Harewood Hillclimb - Race Reports

The Mike Wilson Memorial Meeting - 18th September 2011

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 11:55 GMT

Scrutineering was performed under a largely cloudless sky and after an often wet Saturday meeting everyone seemed to be in good spirits. The meeting was a round of the MG car club Luffield Cars Speed Championship, the Dews Speed Series, the Brocksbanks Solicitors Cross Border Speed Championship, the Yorkshire Speed Hillclimb Champioship, plus the final round of our own Harewood Speed Hillclimb Championship. Considering all that involvement you would expect the place to be bulging at the seams, but there was plenty of spare room in the paddock. Perhaps the full utilisation of the 'other' paddock spreads things out a bit more.

The MG cars got practice under way with many drivers having their own special agenda in one of the above championships. The meeting proper followed the now almost standard practice of having the first runs before the lunch break but towards the end of the period the skies darkened and you could see the approaching rain when looking out to the west.

The first five classes managed to get their second run in the dry but then it rained for the first time and quite hard too. That is how the day progressed. When it looked like clearing up, it rained again and again. The consequence was only one driver recorded his best time not in the first run and he was an early runner who got two dry ones.

MG cars Group 1 saw David Coulthard put down an excellent marker in his ZR 160, climbing in 71.58 secs to take the class. He like many others did not run in the wet knowing he could not improve.

MG cars Group 2 & 3 was also a comfortable win. John Payne's Austin Heeley Sprite ( MG in disguise) recorded 68.42 secs to eclipse his rivals in this class

Class 15C is for MG cars Group 4 & 5. The biggest engined MG at the meeting won this class. Andy Walkers 4600cc V8 thundered up the hill in 66.83 secs . This was the only driver to have his best time not in the first run.

Our own classes start here with class 1A for Road Modifieds won by David Smith's 1330cc Mini winning a two horse race in 71.04 secs.

Class1B for Road Modifieds up to 2 litre had the largest entry of the day. Mark Teale headed them all in his Peugeot 206 GTI with a time of 67.50 secs from James Kerrs similar car just .15 behind and Daniel Hollis in a Honda Integra. Eighteen entries in this class.

Class 1C for Road Modifieds over 2000cc is usually the domain of Mitsubishi and Subaru variants. Paul Andersons Mitsi Evo 7 was on this occasion chased home by Graham Cox's turbocharged Astra. The winning time of 67.50 secs for Paul gave him 2 secs to spare over 2nd place.

Class 2a for Road Modified Kit, Replica etc was a Henry Moorhouse benefit. He kept his Westfield on the island to very good effect getting very close to Bob Bellerby's record in the process. His winning time of 60.53 was just 2/10ths shy, but was 5 secs clear of the Bellerby car in Michaels hands.

Class 2B for the bigger Road Modified Kit cars ran true to form. The class record holder Simon Green headed Karl Jackson by a very small margin. The Westfield Duratec stopped the clocks in 59.67 secs with the iconic Ariel Atom just .07 secs behind. Simon's time was about ½ second outside his class record which just about reflected the speed of the track on the day.

The Pure Lotus sponsored class 2E for road going Lotus cars was also won by the class record holder. John Graham supercharged 1800cc modern type Lotus Eleven recorded 64.06 secs heading a class full of Lotus Elise cars the quickest of which was Sarah Bosworth in 65.72 secs.

Class 3A for Mod Prod cars had just one starter. An elderly NSU TT came up in 82.57 secs. Mod Prods up to 2 litres only had two finishers. Ben Grindley's Escort was thoroughly entertaining. His 70.54 sec. climb had much sideways action to win this class.

Class 3C covers the largest Mod Prods and Steve Darley's Subaru was 'imprezive' (sic) in 58.67 secs from Paul Martin's Mitsi 6. Less than a second in it but like many others they both did just the one run due to the vastly changed conditions and they have four wheel drive.

Modified Specialist cars in Class 3F was won by Andrew Steele's Westfield in 60.42 secs. Only two other runners did not threaten his time.

Class 3G Modified Specialist cars over 1700cc. This class contains some quick cars all kit car based. Here Karl Jackson's Ariel Atom gets re-dressed to join a second class which he duly won in 58.91 secs from Mark Purdham's exotically named Purdy Hosson Bouler (there's a story there somewhere, I wish I new it !) in 60.17 secs with the Westfield of Stephen Alexander third.

Sports Libre and Hillclimb Super Sports cars up to 2000cc contest Class 4A Sarah Cordingly has definitely got the Indian sign on her Dad in recent meetings but had a terrific scrap with Les Procter's OMS . The pity is that because of the weather it was just a one run shoot out, with Sarah coming out on top by .07 secs. It would have been good over four climbs. Les says she has a distinct weight advantage! Sarah's super time was 57.75 sec with Dale Cordingley's third place 58.70 secs.

Class 5A is for Racing cars up to 1100cc. Roy Munro's OMS 2000M was the winner in 56.36 from Simon Bailey's similar car. Graham Smith broke a drive shaft on his first timed run. Such is the friendliness and cooperation of fellow competitors that no fewer than 6 drive shafts were offered to Graham but none had the correct spline configuration. Roy Munro also offered Graham a shared drive but that was not allowed.

Class 5B Pre '94 Formula Ford 1600. Andrew Henson's Van Diemen RF91 was the winner in 63.06 secs trom Ben Trenter's Swift.

Class 5C. Racing cars up to1600cc Peter Newton just beat David Newton in the same Force PC by a minute .14 secs. Peter's time was 53.17 secs and was good enough for Peter and David to net second and third FTD.

Class 5D for Racing cars up to 2000cc. John Chacksfields OMS 2 litre narrowly beat Morgan Jenkins in the venerable Pilbeam, the margin only .15 secs. John's time 53.63 secs.

Unlimited sized racing cars contest Class 5E. There was only one car but 2 drivers. Oliver Tomlin recorded an excellent 51.32 secs (it may be a P.B.) with Sandra climbing in 56.58 but delighted by the Tomlin family successes in the weekend. Oliver's time comfortably made FTD.

The 2011 season ended with ironically quite a nice evening but still a wet track and of course it was the end of another Harewood Championship. Subaru driver Steve Darley was the overall winner from Simon Green performing in a Westfield with another Westfield pilot Henry Moorhouse third. The top two were competing against a bogey time that they had set. It could not have been much tighter as .59 of a second covered the top 3 after a season of competition.

Its rebuilding and tweaking time starting now, so lets see what 2012 brings.

Les Thurkettle

The Greenwood Cup Meeting - 17th September

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 11:37 GMT

The penultimate meeting of 2011 at Harewood brought with it typically autumnal weather. Sunny intervals and intermittent heavy rain or showers served up some interesting results during the course of the day.

With less than ninety competitors taking part, those who did attend were rewarded with no less than four timed runs. However, with the rain bouncing off the windscreen, occasionally that didn't seem like such a good idea… Practice got underway promptly, on an initially damp track. However, mid way through the session, the rain came, just as the slick-shod single seaters took to the track. Picture "Bambi on Ice" and you'll get the idea.

The first timed run took place before the lunch break and, broadly speaking, were on a wet track. The second run was damp, the third wet and the fourth dry. This gave the drivers many problems, as it was very difficult to judge just how hard one could push. Would the next corner be wet or dry, and how much grip would there be?

With no visiting championships, it was straight into Class 1. In 1A, the immaculate Mini Cooper S of David Taylor was the only competitor. David's best was a 72.69, some ten seconds quicker than his best wet time.

