Scots duo David Finlay and Alisdair Suttie are contesting the 2013 Avon Tyres/TTC Group Hillclimb Leaders Championship in a Vauxhall Astra VXR. The car has been supplied by Vauxhall Motors and is effectively a works entry, continuing the tradition of the company’s participation in hillclimbing which began as far back as 1908. Everything on the car is either standard or available as an optional extra.

Journalist Finlay, a former Scottish sprint and road saloon race champion, has already taken a class record with the car at the May Harewood Leaders round. You can read his reports of each event on the website www.carkeys.co.uk , of which he is editor and co-founder.

The MAC Speed Events School, organised by the Midland Automobile Club, is running two school days this year at Shelsley Walsh Hillclimb, on June 25^th and August 27^th.

The tremendous prize for this year’s top pupil is not just a free entry for the end of season event at the Worcestershire hill in September, but to compete there driving a works-supported Radical SR3RS.

This motorcycle engined, paddle-shift equipped sports racer is set to provide a thrilling ride at this famous and historic venue for the winning pupil, who will be assessed by the MAC’s instructors Simon Durling, Chris Merrick, Peter Cox and chief Jim Robinson. The top pupil will not necessarily be the one to drive fastest on the School Days but will be one that demonstrates smoothness and precision.

Places are filling fast, so early booking is strongly advised. Call Jim Robinson on 01509 852253 or 07785 960058, or email jim.cra@virgin.net

Gurston Down, April 21: 1600cc single seaters dominated the opening Gurston Championship round of the season at BARC(SW)'s Wiltshire hillclimb. Hard on the heels of his first ever Gurston FTD the previous day, Ed Hollier made it two in a row at the second part of the weekend double-header. James Blackmore and the OMS-Hayabusa were again his main opposition but as the track cooled, although both drivers ran sub-30sec it was Hollier that maintained the edge in his immaculate and highly developed bike powered MP62, now fuel injected and with sundry electronic and aerodynamic modifications. The two drivers now lead Gurston’s Top Ten Challenge series after round one, ahead of fellow 1600cc class runner Peter D Smith’s Force-Hayabusa.

Fourth overall was Tom Brown, making a return to the hills in the ex.Chris Cannell SPA-Judd sports libre car. ‘There must be more to come,’ said the Newbury farmer. ‘It's still on the same tyres that Matt Harrison used to take the sports libre record here in 2006!’ After running third fastest at Saturday’s event, long-time Gurston sponsor Jonathan Gates took fifth place overall in his sports libre Force-Hayabusa ahead of Smith’s co-driver Richard Gaylard.

The new class position-based scoring system for the Gates Gurston Championship resulted in a four-way tie for the lead after round one, with Miles Horne (Peugeot 306), Ritchie Gatt (Westfield-Vauxhall SE), Mark Mortimer (Mallock-Vauxhall) and former champ Mike Rudge (Westfield-Duratec) all on a maximum points score in what has now been increased to a five-round series.

A close-fought motorcycle run-off ended the day with Sam Matthewman elbowing his big 1200cc Suzuki through to set the best time of the day on two wheels, easing out NHCA regular front-runners Glyn Poole and Martin Robbins.

Results here.

On June 1^st at Cultra hillclimb, Northern Ireland’s high octane garden party, the spotlight will be on ‘Women in Motorsport’. The Thoroughbred Sports Car Club (NI) are hoping to have a large contingent of female competitors from all disciplines of the sport on the startline and behind the scenes.

With Ireland having such a strong rallying culture, two of the ‘Fast Ladies’ scheduled to appear will be 1990 FIA Ladies World Rally Champion Louise Aitken Walker MBE and Irish legend Rosemary Smith, who successfully campaigned her works Hillman Imp and won many class and ladies awards in top international rallies during the sixties. Rosemary is one of a select band of ladies to win outright at international level, on the 1965 Dutch Tulip Rally, which she followed up with a home win on the 1969 Cork 20 Rally.

The organisers are also delighted to be welcoming BWRDC hillclimb champion Jo Hodgson, who will be competing in her lightweight Lotus Elan 26R replica and joining an anticipated large field in competing for the inaugural Ladies Handicap Award.

The historic Cultra Manor, which first ran on 6 May 1905 and is thus the world’s oldest active speed hillclimb, again plays host to displays which this year celebrate the Aston Martin Centenary and Porsche 911 Golden Anniversary. The spectator friendly 700 yard course is set in the parkland grounds of North Down’s Ulster Folk and Transport Museum.

Organised as ever by the Thoroughbred Sports Car Club, Northern Ireland, on April 13 the Holywood hillclimb near Belfast again played host to round 1 of the 2013 ANICC Millers Oils Hillclimb Championship.

A growing crowd of enthusiastic spectators witnessed a titanic battle between defending ANICC hill climb champion Graham Thompson in his bike-engined GTR Turbo and 2012 sprint champion Seamus Morris’s Pilbeam MP62. After being split by two hundredths in practice, at the end of the three timed runs the gap, incredibly, was down to a mere hundredth in Thompson’s favour with a 33.70.

