JCB Photography was at Harewood Hill for the BARC Yorkshire Centre 2025 season opener, which got underway on Sunday 23rd March, with the Practice Day Hillclimb meeting.
With a full entry list of eighty Competitors, a number of new drivers and cars.
The organisers have been busy during the closed season with new armco installed on the on both sides of the straight, from Clark’s all the way down to the Esses. Then a single section at Chippy’s. This will be a Save Pull off Place, which can be used to store a broken-down car prior to be recovered at a later time in the proceedings.
Harewood Hill is the longest speed hillclimb venue in the UK, with a truly spectacular setting looking over the valley of the Wharfedale valley.
The event got underway at 9:00, with a couple of puddles in the lower half of the track but was damp throughout the entire length of the track after rain on Saturday afternoon and overnight. It did start raining again during the early morning runs, so competitors would have some slippy conditions until the rain stopped and it would be up to this breeze to dry the track out, as the sun didn’t really come out. In the distant it always looked misty. So, it took until the afternoon runs before the single seaters fitted slick tyres from the morning's wets.
Mark Hemingway driving his Force TA set the Fastest Time of the Day. Also driving a Force TA was Simon Jenks who set the second fastest time and John Prickett driving his Radical set the third. These three were the only drivers to get under sixty seconds during the day.
Practice Day Run Times can be found here:
https://www.harewoodhill.com/_files/ugd/882d72_86a994a487174717aca3d445a61450b3.pdf
The 2025 BARC Yorkshire Centre’s, first Championship meeting for the Harewood Speed Hillclimb Championship is on 13th April for the Spring National Hillclimb.
Many thanks to BARC Yorkshire centre for the opportunity to be track-side and not forgetting all the Marshals, Medical and Rescue teams including Darlington Motor Club Rescue without which the event could not take place.