In contrast, Class 1B had no less than fourteen starters, making it the biggest class of the day. In the wet, me and the old MG ZR 160 held the dizzy heights of third, but gradually slipped back to fifth as the track dried. The Renault Clio Cup car of Simon Medley bobbed up and down from third to fourth in class, as the track conditions changed. But it was the Honda Integra Type R of Daniel Hollis that finally bagged the podium spot with a time of 68.77. The Peugeot 205GTi of James Kerr made an error on run two, which could have proved expensive and left James languishing in sixth place. However, a final run of 68.01 was good enough to net second in class, some three quarters of a second behind the class winning Peugeot of Mark Teale on a 67.30.

Richard Archbould and his Mitsubishi Evo 6, lay second in Class 1C after the first run, but a second effort of 66.60 was enough to beat the Evo 7 of Paul Anderson by a good couple of seconds.

The season long Moorhouse v Bellerby battle continued in Class 2A. Henry's Westfield SE was never headed and won the class on a 62.55, leaving Michael's Sylva Striker a second and a half adrift.

In Class 2B, Simon Green dented his Harewood Championship hopes with a failed run during the best conditions of the day. His second 'damp' run of 60.91 was, however, good enough to take the class from Richard Paterson, but left him light on Harewood Championship points. Simon would have to wait twenty-four hours to find out just how costly today had been…

The TVR Taimar of Chris Thurgar-Dawson ran alone in Class 2D. His best, just under the eighty second barrier. Class 2E saw a full grid of Lotus Elise. Sarah Bosworth lead after the first run, but eventually slipped back to third in class with a best of 66.13. But surely, that would be enough for Sarah to take the Harewood Ladies prize for 2011? Sarah was another driver who faced twenty-four long hours of fingernail chewing! Chris Brooks was second on a 65.93, but once the track dried, no one could better John Graham in the supercharged Lotus Eleven. 64.05 the class winning time.

The Mini of Richard Casey took an easy win in Class 3A, whilst the Citroen Saxo of Kevin Hamilton was beaten back into second in Class 3B, by the crowd pleasing antics of the Ford Escort. Arm twirling Ben Grindey was at the wheel. Who needs a windscreen when you can look out of the side windows?

The Subaru Impreza of Steve Darley only made two runs, the first of which was good enough for second in Class 3C. However, with the main competition fallen by the wayside, Paul Martin and his Evo 6 ran out an easy winner on 60.63, almost seven seconds quicker than Steve. Harry Moody won Class 3F as he pleased in his Westfield SEi, with a 63.28.

Karl Jackson failed to start Class 3G in his Ariel Atom. This left the door open for Stephen Alexander to bag a third in Class. Mike Tate in his Westfield pushed hard all day, but could only manage second, behind the Purdy Hosson-Bouler of Mark Purdham. Mark's best was a 60.32, with Mike was just a couple of tenths behind, after a storming final run.

The Cordingley's, Dale and much faster daughter Sarah, were sidelined by a CV joint failure on their Radical Prosport in Class 4A, so Les Proctor in the OMS SC4 CF had an easy win over the Radical SR3 of Keith Hardy. 58.87 was Mr. Proctor's best of the day. Another OMS triumph came in Class 5A, from where the 2000M of Graham Smith emerged victorious. 55.70 was good enough to beat the similar car of Roy Munro by over a second.

In the Formula Ford class, the Swift FB91 of Ben Tranter trailed home behind the Van Diemen RF91 of Andrew Henson. Andrew's 63.23 gave him a winning margin of over two seconds.

In Class 5C, Iain Davidson and his OMS CF09 had a day long battle with the shared Force PC of David and Peter Newton. Although he ran them close, Iain could do no better than third place, with a best of 55.81. David lost out to Peter in the final run, 55.45 against the winning time of 53.56. This time also netted Peter FTD and the Greenwood Cup.

In Class 5D, John Chacksfield (OMS CF04) had a second in hand over the Pilbeam of Oliver Tomlin. This also brought John maximum points in the Harewood FTD Championship, thus providing John with an unassailable lead in that competition.

Finally, Morgan Jenkins took Class 5E in the mighty four litre Pilbeam MP97 he shared with Sandra Tomlin. Morgan also set second FTD with a 54.74 climb.

And so the day ended. A mixed bag of weather, but four timed runs sent everyone home happy and expectant, for what would the final round of the Championship bring? Only time will tell…

David Coulthard

Bright & Breezy - 28th August

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 11:30 GMT

Bright & Breezy

Would it rain or not and where did all that wind come from??? Oh! - sorry.....It's August Bank Holiday Weekend!!!!

Blustery winds greeted a full (over 150) paddock of 2 and 4 wheeled competitors. Guest class of the Hill this meeting was the TVR Championship. 6 cars of varying models (and ages !) were in the 67 sec bracket with Steve Cox's V8S thundering to victory in 67.13 some 4/10th's ahead of Stewart Lobley's Vixen S4. Mike Roe's Ermine White S4 finished off the top 3 in 67.76.

Mark Teale (206Gti) and Jamie Kerr (205Gti) were having their own battle in the 2litre Road going class, Mark being quicker on both runs to take victory in 67.68.

Mike Geen guested very impressively in a Honda Integra R (Karl Jackson's) to take 4th. Place just behind the older version of David Blakeston. 7th. was Harewood "virgin" Peter Hart in his near standard Clio Williams - excellent result chasing his father - Tony - hard and finishing just 6/10ths behind.

With class record holder Bob Bellerby absent in Road modified kit, Henry - just recovering from the Leeds Festival - Moorhouse took class honours from the younger Bellerby - Michael - by over 2 seconds.

The larger kit cars proved an on-going battle between Simon Green and Karl Jackson - the latter in his super-charged Ariel Atom finishing tantalizing close by 11/100ths to the Duratech KT Green Westfield.

On a day when conditions were not conducive to record breaking only one record fell - John Graham broke his own Elise class record by 12/100ths in the 211 - is that 3 times this year? This combo gets quicker and quicker - must be all the Dallara practice!!!

In the larger Mod Prods the Scooby of Steve Darley,whilst shy of his own record by ½ second, proved once again invincible heading up the Martin/Brookes brace of Evos.

Probably one of the most eye-catching cars in the paddock was the impressive sounding Cotton/Edward Clio V6 Cup car - very pukka with all the factory gizmos.

Single seater time - was it going to be one of the "big boys" from 5D even though Colin Birbeck was a no show? Oh No - Mr. Spedding pulled all the stops out on run 2 (after a problematic first run) to take FTD in the Force from John Chacksfield's Vauxhall engined OMS by over a second.

Some 32 bikes graced Harewood for their annual visit. Jimmy Hodges made the long trek from Devon worthwhile to take fastest time on the Honda CRF450 under ½ second ahead of Worcester man Martin Robins on the big engined 637KTM. Spins, falling offs - fortunately without injury - and an exceptionally large entry caused numerous delays.

In spite of a shortened lunch (a big thank-you to the marshalls) only 2 runs sadly were the order of the day.

Can we order more sun and less wind for the September double-header please!!

John Moxham

Sunday 7th - Montague Burton Trophy

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 11:28 GMT

Sunday 7th - Montague Burton Trophy

A dry (ish) start although not exactly the kind of sky normally associated with August, however practice was a much smoother affair and with the weather at least dry all that remained was to anticipate the 3 class runs that were about to unfold.

The guest classes were as per the Saturday meeting with the addition of a trio of Ginettas who got us underway, Nick Stephens took the class by some margin in his G12 from Robert Palletts G33. Then we were back to the running order from the day before, the Austin Healeys were again topped by Tom Walker in his MkI going much quicker than Saturday with 66.20 - a time not a million miles from the class record!