Less than two seconds behind, Bangor’s Chris Houston look local honours in his OMS CF04 with Rudi Gage’s Maguire Mini and Gardiner Mcllwaine’s Westfield completing the top five overall.

Although the 875 metre course stayed dry for all but the last two runners, the outright record was never in danger due to the low temperatures. Even so, Simon Jamison’s Peugeot 205 GTE (40.46) took a new class record, while a duel between Jason Curran’s Renault Clio and Steven Gault’s Citroen Saxo saw both run sub-record, with Gault getting the final verdict on 39.14.

Results here.

The MGCC Silverstone Sprint on June 16th to be held over 1 3/4 laps of the Stowe circuit is open to entries from members of the HSA.

Regs and entry form can be downloaded here.

The regs and entry forms for the 2013 Abingdon Carnival Sprint have been published.

Haynes International Motor Museum will unveil the first phase of its extensive £4.2 million redevelopment this spring. The redevelopment, which includes new display halls, café, shop and state of the art conferencing and banqueting suites, will provide a completely new façade to the museum, and is due to be fully completed in Spring 2014. The development has been privately funded by founder and Chairman John H Haynes OBE, who opened the museum with just 33 cars, housed in one hall, back in July 1985.

Phase one, set to open this April, will reveal the first of the new exhibition areas, nicknamed ‘The Black Box’ due to its exterior. The Black Box, a huge two-storey display area, overlooks the Haynes test track and is divided into two areas – The Vroom Room on the ground floor and The Motorcycle Mezzanine on the upper.

BRSCC have today agreed that, subject to the usual space criteria, they will now accept entries from registered SBD HSA Speed Championship contenders who are either A or B licence holders for one or both days. This means that we will be able to score each day as a separate round of the Championship, as intended in our own Championship regulations. We are grateful to BRSCC for being flexible and allowing B as well as A  licence holders to take part on both days.

We have been working hard behind the scenes to provide more information for visitors to our pages and the Clubs and Championships pages have been updated and calendars added.

Putting these together we have produced a 'National calendar' of events taking place around the country throughout the year. Although it doesn't (yet) include every last event it still provides a good picture of what is happening in the world of Hillclimbing and Sprinting.

We will continue to report on the British Hillclimb, British Sprint and HSA Speed Championships throughout the season.

Details of all the HSA trophies and awards have also been updated.

With the only sub-30sec run at a bitterly cold and dusty Gurston Down test day, Terry Graves followed up his second FTD at last weekend’s Castle Combe British sprint round by setting the outright pace at the BARC (SW)’s Wiltshire hill in his Gould-DFR V8. Following the recent cancellation of Harewood and Loton Park test weekends due to snow, the first official hillclimb test to be held in 2013 attracted an entry of well over 60 drivers.

            Split by a couple of tenths, fellow Gurston regulars Peter D Smith and Richard Gaylard completed the top three in their Force-Hayabusa while Chris Cannell, who has forsaken his iconic St Bruno Roughcutter Clubmans car this year for his twin engined Force-Hayabusa sports car, shared with regular partner Sue Hayes, ran a tenth behind Gaylard.

            The fastest HSA contender present, Clive Wooster ran eighth in his Radical-Hayabusa, while seasoned circuit racer and prolific constructor John Oxborrow shook down his tiny, 1-litre OX7-Suzuki K6 to finish a competitive ninth overall on his first hillclimb drive for 47 years. A full description of this new car will appear in Speedscene 173.

            Gurston’s competition season gets under way on Saturday 20 April when the 130-plus entry includes a round of the SBD-HSA Speed Championship, while the opening stanza of the now 5-round Gates of Brockenhurst Gurston Down Championship takes place the following day.

THE TOP TEN GURSTON TEST TIMES

1          Terry Graves (3.5 Gould-DFR GR37)               29.77s

2          Peter D Smith (1.4 Force-Hayabusa)               31.51s

3          Richard Gaylard (1.4 Force-Hayabusa)           31.74s

4          Chris Cannell (2.6 Force-Hayabusa SR8)      31.84s

5          Jonathan Gates (1.6 Force-Hayabusa LM)     32.90s

6          Keith Diggle (2.0 WEV HCS-BDG)                    33.35s

7          Clive Wooster (1.5 Radical-Hayabusa)           33.76s

8          Peter Sexton (1.6 Force-Hayabusa LM)           33.82s

9          John Oxborrow (1.0 OX7-Suzuki K6)                34.07s

10        Piers Thynne (1.3t Westfield Megabusa)        34.15s

Full results here 

Pictures by: Simon McBeath/everleyphotography.co.uk

Long- time Speed event competitor, HSA member and Speedscene contributor, Clive Wooster is offering his services this summer to Speed Eventers or Trackdayers who may be just starting or need to hone their skills. Clive has had 35 years of Motorsport experience in Sprint, Hillclimbs and Circuits in a variety of cars from Ginetta G15’s to Formula Atlantics and Radicals with a lot in between.

