:
https://www.harewoodhill.com/_files/ugd/882d72_11e0ea70c90b4e55b8482f1890a95c60.pdf
Sunday.
British Hillclimb Championship.
Just like the Harewood Championship the British Hillclimb Championship has had events postponed at Prescott which has been rescheduled for 17th & 18th August. Craigantlet in Northern Ireland was abandoned on 4th May due to heavy rain causing the track to flood in places and neither of the run-offs having taken place.
However
this was not before British
Championship Hillclimb 2023 Champion
Wallace Menzies driving a Gould GR59, car #1 went off and damaged his
car, meaning that Wallace was not at Harewood this weekend.
All
this meant that Harewood Hill would also be the first Round of the
2024 British Hillclimb Championship.
The
two Practices runs were completed before the lunch break, under
variable cloud. The
first timed
run for
the British Hillclimb
Championship
got
underway with some nice warm sunshine.
The
fastest twelve
would
have
a run-off for Championship points, though only the top ten would be awarded
points from ten down to one point for tenth place. This
would then
be
repeated for the
next round of
the Championship.
Scott
Moran who has won the British Hillclimb Championship six times (2008,
2009, 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2016) is taking time out of the
Championship this year but was at Harewood sharing with his father,
1997 British Hillclimb Champion Roger Moran Skoda Fabia R5. So Scott
had car#2 on the door as he was runner up last year to Wallace
Menzies. Roger was car# 702.
Top
3 in the First Run-Off.
1st Car #3, Matthew Ryder driving a Gould GR59J
2nd Car #6, Trevor Willis driving a OMS28
3rd Car #7 Sean Gould driving a Gould GR59BJ
Full
Results of the Top Twelve. First Run-Off.
https://www.harewoodhill.com/_files/ugd/882d72_ae98606d928c477faa23db3bada6433b.pdf
Top
3 in the Second Run-Off.
1st Car #3, Matthew Ryder driving a Gould GR59J
2nd Car #6, Trevor Willis driving a OMS28
3rd Car #4 Alex Summers driving a DJ Firestorm
Matthew
Ryder takes the lead in the British Hillclimb Championship after
winning both rounds with
20 points. With
Trevor Willis in second on
18 points. Though Trevor got closer
in
the time difference, during
the second run-off from 0.39 to 0.17. Sean
Gould and Alex Summers are joint third with 15 points. The
next round of the 2024 British Hillclimb Championship is due to take
place at Gurston Down over the weekend of 25th
and 26th
May but
will be back at Harewood Hill over the weekend of 6th
and 7th
July, after also competing at Shelsey Walsh and Doune.
For all events see link: https://www.britishhillclimb.co.uk/calendar-2024
Full
Results of the Top Twelve. Second Run-Off.
https://www.harewoodhill.com/_files/ugd/882d72_d40904b3f2734a96b2cb44b1f9b47c00.pdf
Full
timings and Results for all cars. British Championship Hillclimb can
be found here:
https://www.harewoodhill.com/_files/ugd/882d72_0afc3eacf5ff4099aef7f7ec430f9565.pdf
The
next action at Harewood Hill will be on Saturday 8th June
when the Classic and Vintage Hillclimb takes place for Round three of
the VSCC Speed Championship, with competitors from the Vintage Sports
Car Club (VSCC). While Round two of the Harewood Speed Hillclimb
Championship takes place on Sunday 9th June with the Jim
Thomson Hillclimb.
Many
thanks to BARC Yorkshire centre for the opportunity to
be track side.
Also not
forgetting all the Marshals,
Medical
and
the
Darlington and District Rescue
team, along
with all the back office staff
without
which the events
at Harewood Hill
could not take place.
Useful
websites for the event:
Harewood Hill: https://www.harewoodhill.com/
Live Timing: www.hwtiming.co.uk