A new trio of Sunday drivers took the remaining awards, Wakeham, Johnson and Cooper having a good old scrap for the pots. The Caterham classes were swollen from the day before and those who took the sneaky practice afforded the previous day didn't have it all their own way, 23A saw Ian Keen demoted from hero to zero , Saturdays winner forced to watch from the cheap seats as Paul Boston took the win with a 68.42, Alan Johnston repeated his 2nd in class of the day before. Into 23B and Saturday winner Paul Collins had to settle for bronze as Graham Howard just nicked the win from Jonathan Ward, the top two just 0.07 apart. 23C was a similar story with Malcom Hickey bumped to 3rd in class by David Nelson (1st) and Richard Price (2nd). A reversal of fortune in 23D with Shaun Elwell having to settle for 2nd place as Chris Howard Harris opened up an unassailable gap from the off and took the win by over a second, Stuart Miller also turned up the wick to reverse the Saturday result with Mike Sankey, Stuart pipping Mike for 3rd by 0.13. 23E ran as per Saturday minus David Nelson, the minor placings bumped up in his absence, but nothing could be done to halt the progress of Mr Championship co-ordinator Durrant.

The regular Harewood classes began with a mini (issigonis) duel in 1a, David Taylor was quickest on the draw and took the win.

The band played on in 1b, the top three locked out from the previous day, although Simon Smith, fresh from a Saturday raid on the lancashire sprint scene took 4th.

Paul Anderson made the most of a depleted start list in 1c and won with a 67.25, Graham Cox in runner-up spot.

Up to 1700cc kit cars was a carbon copy of the day before as far as the awards were concerned but the times were even quicker, one of the exceptional drives of the day from Bob Bellerby (another recent Driving school graduate!) who lowered the existing class record on each of his three timed runs (i wonder when that was last done?) to take the class in fine style, mention also to young 'enry who had to settle for 2nd in class after breaking the class record on his 2nd timed run only to discover back in the paddock that Bob had gone quicker, Mike Smith rounded out the podium and Michael Bellerby picked up the final pot for 4th.

An identical podium in 2b as well although Simon Green had an additional reason to celebrate after chipping another 0.40 off his own record, it looks like Karl Jackson now has his work cut out to make an impact on this class this year, knowing Karl though it won't be for want of trying.

Chris Thurgar Dawson ran his TVR uncontested in 2d. John Graham had his particular Lotus product in fine form and led out a mirror image of Saturdays podium with a time just 0.26s outside his own class record.

Richard Casey ran his mini again in 3a, this time unopposed. Mick Davey took the Mod prod class in his Vauxhall powered MkII Ford Escort, David Marshall having to settle for 2nd place nearly three quarters of a second in arrears.

The unlimited Mod Prod class was again the same podium but what a ding-dong! Darleys banana was flying, he won the class and reset the record by a full second over the course of the weekend, definately the other execptional drive of the day. Mention must also go to Donald McCaskill who on only his third visit to the hill clocked a time of 58.93 to take 2nd in class, whilst Paul Martin was third with 59.25 - both of these times were also within the (now old) Bainbridge record from 2004, this class is on fire!

3f was a walkover for Robert Bailey. Karl "two entries" Jackson took the 3g win in his supercharged Atom, putting more clear air between himself and his runner-up from Saturday Brian Newton.

The "little" libre class was a reversal of the that which had gone before (24hrs before to be precise) and this time it was age before beauty as Les Proctor made the best of the conditions to press home his advantage, Sarah C had to sette for 2nd just over a second adrift.

Just over half a second seperated the top two in the up to 1100cc racing car class, Graham Smith was forced to work hard for the class win and a further 9 points in his Harewood FTD championship campaign, Simon Bailey was the man doing the chasing in 2nd and Fergus Duncan again finding himself on the final step of the podium.

In the Formula Ford class of 1994, Head boy again was Andrew Henson, quicker than Saturday (as were all his classmates), Peter Whittle a solid runner-up spot.

The up to 1600cc Racing cars was taken by OMS MD Steve Owen, his 52.98 was enough for FTD too, the OMS 25 is a super looking car and development is obviously progressing apace, Peter Newton pipped his co-driver David Newton to take 2nd in class and 2nd FTD.

Tables were turned in the up to 2000cc racing cars as Mr Chacksfield had to give best to Jason Mourant who put in his best time of the weekend on his final run to win the class and round out the FTD podium with 3rd quickest time of the meeting.

See you for the Summer Championship meeting on the August Bank holiday Sunday, we will be joined by the motorbikes, lets hope for their sake the weather stays fine!

James Kerr

Saturday 6th - Yorkshire Speed Trophy

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 11:27 GMT

Two near capacity entry lists took to the hill this weekend, the weather looked set to influence proceedings but many who persevered with the elements found their patience richly rewarded!

Saturday 6th - Yorkshire Speed Trophy

Practice conditions were pretty awful, with the sum total of about 10minutes rain taking all morning to fall out of the sky, by the time the meeting got underway at around 1pm the skies were still fairly leaden, with track conditions best described as greasy. It wasn't until the start of the 2nd timed runs that the track came good, it's no surprise at this time of year that the combination of 10 mins reasonable sunshine and a Wharfe Valley Westerly can turn a skid pan into a record breaker, and so it proved.

The first of our guest classes (Austin Healy Cars) got the meeting underway, with Tom Walker maintaining his advantage in both class runs to lead Richard Mason home into 2nd place.

A cornucopia of Caterhams followed with championship co-ordinator Mark Durrant bringing his merry band of "Blatchatters" to contest the Lotus 7 Clubs speed championships, five classes (23 A-E in Harewood parlance) make up the championship ranging from up to 125bhp on MSA list 1A tyres through to the imaginatively titled "anything goes" (one assumes it must still be Caterham badged/shaped?). The Saturday runners took full advantage of the smaller turnout to accustom themselves to the challenge, Ian Keen led the 23A duo home with a time of 76.08, Paul Collins had a comfortable win in 23B, gapping Andrew Bramhall by over 3 seconds. 23C was a Hickey benefit, Malcolm leading Judith home with a 65.44. The largest 23 class of the day, (D), had a good close finish with the top three under half a second apart, Shaun Ewell took the honours with 62.91, from Chris Howard Harris and Mike Sankey. Mr Durrant did the business in 2E although David Nelson was hot on his heels just 0.17 down in 2nd place.

The regular Harewood classes began with 1a, a three horse race that didn't quite require a photo finish, Pershore pilote Michael Andrews bringing his Peugeot 106 home in first. Class 1b again proved its popularity with 18 competitors, modesty does not permit me to name the winner, suffice to say that if Mr Blakeston had put a little more effort into his "raindance" I fear it may have been a somewhat different result, Dan Hollis taking 3rd place with John Gallagher 4th.

The result in class 1c was another to turn with the weather, with Kenny Brookes making the most of his power advantage on the dry track to post a 2nd run winning time that gapped the leader after the 1st run (and now runner up) Paul Anderson by nearly four seconds.

Finding a trustworthy individual to share your competition car can be a struggle in itself, having found that co-driver it would be nice to think that they would embrace the opportunity and yet have the good grace to defer the win to the owner… Mike Smith had to settle for 3rd place in class without complaint as his guest driver topped the podium, Robert Bellerby took class 2a with a 61.52, with Henry Moorhouse 2nd on 61.90 and the afrementioned Mr Smith on 63.39.

The unlimited road going kits slugged it out to establish the finish positions on the 2nd timed run and Simon Green was a convincing winner this time, gapping Karl Jackson by nearly a second and Richard Paterson bringing the brightly coloured Sylva home in third.