Clive sums up his approach thus “ I’m certainly no Superstar but I’ve gained a lot of knowledge of how best to get time out of my own ability, limited as that may be (!) and am well placed to assess, coach and develop other drivers to achieve their own goals in Speed events and track days.  1:1 tuition provides ample time to assess current styles and allows a steady improvement to be found from those beginning in the sport to those who may be looking to develop an existing style”.

Clive can be contacted on

M 07831 886997

H 01189 721136

E clivewooster@aol.com

At (a very cold) Castle Combe to-day the new HSA Speed Championship trophy was presented to 2012 Champion Matt Hillam by HSA Chairman, Les Buck, and SBD Motorsport MD, Steve Broughton.

For the first 14 years the HSA Speed Championship the ALDON trophy was awarded to the winner but it was recently decided that it was time for a change and our thanks go to both ALDON Automotive and SBD Motorsport for jointly donating the new trophy which carries the names of all the previous winners.

In case you missed it the proposed Circuit of Wales has recently moved one small but significant step towards becoming a reality when the Heads of the Valleys Development Company submitted their planning application to Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council.

The plans include a 3.5mile race track to International standards along with facilities for 4X4s, Karts and Motocross. There will also be a technology park and it will be located at Rassau north of Ebbw Vale.

Good luck to them!

The 2013 SBD HSA Speed championship is about get underway at Mallory Park this week-end and the 100th competitor has just registered.

Thank you all for registering and have a great season.

There's still time to sign up and enjoy some of the best and friendliest competition around!

We have today received approval from MSA to publish Bulletin No 1 to our Championship regulations, the text of which is as follows:

Please note that round 4 of the 2013 SBD HSA Speed Championship will be held at Loton Park on 14 April, not 13 April as previously advised in our HSA championship regulations and on our website calendar, both of which have now been amended. The date given of 14 April in the Hagley and District LCC regulations is correct. This change results from a genuine mistake by HDLCC, who had initially advised us that our round would take place on 13 April. We consider this to be ‘force majeure’ under championship regulation 1.5. Unfortunately HDLCC cannot accommodate us all on 13 April. However, HDLCC have said that they will accept entries on 13 April, subject to availability, from any HSA competitors who wish to make a weekend of it and compete on that date as well as on the following day. Please note, however, that only the 14 April results will count towards the HSA championship. If you have already entered the 13 April event and now wish to transfer it to 14 April, or you would like to add a second entry for 14 April, or cancel the 13 April entry, please contact Tony Fletcher. HDLCC have advised us that they will refund entries from entrants who no longer wish to take part on 13 April.

The first round of the SBD/HSA Speed Championship is this Sunday, the 17^th of March at Mallory Park. Championship entries continue to expand and there will be a new feature at all the rounds, championship 'feather flags'. Simple to erect and highly visible they will be located near a committee member, either in the paddock or close to the track. Apart from publicising the championship presence members will also be able to easily find support and advice from an experienced HSA official.     

With the HSA committee meeting in Banbury it presented a convenient opportunity to visit Jo White’s workshop, north east of Bicester. He was, as usual, busy with a number of projects and it was interesting to see the minute space frame chassis of the latest Nemesis. It was impossible to miss the chassis in the front workshop, Chris Gale’s Mk8 or Mk 11 Mallock, just back from the paint shop and looking smart. Most parts are available to complete the build and Jo was considering the details of its aluminum bodywork. Jo can be found at www.vulcandezign.co.uk and is happy to consider all sorts of projects from complete cars to small assembly jobs.

The TVR Club has announced a Classic Marques Speed Challenge Championship for all Classic rear wheel drive Sports Cars. It will be run using a handicap algoithm calculated for each car using BHP, weight, and tyre type. Its an 18 round Championship with 8 to count for max points. The HSA is an invited club.

More details on: http://www.classic-marques-speed-challenge.com/#

Shenstone & District Car Club's 2013 July 21st meeting will be in celebration of 50 years of Curborough, and 80 years of Shenstone Car Club. To commemorate these milestones the Event will be called the "Curborough 500" and there will be a prize fund for the competitor who breaks any existing class record by the largest margin, or gets nearest to any class record.

It will be a single lap event which will be a round of the "Lifeline" Curborough Championship in association with "Astral Diamonds", and also a round of the Paul Matty Sports Car Championship.

The celebration will be a whole weekend event and commence on Saturday 20th July, with other activities for Club members including a track afternoon. These details will be announced in the SDCC newsletter in the New Year. Obviously the event will be popular, so Championship entrants are reminded to get their entries in as soon as the regulations are issued to avoid disappointment.

Craigantlet hillclimb, in Northern Ireland, is celebrating its 100^th Anniversary at this year’s British Championship round on Saturday August 3^rd, The fast public road course on the outskirts of Belfast has, together with Shelsley, Prescott and Bouley Bay, has run in every year of the British Championship since its inception in 1947.

