JCB Photography
joined Competitors from The British Hillclimb Championship’s return
to Harewood Hill for rounds 13 and 14 of the British Hillclimb
Championship.
The event was not a
round of the Harewood Hillclimb Championship, but a number of regulars
did take part against the cream of the British Hillclimb Championship
contenders, making the event a full entry of 150 competitors.
Also joining in this
weekend would be competitors from the Porsche Club Speed Championship
for two rounds of its championship.
Two Practices runs
and up to three timed runs were completed on the Saturday for the
Inter-club classes. Along with two Practice runs for the BHC
competitors and a couple of timed runs. However, these timed runs did
not count for any points in the Championship. It was during the timed
run after lunch that it started raining, though it was nothing like
the rain that was forecast for Sunday. We can all hope that the
forecast and weather apps are wrong.
Sunday
Alex Summers driving the DJ Firestorm comes to Harewood leading the Championship by 16 points from Will Hall and Matt Ryder. The weather or rather the rain, would have a very large impact on the event, which it seems to have managed at some of the other rounds of the British Hillclimb Championship (BHC) in 2024 as well. With a number of downpours throughout the day.
After one of the
downpours, which was so heavy it resulted in standing water at Willow
corner. Once this was cleared by the Marshals and inspected by the
Clerk of the Course. The track was still wet but no standing water.
The next issue was that a number of single seaters, who had left the
paddock when it was nice and dry were now waiting on the start line
area all on slick tyres. These drivers were given the all clear to
very carefully drive back up to the paddock area to change onto wets.
The
fastest twelve
would
have
a run-off for British
Hillclimb 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.
When
the run-off for BHC
points takes place, only one car is on the track at a time, once
the competitor has past the finish line, will post
twenty, located after the finish
and reports
on the radio
that the car has cleared the finish and is in the paddock, will
the time keepers set the timing for the next competitor and the start
line marshals signal to the driver to watch for the green light.
After
the Practice
runs and the
first of the timed runs for all
competitors. The all important run-offs
for Round 13 of the BHC and Round 1 of
the Tin Top
Ten Challenge were completed.
Top
3 in the First Run-Off Round
13.
1st Matthew Ryder driving a Gould GR59J
2nd Wallace Menzies driving a Gould GR59
3rd Will Hall driving a Gould GR59 Judd
David
Tatham driving
his DJ Firehawk Car# 108 was
the only one of the Harewood regulars competing
to
make it into both run-offs. Though
Ben Hamer driving a OMS28 Car #803 also managed to get into the first
run-off.
Then after a very late lunch break, the second of the time runs were completed with another downpour during this timed run. The all important second run-offs were completed on a wet to damp and drying track. Which was when the three fastest times of the day were set, some 4 seconds off the hill record set by Matthew Ryder.
Top
3 in the Second Run-Off Round 14.
1st Matthew Ryder driving a Gould GR59J
2nd Alex Summers driving a DJ Firestorm
3rd Jack Cottrill driving a Dallara
Alex Summers
still leads the BHC leaving Harewood, with Matthew Ryder moving up to
second after his two wins this weekend. While Will Hall drops to
third place and Trevor Willis is still in fourth place, now 22 points
behind Will.
The next rounds of
the 2024 British Hillclimb Championship is due to take place at
Bouley Bay, Jersey on Wednesday 17th July followed by Val
Des Terres, Guernsey on 20th July. Both these events are
organised by The Jersey Motorcycle and Light Car Club.
Tin
Top Ten Challenge.
This weekend was also the opening round of the British Hillclimb Championship (BHC) Tin Top-Top Ten Challenge. This Challenge has been expanded to ten rounds for the 2024 season. Reigning 2023 BHC Tin Top Challenge Champion, Damien Bradley along with runner up Steve Darley, who shares the Subaru Legacy with Damien. Former BHC Champion Roger Moran was driving his Skoda Fabia R5 also in a Skoda Fabia R5 was Eynon Price. Eynon a former BHC single seater driver and rally driver was taking part for the first time in the Tin Top Challenge.
The
fastest ten
would
have
a run-off for Championship points, from ten down to one point for tenth
place. This
was
then
repeated
after
the second timed runs for
round
two
of
the Championship.
Top
3 of
the Tintop Challenge.
Round 1:
1st Roger Moran driving a Skoda Fabia R5
2nd Damien Bradley driving a Subaru Legacy GL
3rd Eynon Price driving a Skoda Fabia R5
Full Results
of the Top 10 Tintop Challenge Round 1:
https://www.harewoodhill.com/_files/ugd/882d72_addb00e7e19342b983528ba848448e46.pdf
Top
3 of
the Tintop Challenge.
Round 2:
1st Simon Bainbridge driving a Crono V8
2nd Damien Bradley driving a Subaru Legacy GL
3rd Steven Darley driving a Subaru Legacy GL
Full
Results of the Top 10 Tintop Challenge
Round
2:
https://www.harewoodhill.com/_files/ugd/882d72_bd4e146b656b4682b72324665bde7824.pdf
Damien
Bradley leads the
Tin Top Ten Challenge after
taking two 2nd
places in the run-offs. His co-driver Steven Darley also
qualified for the first
of the BHC
top 12 run-off for
Round 13
and also scored points in that championship.
Full
timings
and
Results for
Sunday:
https://www.harewoodhill.com/_files/ugd/882d72_9596211d632c4a88813e922b2d703a3f.pdf
The
next month is very busy for
the competitors of the Harewood
Speed Hillclimb Championship with the
Yorkshire Speed Hillclimb on
Saturday 3rd
August then on the Sunday, the Montague
Burton. Followed just
three weeks later
by the rescheduled, from 14th
April, the Spring National event on Saturday 24th
August and then the Summer Championship
on the Sunday.
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.