Class 2d was an eclectic trio representing some great british manufacturers, Robert Pallets Ginetta G33 had the legs in the final reckoning topping the Kingsman DB6 and the Thurgar-Dawson TVR. The "lotus products" class was as close as ever and Ben Lovells elise ran recent Driving School graduate John Graham very close to take 2nd place just a third of a second shy of the 2-11 driver, hairdresser on fire (Sarah B) completed the podium amid tales of derring do, continental mercy missions and midnight engine salvage.

Stripped shells and sticky rubber begins with 3a (up to 1400cc) which was a two horse race where the pretty mini of Richard Casey took the win by over 3 seconds.

3b saw Nottinghams David Marshall continue his roadgoing exile and enjoy the extra grip of his Kuhmos V70's whilst besting the 205 of Chris Flavell by a little over 4 tenths. Relative newcomer to speed events and Harewood in particular, Steven Darley made light work of peddaling his "lateral Banana" (Subaru impreza) to a class 3c winning time of 59.09 - this was a new record, nearly a quarter of a second quicker that Simon Bainbridges 2004 ascent which sealed the championship for him that year - Can Mr Darley do the same?

Class 3f was a battle of attrition with Paul Pocklington taking an early bath after a scary looking practice run off on Quarry straight, a further mechanical retirment from Eric Morreys Clan left Mark Paterson taking the win uncontested in his Ginetta.

Karl Jackson was out again in class 3g and put in his quickest run of the day, 60.36, Brian Newton took runner-up spot in his snarling v8 westy.

With Dale currently sidelined recuperating from recent surgery, Sarah capitalised on having the car to herself and took the victory from the menacing "Proctormobile", a good time was also had by Allan McDonald who brought his very "libre" homebrewed 4x4 down from scotland, "the wolf" is suzuki powered, Subaru driven and Mini shelled, it took a creditable 3rd in class.

Big Libre was a solo affair but for rally fans it was worth the entry alone to see a Wise man do battle with the legendary Stockton farm climb in his 6R4, hats off to Chris!

Into the 1100cc Racing cars, and an OMS podium. Graham Smith continued his strong showing, taking the class win by nearly 2 seconds and consolidating his 2nd position in the Harewood FTD championship, Simon Andrews 2nd and Fergus Duncan 3rd.

Formula Ford continues to be dominated by Andrew Henson and today was no exception, Peter Whittle gave chase but had to settle for 2nd place nearly two seconds adrift.

The Force was definately with Peter Newton as he showed the 1600cc racing car class a clean pair of heels, his 54.70 was enough to give him 2nd FTD of the meeting, Ed Carter and Stephen Elliot rounded out the top 3.

Up to 2000cc was as big as the racing cars got today and the competiton was fierce, John Chacksfield taking the class and FTD win from Jason Mourant who had made the long trip across the water from Jersey to get to grips with the Harewood hill, Jason ended up only 0.38s off JCs pace and his 3rd FTD was a strong performance at a challenging and unfamiliar venue.

So as crews departed those soon to return dispatched prayers to the weather gods, as yet again the skies darkened...

James Kerr

MSA British Championship Meeting - July

Mon, 1 Aug 2011 17:44 GMT

MORAN MOTORS HOME - AGAIN

It's widely suspected the reason Yorkshiremen fit double glazing is so the kids can't hear the ice cream van, a rouse that will have paid off on the baking hot weekend of 2/3 July and the occasion of the British Hillclimb Championship's second visit of the season to Stockton farm.

During his victory speech, following a 49.68s FTD and two Top Twelve Run - off wins, twice national champion Scot Moran made reference to the need to manage overheating tyres. Something of a Harewood first. In the opening run - off Scotty's closest challengers were the locally built OMS 25 of Trevor Willis and the Moran family Gould 61X in the hands of father Roger, the V8s pursued closely by those pesky bike engined cars of Lee Adams, GWR Raptor, and local hot shoe Richard Spedding, Force PC. Wallace Menzies in the ever improving DJ Firestorm V8 completed the first six.

During the second, Roger and Trevor tied for second spot ahead of Menzies, followed closely by Chris Merrick's Gould Judd and Adams.

The first of the class runs saw Paul Webster improving on his own record with a 67.66s run, the Mazda MX5 two and a half seconds in front of the Honda Integra of John Gallagher in a Road - going Production duel. There was another new record set in the Road - Going Specialist Production class, with young David Warburton at the wheel of father Allan's Caterham K Series seeing off much more experienced opposition with a neat 59.74s ascent, ahead of Karl Jackson in his skeletal Arial Atom and Dave Wilson's Caterham Vauxhall complete with terminally ill crown wheel and pinion. DTA supreme Warburton senior reflected upon the monster he has created whilst languishing in fourth place.

The perennial Andy Russell, Ginetta G15, ran alone in the 1400 cc Modified Series Production class when Wil Ker's Mini expired. In the 2 litre division jovial Brummie Ralph Pinder was made to work hard at the tiller of his Peugeot 205GTi by Geoff Stallard's TVR Vixen, the winning margin just over a second. Whilst in the unlimited class Settle Son of the Soil and former hill champion Richard Hargreaves drove his Mitsubishi Evo hard to an untroubled win, despite a most unusual practice spin at Orchard, to see off widely travelled Cornishman Geoff Twemlow's Impreza by some four seconds.

Following Chris Mason's attempt to be the first E Type driver in space at Shelsley Walsh (see brilliant U Tube clip) Team Spedding brought in new talent for Harewood, with team patron Haydn sharing with younger son Robert, of whom more anon. And with a record setting 63.82s climb, Haydn set a fresh unlimited class record in the hastily repair Jag, a second clear of the mighty Morgan Plus 8 of Mike Hall. Former record holder George Hopkins ran a close third aboard the ex works Kim Johnson MGB V8.

The first of the Scottish invaders appeared in the 2 litre Modified Series Production class in the form of Scott and Lesley Sheridan with their Suzuki propelled MK Indy, and egged on by Lothian Car Club's Billy Cater they pushed hard for victory. However JC Racing's Russ Cockburn was having nothing of that, and in a re enactment of the Battle of Culloden his charge, Peter Herbert, drove the faithful Westfield BDH to one second win. But the tables were turned in favour of the Scots in the unlimited division when the "Munchkin", Les Mutch, made the long trip from Aberdeen worthwhile to take victory in the Dax Rush IRS shared with Mike Jolly, the two sandwiching second placed Karl Jackson who had cunningly entered the Atom in two classes, all three being covered by a little over a second. Les had been under Tim Coventry's fourteen year old record in practice, but Scottish "prudence" resulted in an under filled tank causing fuel starvation on the critical final run.

Recent Harewood School graduate Brian Newton wrestled his Rover V8 powered Westfield to a plucky fourth. A single shared Mallock Mk20X comprised the Hillclimb Super Sports field, and it was Ben Johnson, son of car owner Kim, who set the pace, a second and a half quicker than co driver Matthew Price.

The 2 litre Sports Libre class saw Mark Dempster to the fore, his enterprisingly conducted Imagination PH1 locked in a day long battle with the Force LM001 of Graham Wynn from which he emerged just six hundredths to the good. Guernseyman Tim Torode took third place following an equally close contest with hill regular Les Proctor, Mallock Mk18 and OMS SC4CF a scant nine hundredths apart. Single seaters were next to be released from the startline, and it was the Tillicoultry Quarries backed Force HC of Redditch driver Dave Uren that set the 1100cc class pace, a tenth ahead of first run leader Simon Fidoe's Empire 002. Uren's co-driver, Nicola Menzies, the Grommit to husband Wallis, was a good third, closely pursued by Simon Andrews in an OMS 2000M.