            Over a mile-plus course in 1913, Harry Ferguson took the first Craigantlet win in his 25hp Vauxhall in 103.0sec. The course has been progressively shortened over the years and with rather more horsepower at his disposal, Trevor Willis is the current record-holder with a time of 39.56sec over its current 1460 yds. Should any driver better this time at the Anniversary meeting, there’s a £100 prize on offer.

            The event is, as ever, organised by the Ulster Automobile Club, sponsored by motorhome and caravan repairers Leisure Services and the celebrations start with a reception at Stormont Parliamentary Buildings the previous evening. The meeting itself will host seventeen classes, including the popular Vintage and PVT class, and there will be displays and demonstration runs of cars featured at Craigantlet over the years.

            More details on the UAC website: www.ulsterautomobileclub.co.uk

Regulations and entry forms for the Great Western Sprint at Castle Combe on March 23rd (HSA Championship Round 2) have been published and can be found on the Calendar page. Alternatively you can enter on-line through the Bristol Motor Club's web site.

Early entries are advised as the number of entries being taken for this event have been reduced from previous years.

A permit has been issued for the 2103 SBD HSA Speed Championship and the Regulations are now final.

A new class has been included for electrically powered Series Production vehicles and it will be interesting to see if any Ampera, Leaf, Ion, Fluence or Volt drivers decide to have a go.

54 competitors have already registered so take the opportunity to join one of the UK's most popular, friendly and competitive Speed Championships.

Despite being called La Vie en Bleu, the event is quintessentially British - a mini Goodwood Festival of Speed set in the glorious Cotswolds - celebrating French cars, but in a British way. Its club motor sport at its best, where visitors can mingle with the cars, speak to the drivers, and watch rare historic vehicles to modern day supercars being pushed to their limits”  Nick Mason (Drummer from Pink Floyd, and avid car collector).

On the weekend of Saturday and Sunday 1 and 2 June 2013, the seventh annual pageant of French motoring excellence – La Vie en Bleu – takes place at Prescott Hill Climb in Gloucestershire – the home of the Bugatti Owners' Club.

Highlights include several Bugatti Veyron 250mph supercars, Aryton Senna’s 1986 John Player Special Lotus Renault 98T F1 car, and the Benetton B190 F1 car that took Nelson Piquet to victory at Suzuka. These awesome cars will take to the hill on demonstration runs.

In addition to the on-track action, Prescott will be packed with Bugatti’s, and other rare and exotic French vehicles including: a 1924 Hispano, 1901 De Dion Bouton, 1949 Citroën U23 Tipper Lorry, 1910 AC Sociable, Bugatti EB110, 1929 Vernon Derby, Parisian bus, a Velosolex display and a few exciting surprises!

The paddock will be buzzing with entertainment, with mime artists, French-themed comedy actors, professional can-can dancing girls, to live music from one of the UK’s finest jazz singers - Cate Cody.

The Orchard will be packed of French car clubs including: Renault Alpine Owners Club, Renault Owners Club, Citroen Car Club, Citroen 2CV Club and Peugeot Owners Club to name but a few.

For further event information, or to purchase advance tickets, please visit http://www.prescott-hillclimb.com

The regs and entry forms for the BARC Midlands Mallory Sprint to be held on March 17th have been published and can be downloaded here.

Matt Hillam received his winners trophies as the overall REIS HSA Speed Champion at the HSA awards lunch on Sunday 13th Jnauary.

Congratulations to runner up John Palmer,  Mark Patterson in third place and all those receiving Class awards.

Special awards went to the Nottingham Sports Car Club as organisers of the 'best' Championship round in 2012, Gary Thomas as the most meritorious 1100cc Racing Car competitor on the National scene, Geoff Stallard as the HSA competitor of the year, Mark Patterson as winner of the Ginetta Owners Club Speed Challenge, David & Jim Spencer in the highest scoring shared car, Alan Mugglestone with the best performance in 4 events and Pete Gillett as the winner of the run off at the HSA Curborough Sprint.

A gallery of all the award winners present can be found here.

Jerry Sturman was presented with a lifetime achievement award for his contribution to Hillclimbing and Sprinting by the HSA at their recent awards gathering.

Jerry has edited Speedscene magazine for more than 22 years until his recent retirement from the role and has also reported on (and will continue to do so) British Hillclimb Championship events for the magazine and the HSA web site. As a committee member of the HSA of long standing he has made a major contribution to the development of the Association

Jerry has also been a notable competitor; in the 70s, 80s and 90s he appeared in a variety of cars.

Performance gearbox manufacturer Quaife, is launching three new gearboxes which may be of interest to hillclimbers and sprinters.

The four-speed sequential QBM1M is designed as a replacement for the Ford Rocket gearbox, prominent in oval and short circuit competition. Providing new levels of user configurability, the lightweight and compact package is rated to transmit up to 250bhp.

Offering ultra-fast shifts with a barrel-style change mechanism, a wide range of base gear ratio sets are available, along with a choice of gear lever locations, six drop gear options and a ‘quick change’ cover to make alterations within minutes.