A hotly contested twenty two car strong 1600cc class saw the usual suspects at the sharp end. Under the watchful eye of the "wee un", Raptor constructor Graeme Wight Junior, rapid Scotsman Lee Adams scored a five hundredths of a second victory over the JC Racing prepared Force of Richard Spedding with a sensational final ascent, but Spedding's impressive 50.87s record remains intact. On the lock stops as usual, Eynon Price was a game third in his Force, just ahead of Jos Goodyear, DJ Firehawk; Will Hall, Force; and Peter Newton in the ex Robert Kendrick Force, freshly rebuilt after last autumn's monumental Loton Park shunt.

Morgan Jenkins showed a clean pair of Avons to his fellow 2 litre class runners, the Pilbeam MP87 seven tenths up on the supercharged OMS CF07 of Jason Morant. Tony Hunt's blown Force PC led the chase, and it was good to see Midland hill regular Laurie Richie make a rare excursion "oop north" with the venerable Argo JM9.

Scottish infiltration continued in the unlimited class, with Tillicoultry Quarries supremo Wallis Menzies giving the boy Moran something to think about by equalling the orange Gould's time on his second run, the DJ missing out on the win only because of a fractionally slower opener. Willis, Moran Senior, and the GR55 of John Bradburn jostled in the leaders' wake, with Tom New in the GR55 shared with "Boycie" Merrick completing the top six.

Two other classes remained. The HSA (B License Holders) class saw George Laycock in the wittily named Farm Special take top honours (it seemed very stable - ha ha) a second and a half faster than the Emerson Kent Peugeot 205GTi. Chris Flavell's similar Pug, and Alan Muggleston's Mazda MX5 followed.

While finally The Yorkshire Centre Members (B License Holders) class, based on a cunning handicap system than measured performances against class records, was a triumph for Ed Carter in his Jedi, a point better than Dale Cordingley's Radical. Steve Carter took over the winning Jedi to finish third, ahead of Richard Paterson, Raw Striker; Chris Gibbs, Caterham: and hillclimb debutant Robert Spedding in dad's Jag - a great performance that never once involved leaving the ground.

Observed basking in the sun on the hillside were Mr and Mrs Kenyon, the former dispensing invaluable driving advice to all within ear shot; former Lotus Seven all rounder Bob Moorhouse; and Elan pilote from the past Brian Lee, who was so enthused by proceedings that he threatens to dust off the old Lotus and stage a comeback.

What a wonderful weekend's motor sport this had been, thanks in no small part to the dedication and enthusiasm of the club's fearless marshals and committed officials. We now look forward to the August meeting in keen anticipation.

MSA British Championship Meeting - July

Mon, 1 Aug 2011 17:44 GMT

May MSA Championship Meeting - Sunday May 15th 2011

Mon, 1 Aug 2011 17:32 GMT

Rapturous for Adams but Mighty Morans Fight Back - Report By Les Thurkettle

British hillcimb championship contenders came to a cold and wet Harewood for rounds 5 and 6 of the 2011 event. It wasn't exactly raining all the time but it precipitated just at the point when you thought it was clearing up. Not once but several times. Still the glorious Ferrari's were here and 16 members of their owners club graced the hill as usual, thumbing their noses at the weather from the comfort of their enclosed bodywork. This event is a round of their Pirelli hillclimb championship and points are awarded according to their handicap formula. On this occasion Nick Taylor's 348 GTC was the quickest Ferrari up the hill but also took the 20 points for his handicap corrected time . He climbed in 66.59 beating Mike Spicer in his 328 GTB and Brian Jacksons 308 GTB on handicap.

Class 26 was a mixed class for BARC Yorkshire centre members with saloon cars, road going sports cars and a Radical. It was no surprise that the Radical was the quickest. Dale Cordingley's Prosport recording an excellent 59.34 in the damp conditions. Ben Lovell was the winner with 18.45 points under the scoring system (Editor).

Class 5B is for pre 94 Formula Ford's and Andrew Henson won the class comfortably in 65.41. He was competing against three lady drivers, the writer wishes to make it clear that this had no bearing on the result.

Class A1 next for Road Going Production cars up to 2000cc. Just one competitor in this class, Paul Webster taking his Mazda MX5 up the hill in 72.77 secs. Class B is for Specialist Production cars and Karl Jackson's Ariel Atom defied the cold, since it runs without its clothes on, to stop the clocks at 67.42 beating the Westfield of David Spaull.

Class C2 is for Modified Production cars up to 2 litres and Ralph Pinder's Peugeot 205 GTi had a walk over in this class in 74.34. The largest of the production saloons run in Class C3 . Only 3 of the cars that started made it to the finish. Richard Hargreaves Mitsubishi being quickest, the Giggleswick driver clocking 65.72 secs to win. This class was once the domain of Simon Bainbridge in the mighty 4.2 turbo V8 Audi TT, sadly missed, Simon is campaigning in other pastures. Class C4 covers the largest engined modified production sports cars and MG of George Hopkins with a well stretched 4.8 litre V8 (Rover engine I am guessing) comfortably beat Geraint Evans in the Porsche Carrera who only had one run .Porsche with problems ? I'm not sure.

Class D1 for modified specialist production cars had just 2 runners. There were two drivers but one bike engined MK Indy and Scott Sheridan came all the way from Ayrshire to win in 67.20. Is Martyn Kiernan still producing the MK cars. I don't know the answer. Class D2 for over 2 litre ModProd. Again 2 drivers ,one car, this being a 2.5 litre Dax Rush. Leslie Mutch the winner in 62.31 over Mike Jolly. So that was Mutch Jolly rather than Jolly Mutch ( Editor)

Class E Hillclimb Super Sports Cars - There was one Mallock and 2 drivers with Ben Johnson winning in 64.80 in the MK20X model. Will Martin Groves 56 ½ sec record (set in 1998) ever be broken? Up to 2 litre Sports Libre cars in Class F. Mark Dempster's Imagination narrowly beating the rather ugly Force Sports Racing car. Les Proctor was entered in this class in his rapid OMS but turned up in his vintage classic MG, his OMS was not ready unfortunately. He enjoyed the stately progress of the MG though obviously outclassed.

Class G for Sports Libre cars over 2 litre . Some real thunder here. Only two entries but 1250 horse power between them. Sadly Keith Edwards fearsome looking 2.2 litre turbo broke its gearbox on the first timed run after practice that looked promising, but Mike Manning's tubocharged 2 litre Ford Puma made light of poor conditions to record 60.39. Good traction courtesy of four wheel drive.

All single seaters to report on from here the first being the up to 1100cc in class I. One car ,two drivers in a Force HC. Dave Uren quickest in 61.50 secs.

Class J - Racing cars up to 1600cc. From this and the next two classes will come the qualifiers for the top twelve run offs. Conditions were changing all the time and with some shared cars going off first it was a toss up whether or not you got lucky. The track was never dry but wetter some times than others. I was grateful that my modern golf umbrella was complete with DRS ( its not only F1 that has moveable flaps) because there was a howling wind to accompany the rain. Some drivers were getting to know their new OMS cars and perhaps would need a bit more acclimatisation but it looked like being a Force/OMS battle. Graeme Wight Jnr's Raptor was the party pooper and was quickest in 55.34 secs. The car was impressive with Lee Adams at the wheel, exiting Farmhouse and getting a bit out of shape but impressively kept his foot in and got excellent early traction. Jonathan Goodyear's DJ Firehawk was only 4/10ths behind ahead of Eynon Price in a Force PC.

Class K Racing cars 1600 - 2000cc. Just two runners and seasoned campaigner George Bleasdale climbed in 68.98 secs ahead of Tony Hunt's Force with turbocharged Busa engine. Class L - Racing cars over 2000cc. It had started to rain again and Mark Coley was sharing a drive in the Gould GR55. Mark had done his run before the downpour and scored an impressive 56.72 secs leaving him well clear of this class. Roger and Scott Moran were next best having great difficulty getting the power down. Sandra Tomlin was next best, having also benefited from an earler shared car run. It was sad to hear from Sandra about the death of her Father Phil Chapman aged I believe 90 years. A legend at Harewood and definitely my mentor. I would not have hillclimbed without his influence. His business was on West Bar in Sheffield and I worked nearby. Great times.

Round 5 Top 12 Run Off. With a very wet track it looked like an opportunity for the nimbler lesser powered bike engined cars and so it proved. Lee Adams in the GWR Raptor was the only one to break 60 secs with an actual of 59.94 secs.and took the 10 points. The 'on form' Richard Spedding was ½ a second behind with Eynon Price third. The first class L car was Roger Moran in fifth.Mike Manning's Ford Puma just missed out on a point. Four wheel drive was a bit useful today.

Class J Second Runs. On a track that was considerably improved from the first run Richard Spedding clinched the class win in 52.41. Richard had over a second to spare from Will Hall in a similar Force PC. Lee Adams was third in the class in the GWR Raptor in 52.75 secs.

Class L Second Runs. In the improved conditions Scott Moran was the class winner from Trevor Willis in the new OMS 25 with 3.2 litre V8 ( Powertec made from two stretched Suzuki Hiyabusa bike engines ). Trevor was very glad to qualify well after falling off on his first class run. John Bradburn was third in his Gould GR55 The times 51.79, 52.45 and 53.11 secs.

Round 6 Top 12 Run Off. With the track getting better by the minute starting position was important and so it proved. Scott Morans ascent in 49.75 secs earned him the 10 points with Roger Moran second in 50.91 secs. Collecting 8 points in a time inside his class record Richard Spedding had his best championship day yet 51.41 secs sending him home happy. Richard was in front of poor weather specialist Trevor Willis fresh from a win the day before at Barbon Manor and a double win at Shelsey With the weather as it was the club did well to get thro in excellent time.

Driver of the day - Richard Spedding, 17 Championship points

Bring on the July event !!

The Harewood Open Meeting

Mon, 16 May 2011 14:02 GMT

by John Moxham

As we trundled west to east - passing through a huge deluge in Preston - I thought "please let it be dry by play time" - AND it was! Very, very windy and "fresh" but dry - just.

The tempting starter on today's menu was 16 mouth-watering Ferraris. No matter what your allegiance is, to see them in the Paddock at the top of the Hill always looks good. The first three finished within a second of each other with the 348GTC of Nick Taylor taking the honours in 66.22.

22 Road-going saloons filled class 1B with Mark Teale's Peugeot 206GTI and Richard Vale's Polo G40 battling all day long. Mark eventually got the honours with a 67.10 - less than 2/10ths shy of the class record. Harewood instructor and general mentor James Kerr stayed closely in touch for 3rd place with a 67.88. It was left to the two road-modified kit classes to provide the hardy crowd with two class records. In class 2A Henry Moorhouse took a further 0.32 off his April record to claim victory from the Striker of Michael Bellerby.

Class 2B gave us the second record, this time from Simon Green in the KT Green sponsored Duratec Westfield although he was chased all day by the Ariel Atom of Carl Jackson - both drivers dispatching the visiting Westfields with ease. The change in tyre regulations last year for these two classes really suits the committed driving style of these two winners - both definite 2011 championship contenders. John Graham took a day off from "the dark side" - that's slicks, wings, Dallara and sprinting - to dominate his class in his 2 Eleven although chased hard this time by Lytham St. Annes driver David Ormerod Jnr. and Sarah "the crimper" Bosworth a very close third despite her practice off at Chippies.

In the bigger mod-prod class the Scooby of Steve Darley came within 0.13 seconds of Simon Bainbridge's 7 year old record - expected to fall later in the season!

Classes 3F and 3G were the domain of the Westfield championship contenders. Mark Anson was never headed in his orange Megablade in the smaller class, whilst Terry Everall and Chris Hulatt battled for the over 1700 class honours with the ebullient Mr. Everall the victor.

Amongst the open-wheelers no records were broken but not surprisingly FTD came from this group. Jonathan Goodyear's DJ Firehawk taking the overall award some 2 seconds ahead of Mark Coley's 2.5litre Cosworth V6 Gould GR55 - both drivers running in preparation for Sunday's British Championship visit.

A few timing issues, a fair share of lengthy delays with "offs" but still 3 timed runs - and it stayed dry - just!! All in all a pretty good play time!!!!

The Spring National Meeting Report

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 11:13 GMT

Phew what a scorcher! - Spring National 2011 by James Kerr

Well, perhaps not quite that hot but the first Harewood Hillclimb event of 2011, the Spring National Meeting, was treated to some very welcome bright and sunny weather which has seemed to be the pattern for Yorkshire for much of April. So whilst the regions gardens may have been wilting under the clear skies the driving was positively blooming!

The first meeting of the season is always a time for assessing one's own performance and that of class peers, spotting the close season demon tweeks and just perhaps getting a flavour of who will be setting the pace in 2011. At our season opener the regular classes were supplemented by a goodly selection of Blackpools finest fibreglass fancies and a glorious quartet from Crewe who were all on song. The competitive runs (of which there were four in total) got underway before a lunch break which became slightly extended due to a medical emergency with one of the Harewood team. I won't bring any additional attention to that particular individual but suffice to say that we wish them all the best and look forward to seeing them back at Harewood for the next meeting.

Classes began with the small capacity roadgoing saloon and sports cars, a rather undersubscribed affair with the dual driven "Evans" Smart slugging it out for top honours, Quin getting the drop on Emily on this occasion and nearly four seconds to the good with a 77.34 second run. The up to 2 litre category was a much busier affair with 12 combinations testing their mettle. The top three were all in the 67s with Polo pilote Richard Vale taking the win from Mark Teale in the 206 GTi, whilst your humble scribe found himself just a little further back in 3rd. The unlimited roadgoing class was without it's "record bothering" contingent of recent years, messers Martin and Jackson et al (however they will both appear later in this report) but the competition was no less fierce, with York Grandad Paul Anderson returning after a few years out and showing them all the way home in his Mitsubishi RS.

Another returnee adding a bit of glamour to the lower paddock was Elspeth Charlton (back from her Peugeot 205 days and now in the "big class") steering her Scooby doo to a well earned runner up spot, hotly persued by recent graduate of the Harewood Driving School, Nigel Watkins who took 3rd in his nicely prepared 964 Carrera. Ilkley driver Colin Kingsman lowered his own record in the Historic Aston Martin Racing Club Class by some 1.24 seconds on his way to the class win. Matthew Oakley took the TVR class win in the constantly evolving Griffith, on near record pace! Meanwhile Stewart Lobley overcame his close season fuelling issues to win the battle of the Vixens and take 2nd place from a hard charging Mike Roe.

The small capacity kit car class was again a Moorhouse benefit with young 'enry winning and making his mark as a man to watch this season, establishing an early lead in the Harewood Championship. Richard Abraham was a couple of seconds adrift in 2nd. Simon Green was sporting a whizzo new set of Avons which promised to be the stickiest rubber that MSA List 1b could offer. In the final reckoning they just tipped the balance but nothing was certain until the last run when Harewood Driving School regular Karl Jackson fell just 0.09 short and Simon was victorious. I get the feeling that this will be one of the hotter classes this season and could well produce our Champion.