For Nissan’s iconic Skyline R32-34 GT-R models, the QBE91G is a heavy-duty, six-speed sequential unit, with straight-cut or helical gears and rated up to 750bhp. 

Compatible with Nissan’s RB26DETT bellhousing, the QBE91G features an integral in-line transfer assembly and oil pump, along with an ultra-fast, drum-type sequential gearchange mechanism. Digital gear position indication is available, along with a left or right offset lever position, while a Quaife ATB helical gear limited slip centre differential is supplied as standard.

Quaife will also launch an uprated, five-speed sequential gear kit for the popular Honda Civic Type R. Designed as a direct replacement for the Civic’s standard, six-speed, H-pattern unit for use in motorsport, the QKE8J features a strengthened outer casing and five wider gears.

Available with either straight-cut or helical close-ratio gears, the kit retains the stock EP3/FN2/DC5 bellhousing half of the factory transmission casing for easy installation. An LED digital gear position indicator and Quaife ATB differential are among the other options.

“Quaife is particularly excited about Autosport International 2013, as we're going to debut three exciting new transmissions: the Honda sequential gearkit, the new Skyline sequential gearbox and an innovative, four speed in-line sequential transmission aimed at hot-rod and short oval racing,” said Sharon Quaife-Hobbs, Quaife Engineering’s Financial Director.

You can now register for the 2013 SBD HSA Speed Championship - details can be found on the Regulations & Awards page and you can register on-line here.

We have a calendar with over 30 rounds (only your best 9 scores count though) at all the popular hillclimb and sprint venues with Olivers Mount and Goodwood making a welcome re-appearance and Aintree featuring for the first time.

BARC (SW)’s Gurston Down Hillclimb Championship will run a new scoring system for 2013, designed to offer an equal opportunity for entrants in every class to fight for a top spot in the Championship. Under the new system, more contenders will be able to score points and weather conditions will not, unlike in previous years, affect achievable scores. The number of Championship rounds has been increased from four to five, with four rounds now to count. Full details on: www.gurstondown.org

A new Formula Ford class has been introduced for all Gurston Down events this year. It will cater for all pre-1994, Formula Ford Kent engined cars with Technical regs as per the Blue Book. The new class promises to be ultra-competitive and will, of course, be part of the Gurston Championship so under the new scoring system a Formula Ford runner could also be a strong Championship contender! For more details, contact Mike Reed on: 07540 887970

The provisional calendar for the 2013 SBD British Sprint Championship has been published:

Date          Venue
23.03.13    Castle Combe
06.04.13    Lydden Hill
TBA          Mallory Park
18.05.13    Snetterton
19.05.13    Snetterton
01.06.13    Pembrey
02.06.13    Pembrey
08.06.13    Anglesey
09.06.13    Anglesey
06.07.13    Kirkistown
07.07.13    Kirkistown
27.07.13    Knockhill
28.07.13    Knockhill
15.09.13    Brands Hatch
05.10.13    Anglesey
06.10.13    Anglesey
TBA          Donington Park

It is not certain that either of the two "TBA" events will take place, but active discussion is taking place in a bid to secure them.

Just to remind you that the annual HSA Awards lunch is to be held at the Rothley Court Hotel, Leicestershire, close to the M1 and M69 on Sunday January 13th 2013, starting at 12.30pm.

The booking and menu selection forms can be downloaded from the Events page.

We are limited to 85 places so you are advised to get your forms in promptly to avoid disappointment. And some of you award winners out there have not yet registered. So don't be shy - come along and receive the recognition from your fellow competitors!

The annual BMSA Awards night took place on Saturday 17^th November at Lea Marston where the various winners from the SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship collected the silverware. Winning the Les Edmunds Trophy for the best organised event was the BRSCC for their Saturday event at Snetterton and the shield was picked up by Drew Furlong. John Graham picked up the St John Shield, originally donated by Ken Ayers, for the best newcomer whilst the various category and Top 12 awards were also presented. Stewart Robb the 2012 champion made the customary speech and praised the organisation for delivering the championship in difficult circumstances, he also praised championship runner-up Terry Holmes who had his best season ever whilst chasing down the Scot.

Paul Parker briefed the competitors on the 2013 Calendar which is very close to finalisation with just two events currently in the possible column. There are 14 confirmed rounds on the schedule and if all goes to plan a full 16 round championship will be announced shortly. As soon as the calendar is confirmed then the BMSA will be sending out a Press Release.

The provisional calendar for the 2013 SBD HSA Speed Championship has been published. As well as the usual favourites we will be making a return to Aintree and Olivers Mount in 2013 along with our first visit to Snetterton for a double header with the British Sprint Championship.

Draft regulations for the Championship will be published on this site shortly and entries will commence early in January. We do not envisage any changes to the Class structure and only minor clarifications to the regs for 2013.