The "Lotus products" class is becoming ever more competitive and although John Graham topped the timing sheets today he would be well advised to pay close attention, as the demon barber of Sheffield is closing in. Yes, with 2 school appearances already this year (and a brand new motorhome/transporter combo of dubious lineage, although I believe it is never knowingly undersold!!) Sarah (shiny new racesuit) Bosworth is gunning for the top slot. Although my spies tell me that Chris Brooks has been to "expensive Dave" over the winter and will perhaps give them something to think about when he returns at the May meeting. Both of the smaller mod prod saloon classes were lightly populated with Clinton Ewen uncontested in 3A, whilst Tony Hart took 3B.

That man Paul Martin (as mentioned earlier) is now tearing up the tarmac on sticky tyres in 3C, the unlimited capacity mod prod class, and he's inching towards Simon Bainbridge's long standing record in his fire spitting evo. Steve Darley kept him honest in runner up spot posting a best time within the same second as Paul. Nigel Cresswell and Steve Brown had a good dice in 3F for the smaller engined specialist mod cars, Nigel getting his nose in front by just 0.16 at the end of the day. In the unlimited class Mike Tate was uncontested, although honour was upheld as his times were just a smidge quicker than the under 1700cc cars.

The Sports Libre (which means free by the way, just in case you thought it was for horoscope followers!) class wasn't to be a family affair this time round as the Cordingleys were left either side of the podium whilst Graham Wynn took the striking Force to the top step. 56.65 is a pretty respectable time too, maybe Ed Holliers old record isn't quite so uncatchable? For the record, beauty prevailed over age for the Cordingleys, not so much climbing the hills as nearly over them, eh Dale? (only joking mate honest!). Meanwhile, it has come to my attention that there is a thief in the up to 1100cc single seater class!

As Graham Smith was going about his business and winning the class, the 2nd place man decided that his driveway was looking a bit patchy and took to the gravel trap on his final run in a vain attempt to sneak some chippings away in his undertray. I have raised this with committee Richard; you won't get away with it! Half a dozen formula fords contested the climb and Andrew Henson (who knows a thing or two about the marque) spent the day clocking some very consistent times to take the class by 0.59 from David Sturdy in 2nd place.

Local hero and Driving School test pilot Richard Spedding dominated the up to 1600cc racing car class and reset his old record in the process. Making the Force appear at the finish timing beam some 0.47s quicker than ever before, this gave him both the class win and FTD, and no little confidence I'd imagine prior to the first round of the BHC in May. Steve Owen had to settle for 2nd in class and 2nd FTD as he gave chase in the new OMS 25; a very pretty looking car, which is already proving to be a popular choice with class rivals.

John Chacksfield ran uncontested in the 2 litre single seater class and made the most of the good weather with a 54.85 which gave him 3rd FTD. Although by dint of his FTD Championship entry John is currently our leader in that competiton with a maximum 10 point score already in the bag.

What a great start to the season! Here's to many more dry and sunny days on the hill, and don't forget it's not too late to enter either the Harewood or FTD Championships for 2011. Hope to see you all at the next meeting.

Mike Wilson Memorial

Sat, 25 Sep 2010 21:59 GMT

The renowned Mike Wilson Memorial meeting always stages a perfect season finale at Harewood Speed Hillclimb, and this year was no different.

After another great year at our Yorkshire-based venue, the Harewood Championship all came down to this final meeting, and the question was raised as to who would be crowned champion. As the closing stages took shape, Harewood regulars Henry Moorhouse and Vini Dobson have been fighting it out at the top of the table.

Heading into the season finale at the top of the standings gave Moorhouse the advantage. He was able to expand on this as the final round approached to steal championship honours from a chasing Dobson. With a total of 114.57 points to Dobson's 110.91 points total, Moorhouse steered his well-known yellow Westfield to the top when it mattered, after racking up the points all the way through the season.

On the day, Moorhouse's quickest time was 73.12 seconds, with another four runs per driver giving everyone ample time on the hill.

The fastest time of the day this time was awarded to John Chacksfield, as he soared up the hill in 62.25 seconds, edging out Peter Newton for the privilege, with David Newton left holding the third fastest time of the day.

Despite the end of the season only just passing we are all very much looking ahead to 2011 already. Thank you to everyone who has joined us at Harewood Speed Hillclimb in enjoying some motorsport throughout this season, and we look forward to seeing you all again soon.

Greenwood Cup

Sat, 25 Sep 2010 21:34 GMT

With the final two events at Harewood Speed Hillclimb now done and dusted, the curtain has fallen on another season, and what a season finale it was.

The Greenwood Cup kicked off the weekend in style, with Henry Moorhouse narrowly skipping ahead in the Harewood Championship standings. After setting a best time of 61.91 seconds on his fourth run of the day, the Westfield pilot scored 19.23 points, to stengthen his title charge.

Second in command in the standings after the Greenwood Cup, Vini Dobson, flew up the hill in just 61.40 seconds to give him a strong 110.91 points total with one meeting remaining. As the top two battled it out, third place was being held by Steve Mitchell, with Richard Vale breathing down his neck in fourth.

The fastest time of the day went the way of Peter Newton with a time of 53.48 seconds, just ahead of Peter Newton, who set a quickest time of 54.01 seconds. John Chacksfield secured the third fastest time to enhance his title campaign.

With just one meeting remaining the 2010 Harewood Hillclimb Champion was still a question mark, as the main contenders awaited battle the following day.

Summer Championship Meeting

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 15:29 GMT

Our Summer Championship meeting took place over the Bank Holiday weekend, as both cars and bikes made the trip to Harewood the action impressed the crowds as the titel race draws to a close.

Heading into the weekend Henry Moorhouse was in control of the Harewood Championship standings, with Vini Dobson breathing down his neck. After two timed runs during Sunday's event Moorhouse set a personal quickest time of 62.24 seconds, meaning he has managed to hold onto the lead. Meanwhile, determined to steal the position away from him, Dobson has minimised the gap, after his quickest time on the day of 61.86 seconds. With just two events spread over one weekend left in the 2010 championship, Moorhouse now leads with 103.83 points to Dobson's 103.14 points.

Elsewhere, in terms of the motor cycles riding up the hill, Glyn Poole was the man to beat after setting the quickest two wheel time, riding up the hill in 63.04 second. With the ever popular motor cycle and side cars also making an appearance, the best of the three wheeled times was awarded to Neil Paylor with a time of 68.11 seconds.

With our main championship taken care of, the FTD from the event went the way of John Chacksfield, with a time of 55.28 seconds.

Our next event will take place over the weekend of 18th and 19th September, with the Greenwood Cup bringing the focus on Saturday, while the Mike Wilson Memorial meeting sees out the season in style on the Sunday.

We look forward to seeing you during our finale weekend, which is set to be a thriller.

Montague Burton Trophy

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 18:12 GMT

Sunday 8th August was the second of another two day meeting at Harewood, as the Montague Burton Trophy meeting got underway in fine fashion.

After a successful and smooth running day on Saturday, Sunday welcomed another good outing, with each competitor getting three timed runs throughout the day.

This time around it was Richard Vale who came out smiling, as he secured the most points from the day towards his Harewood Championship campaign, leaving the venue with 19.58 points. The positions were reversed with Henry Moorhouse taking the second biggest points haul from his three runs, just short of Richard with 19.56 points.

With three rounds of the championship remaining, the top of the Harewood Championship standings are very tight, with Henry leading the way with 84.93 points in total. Vini Dobson is holding onto second place with 84.49 points, ahead of Steve Mitchell in third.

The fastest time of the day was awarded to Richard Spedding, with a time of 51.34 seconds, whilst Mark Hemingway slotted into second with his best time of 52.90 seconds. Colin Birkbeck was third with a 53.64 second time.