2013 SBD HSA Speed Championship Calendar:

17th March     Mallory Park
23rd March    Castle Combe
6th April     Lydden Hill     
13th April     Loton Park     
20th April     Gurston Down     
27th April     Goodwood     
27th April Wiscombe Park
28th April Wiscombe Park
4th May     Werrington     
5th May     Werrington     
4th/5th May     Shelsley Walsh     
18th May     Snetterton     
19th May     Snetterton     
25th May     MIRA     
1st June     Pembrey     
2nd June     Pembrey     
9th June     Curborough     
29th/30th June     Prescott     
6th/7th July     Harewood     
13th July     Blyton Park     
14th July     Blyton Park     
27th July     Llandow     
28th July     Llys Y Fran     
18th August     Olivers Mount     
24th/25th August   Gurston Down     
31st August     Anglesey (Ty-Croes)     
1st September     Anglesey (Ty-Croes)     
7th September     Loton Park     
7th September     Aintree     
8th September     Three Sisters     
14th September     Thoresby Park     
15th September     Thoresby Park     
22nd September     Shelsley Walsh     
12th October     Curborough  

The annual HSA Awards lunch is to be held at the Rothley Court Hotel, Leicestershire, close to the M1 and M69 on Sunday January 13th 2013, starting at 12.30pm.

The booking and menu selection forms can be downloaded from the Events page. 

We are limited to 85 places so you are advised to get your forms in promptly to avoid disappointment.

Most of the HSA Committee will be on hand during the afternoon, so if you have any questions or ideas to share about the Championship, this will be a good opportunity to raise them, as well as enjoy a very good 3-course  lunch in good company and pleasant surroundings.

The official list of winners and awards for the 2012 REIS HSA Speed Championship have been published and can be downloaded here (updated).

Congratulations to all of our winners and in particular to Matt Hillam for taking the overall Championship title, John Palmer in second place just failing to make it an unprecedented 7 titles and Mark Paterson who was not only third overall but also took the Ginetta Owners Club speed challenge.

Alan Mugglestone took the award for the highest score from 4 rounds entered, David & Jim Spencer who were the highest scoring drivers of a shared car and finally a special mention to Gary Thomas who is awarded the Squires Memorial trophy for the most meritorious performance nationally  in a racing car up to 1100cc.

These awards (along with the other class awards) will be presented at the awards lunch at the Rothley Court Hotel on January 13th. Further details of the event and booking forms will be published shortly.

The Hillclimb and Sprint Association (HSA) and SBD Motorsport (SBD) today announced that SBD are to become the title sponsor for the 2013 SBD HSA Speed Championship, one of the most popular and established Speed championships in the UK.

Pictured are outgoing HSA Chairman Chris Bennett and MD of SBD Steve Broughton completing the deal recently at SBD's South London premises. SBD are specialists in the design & manufacture of management systems, engine kits & components for use in all types of motorsport worldwide. Steve observed that the HSA's calendar of Hillclimbs and Sprints at many venues throughout the country would enable SBD to reach a wide variety of potential new customers from those competing in roadgoing classes to those in the racing categories.

Incoming HSA Chairman, Les Buck, warmly welcoming the Championship's new sponsors, said that with the combination of one of the best Speed Championships and such a highly regarded motorsport supplier he looked forward to developing the Championship even further in the years ahead.

On behalf of the HSA, Chris also thanked outgoing sponsor REIS for their support and contribution over the past 5 years to the growth and success of  the HSA Speed Championship, which attracted well over 100 entrants in 2012.

Plymouth Motor Club have just had the top half of Werrington Park Hillclimb resurfaced to the same excellent standard that the bottom half was done three years ago. The club have been aware that the surface of the top half of the hill has deteriorated sharply in the last 12 to 18 months due primarily to the harsh winter weather and decided that it had to act now to ensure the long term future of the venue as a top class hillclimb.  

PMC again engaged local company EJ Glendinning to lay the new surface after the excellent feedback we had received from competitors about the good grip and smooth surface on the bottom half of the hill that was laid by them in 2009. With six months to weather in before PMC's “Werrington 2013” weekend on 4^th & 5^th May they are sure that competitors will enjoy the hill even more than before.

At Curborough yesterday (Sat 13th October) Matt Hillam was crowned the 2012 REIS HSA Speed Champion in his SBD Westfield S2000 with his third maximum score of the season which secured his title.

The top three positions were all in doubt up until the final timed run of the day with six time Champion John Palmer (Westfield SEi) and Mark Paterson (Ginetta G15) both in contention.

Coming in to the event in second place, Mark had a poor first run and with rain appearing in time for his second, this left the door open for John Palmer who scored well by virtue of breaking the existing class record. One consolation for Mark was, as highest placed Ginetta driver, he becomes winner of the Ginetta Owners Club Speed challenge.

At the conclusion of another highly successful season, in which 99 competitors scored points, our thanks go to all those involved, competitors, organisers and sponsors with special mention to Championship Co-ordinator Pat Toulmin, ass't co-ordinator Chris Flavell and title sponsor REIS.

NOTE: Results are provisional until officially confirmed.

Matt Clarke is the 2012 overall Champion of the Paul Matty Sportscars Classic Speed Championship, driving his 1380cc 1960 Austin Mini. Organised by the Bugatti Owners' Club, and sponsored by Paul Matty Sportscars, the Championship has taken in 13 rounds of sprints and hillclimbs at Prescott, MIRA, Loton Park, Curborough, Harewood, Gurston Down, Wiscombe, Goodwood and Shelsley Walsh. The championship is divided into three classes, catering for Saloon Cars, Sports Cars and Racing/Sports Racing Cars built before 1972. This year some 38 drivers scored championship points in an eclectic mix of historic cars, including Minis, Lotus Cortinas and Alfa Romeo GTVs, through to Sprites, MGAs and MGBs, Triumphs and TVRs, together with a variety of single seaters such as Lotus and Brabham machines, plus Aldon and Ginetta sports racing cars. The competition uses a handicap points scoring basis with the aim of minimising the performance differences between the broad variety of cars within their respective classes.

Congratulations to Matt and the other class winners. The main results are as follows:-

Saloon Cars

1. Matt Clarke 1960 Austin Mini 65 points ( Overall Champion)

2. Andy Clarke 1977 Alfa Romeo Giulia GTV (51)

3. Mike White 1970 Lotus Cortina (45)

Sports Cars

1. John Weedon 1968 Triumph TR5 (56)

2. John Newton 1961 Austin Healey Sprite Mk1 (49)

3. Austin Weltman 1971 Westfield 11-Climax (48)

Racing and Sports Racing Cars

1. Les Buck 1969 Lotus 61 FF (60)

2. Ian Ritchie 1967 Brabham BT21A (56)

3. Martin Jones 1967 Lotus 51A (45)

For more information on this popular series, including in-car videos, please see www.classichillclimb.com

The 2012 British Sprint Championship concluded at a sunny Anglesley with two rounds last weekend.

The results are as follows:

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship:
1st Stewart Robb
2nd Terry Holmes
3rd Mike Musson
4th Mark Smith
5th Colin Birkbeck
6th Steve Miles
7th Colin Calder
8th Graham Porrett
9th Terry Graves
10th Scott Pillinger
11th John Graham
12th Heather Calder

Foundation Cup winner (Glynis Lloyd- Jones Trophy) : John Graham

Category Awards Winners
Modified Production: Matt Hillam
Sports Libre: Jim Belt
FF1600 Racing Cars: Steve Cawley
1100 Racing Cars: Grahame Harden
2nd Martin Pickles
1600 Racing Cars: Jonathan Toulmin
2nd Simon Clemow
3rd Martin Clemow
2000 Racing Cars: Colin Birkbeck
2nd Mark Smith
3rd Steve Miles
Unlimited Racing Cars: Stewart Robb
2nd Terry Holmes
3rd Graham Porrett
Junior Sprint Challenge (David Render Trophy): Louise Calder
Britannia Trophy:  Grahame Harden
Celtic Trophy: Steve Miles
Saxon Trophy: Grahame Harden
St John Trophy: John Graham
Patsy Burt Trophy: Heather Calder
Mille Miglia Trophy: Terry Holmes & Graham Porrett

With less than a week to go until the final round at Curborough it's a chance to have a look at who are the movers and shakers who will be challenging for various class and overall awards.

The race for the overall championship is going to be hot one with the three main contendors all in attendance.   Matt Hillam and Mark Paterson are separated by only 1 point and both have scores of 13 to drop.  Seven times Championship winner John Palmer is within 5 points but only has a score of 11 to drop.

In the class battles, Ken Morris and Tony Thomas will be fighting for honours in their MX5's with only 2 points separating them.

In the inaugural year for the shared driver award it looks like that Jim & David Spencer in their first year as single seater drivers are going to tie this up nicely.

There is a great field entered on the day, so fingers are firmly crossed that the weather will be dry for some great action and a spectacular final round.

The final instructions and entry list for the HSA Sprint at Curborough on Saturday October 13th can be downloaded from the events page.

Just a quick reminder that the AGM of the HSA will be held at the Cromwell Lodge Hotel, Banbury at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday 2nd October.

The agenda appeared in Speedscene 169 or can be downloaded here and the latest set of accounts can be downloaded from the HSA page.

The provisional entry list for the HSA sprint at Curborough on Saturday October 13th can be downloaded here.

There is still time to enter.

We are also short of marshals so anyone able to assist in the paddock, the office or the startline please contact Eric Morrey at compsec@hillclimbandsprint.co.uk

BARC Yorkshire Centre celebrated the 50^th anniversary of their hillclimb at Stockton Farm in style with back-to-back rounds of their Harewood Championship and demonstration runs by iconic cars and drivers in the venue’s history throughout the two-day celebration.

            Saturday’s Greenwood Cup event took place under sunny skies, when a delighted Morgan Jenkins set FTD in his Pilbeam-Vauxhall. His mother-in-law, Sandra Tomlin, drove her father Phil Chapman’s Chapman Mercury 3 for the first time for 27 years during the demonstration runs, which also saw double hillclimb Champion Peter Westbury out in the Felday-Daimler and the Ferguson-Climax 4WD in which he took consecutive British titles, the second of which, in 1964, he secured driving the Ferguson at Harewood’s first British Championship round. Also among the many demo cars were David Hepworth’s Championship-winning Guyson Beablast 4WD Special, driven by his sons Andrew and Stephen, David Gould driving his Gould-Hart 84G in which Chris Cramer took the 1985 British title, Peter Voigt in the Roy Lane-built Tech-Craft-Buick and Mini ace Nicky Porter’s highly original Cooper S, together with many cars and drivers that competed at Harewood’s first ever event in September 1962.

            Sadly, wet weather closed in for Sunday’s Mike Wilson Memorial meeting and few single seaters took their competition runs, leaving Jerseyman Len Amy to set the outright pace in his rear-engined Mallock Mk32. Due to the dire conditions, none of the Harewood Championship contenders improved on their Saturday scores, but with Steve Owen having already done enough to take top honours in the parallel Harewood FTD series, a record-breaking run in her Lotus Elise on the first day ensured that Sarah Bosworth became the first lady ever to win the Harewood Championship outright. In doing so, she had completed the double at the BARC’s two hillclimbs, having won the Gurston Down title in the Elise in 2009.

The REIS HSA Championship scoring updated yesterday for Loton Park on September 8th used an incorrect set of results. The correct results and times have now been applied and we believe the scores are accurate. Please let us know if you spot anything amiss.

Apologies for the mistake.

The HSA was at Car Fest South but were not allowed to take part in the Hill Climb so we decided to run our own competition.

The idea was see how fast a member of the public to get into and out of a fully caged Mazda MX5 racing car (including fastening the 5 point harness). Rob Way kindly allowed his Ma5da MX5 Cup Car to be used.

The adult’s competition on Saturday only had a small but enthusiastic entry with Alexandra Burton leading the field with a 35.72 until a late run by Glen Goodall  who clinched the win with a time of 27.84.

There was a large entry for the children’s competition with Ellie Simpson the early leader with a fast run of 35.18, only to be beaten by a very quick James Taylor with a 30.72.

With much better weather on Sunday there was a large and very competitive entry in both the adults and children’s competitions.

The adult’s competition started with a very quick run by Louise Aldhous with a seemingly unbeatable 22.89,however this was bettered by Lara with a time of 21.75. Things really hotted up towards the end of the day with several sub 20 second runs the fastest of which was an 18.41 posted by Tristan Beard, the eventual winner.

The children proved to be every bit as competitive as the adults with Josh posting a fast 23.03 early in the day but this was beaten by Campbell McGregor with a 22.44, a late run by a hard charging Bethany came close with a 22.69, but Campbell was our winner.

In total £97.50 was raised from entry fees and donations, all proceeds will go to Children in Need.

Ending a successful first year of competition at the Wiltshire hillclimb, Simon Thornley took the Gates of Brockenhurst Gurston Down Hillclimb Championship in his roadgoing Westfield-K Series, setting a time just a couple of tenths outside the class record. 2010 champion Roy Barker put in a strong bid to regain his title, but despite a record-breaking shot in his potent Mitsubishi Evo, he had to settle for the runner-up spot ahead of the 2007 champion, Mike Rudge, who charged his Westfield-Duratec through the order on the final round.

            The parallel Gurston Top Ten Challenge Championship, decided on outright best times, was won by Tony Wiltshire. A season’s best 27.39 on his opening run in the ex.Tony Marsh Gould-Opel V6 more than made up for missing the July round due to an accident in practice and he stormed to the title ahead of Terry Graves’ Gould-DFR. A late charge by local airline pilot James Blackmore’s OMS-Hayabusa levelled with Graves on points, but the Launceston driver got the verdict on a tiebreak, due to his maximum score at the July event.

Gates of Brockenhurst Gurston Down Hillclimb Championship, final positions: 1 Simon Thornley (1.9 Westfield-K Series) 25.60pts; 2 Roy Barker (2.3t Mitsubishi Evo 5) 24.92s; 3 Mike Rudge (2.3 Westfield-Duratec SE) 23.39; 4 Chris Cannell (1.7 St Bruno Roughcutter) 22.36; 5 Jim White (1.4 Austin Mini Clubman 16v) 21.91; 6 Keith Diggle (2.0 WEV-BDG HCS) 21.88; etc.

Gurston Down Top Ten Challenge: 1 Tony Wiltshire (2.5 Gould-Opel V6 GR55) 30pts; 2 Terry Graves (3.5 Gould-DFR GR37) 27; 3 James Blackmore (1.6 OMS-Hayabusa 25) 27; 4 Peter D Smith (1.4 Force-Hayabusa) 23; 5 Rodney Thorne (5.0 Pilbeam-Rover MP43) 21; 6 Diggle 19; etc.