The next round at Harewood is the Summer Championship meeting during the Bank Holiday weekend, on Sunday 29th August. Following that out final competition weekend of the season takes place the weekend of 18th/19th September, with the ever popular Greenwood Cup meeting and the Mike Wilson Memorial season finale.

Yorkshire Speed Hillclimb

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 17:36 GMT

Another month, another weekend and another event at our Harewood Speed Hillclimb has been and gone, as Saturday 7th August made way for the Yorkshire Speed Hillclimb.

After a month of silence, engines were in action once again over the Hill, with the Harewood Championship providing a thrilling focus during the day. Four timed runs for each competitor gave everyone a good chance to battle it out, with Henry Moorhouse coming out on top to strengthen his title charge. Henry's quickest time from the four was a 61.54 seconds, to give him that all important edge.

Richard Vale and Simon Green were within touching distance of Henry as they left Saturday with 19.45 and 19.44 points each, respectively.

In terms of the FTD Championship, Mark Hemingway was the man on the move to set the quickest time, soaring up the hill in 54.19 seconds. Behind him, John Chacksfield broke through with the second quickest time, leaving Graham Smith with third.

British Championship Hillclimb

Tue, 6 Jul 2010 16:23 GMT

The weekend of 3/4th July saw the British Championship return to our Yorkshire Hillclimb venue for the second time this season. Heading into the weekend with all guns blazing, metaphorically of course, the main runners in the championship, as well as our band of Harewood regulars, were set for a tough yet exciting round of the championship.

After practice runs on Saturday, Sunday was a day focused on the main event, with two timed runs followed by the Top 12 Run-Off.

British Championship front-runner, Martin Groves soared up the hill, recording a new record on his way to the quickest time of the day, with a time of 49.13 seconds. Just behind Groves were the Moran duo, with Scott getting the better of father Roger.

Harewood regular Sarah Cordingley became number one driver in the Cordingley Radical, after father Dale recently had an operation on his wrist. Sarah's best time came on her second run, with a time of 57.74 seconds.

Despite the weather looking like it could go either way during the day on Sunday, the strong winds fought off the rain, to give us yet another dry day. The weather really is favouring us so far this season, and we hope it continues until our final round in September.

The next round at Harewood is on the 7th August, with the Yorkshire Speed Hillclimb event kicking off August's action.

Jim Thomson Trophy Meeting

Thu, 10 Jun 2010 15:16 GMT

The second meeting of June was the Jim Thomson Trophy Meeting on Sunday 6th, with everyone making the trip to Harewood for another round of the Harewood Championship as well.

A wet day saw the rain play a part in providing the perfect spectacle for our spectators, while our competitors enjoyed another strong meeting.

In the Harewood Championship standings, Paul Martin is still in control, now with 40.09 points, whilst Vini Dobson has quietly crept up on him into second with 48.17 points. After three rounds of the 2010 championship, Kenny Brookes is currently lying third, meanwhile Henry Moorhouse has been demoted from second to fourth for the time being. Steve Mitchell currently rounds out the top five, while the remainder of the top ten sees Daniel Hollis, Dale Cordingley, Clive Lightburn, Tracey Taylor-West and Mark Teale battle it out for position.

In terms of the FTD Championship from last Sunday, John Chacksfield set the quickest time, followed by Peter Newton and Colin Birkbeck.

The next round at Harewood is on the 3rd and 4th July, with the British Championship making their second appearance of the year, as they battle it out to reach the top.

We look forward to seeing you all there, hopefully while enjoying some glorious summer sunshine.

Classic and Vintage Meeting

Thu, 10 Jun 2010 14:28 GMT

The 5th June saw the prestigious Classic and Vintage meeting take place at Harewood Hillclimb, as a varied array of cars and drivers flocked to the Yorkshire venue. Always a popular event, the mixture of machines ready to take on the challenge of our hill was a sight to behold, as the meeting got underway for another year.

As well as the ever popular Vintage Sports Car Club (VSCC) in attendance, many other clubs showed up, to show their support. The Austin 7 club was out in force, together with the usual mix of Aston Martins, MG's and Fraser Nash machines, to name just a few. Colin Danks, in his Austin 7 rolled to the top of his class (the Pre-war Austin Seven Class) in the Bert Hadley Track Championship, riding to first position with a quickest time of 78.86 seconds, while Stewart Arkley dominated Road Championship.

In terms of the FTD for the Classic competitors, it was Jolyon Harrison, in his Brabham BT30, who recorded the quickest time. Meanwhile, the Vintage FTD was awarded to James Baxter, who steered his Fraser Nash 3571cc machine to the privilege.

After a number of runs each, it was another successul year for our Classic and Vintage professionals, as they ended yet another exciting outing at Harewood. Same time next year? Sounds good to us.

May British Championship Hillclimb

Wed, 12 May 2010 22:50 GMT

Sunday 9th May saw the MSA fraternity make their first visit of the season to our Harewood Speed Hillclimb, and everyone was geared up for the event. With the sights of sounds of the venue being filled with some of the best single-seaters in Hillclimbing it was looking to be another good event for the championship and the venue.

After each competitor enjoyed three timed runs throughout the day, the stage was set for the first Top 12 Run Off of the meeting. As ever it was the usual suspects grasping the limelight, each eager to take the fastest time and hang onto their championship hopes.

Scott Moran set the quickest time around the course, soaring up the hill in 50.70 seconds, just ahead of one of his chief rivals Martin Groves, who set a time of 50.87 seconds; a time just inches away from the top spot.

Next up it was familiar face and Sott's father, Roger Moran, who set a time of 51.84 seconds in his Gould GR61X.

From here it was a similar sight to previous events, with some familiar names taking to the Top 12 timing sheet. Trevor Willis, Deryk Young, Chris Merrick, all featured in the subsequent positions, each setting times in the 51 seconds landmark. The remainder of the Top 12 saw the likes of Richard Spedding, Eynon Price, Tom New and Steve Owen, who all put in a sterling performance to enhance their afternoon.

May Open Hillclimb

Wed, 12 May 2010 22:25 GMT

Well, it's May already and our May meetings have been and gone. First up it was the May Open Hillclimb, which took place Saturday 8th May, and as ever was a day to be enjoyed by all.

After this second round of the Harewood Championship it is Paul Martin who holds the prominent position at the top of the standings. After gaining 19.06 points from the first round back in April, Martin added to that tally with a 19.44 from last Saturday, giving him a grand total of 38.50 after two rounds.

A familiar face in Henry Moorhouse is currently lying second in the championship table, not far behind Martin with 37.28 points, while Mark Teale has steered his Class 1B Road modified sports and saloon machine to third place, with a score of 37.07 from two rounds.

There are nine rounds of the Harewood Championship in total throughout the season and there is still a long way to go, but at the moment it's rather close at the top.

Everyone will be keen to take charge at the top of the table, with many of our regulars returning this year ready to take on the challenge. With Sunday 9th May making way for the first MSA meeting of the season at Harewood, the Harewood Championship returns to action next month on the 6th June, with the Jim Thomson Hillclimb meeting.

Spring National 2010

Thu, 15 Apr 2010 22:12 GMT

The first round of the season kicked off in style as ever at Harewood Speed Hillclimb last weekend, with Sunday showcasing the 2010 Spring National meeting.

William Hall was the man to beat, stealing the fastest time of the day, with a quickest time of 52.11 seconds. Joining him in the 52 second times were second fastest Eynon Price, with a 52.41, closely followed by Richard Spedding, soaring up the hill in 52.41 seconds.

After the two timed runs during the day the event was cut short due to an incident. In terms of the FTD Championship, Clive Lightburn walked away as the championship leader, heading David Grey to the privilege. Richard Pope has taken route in third, with Dale Cordingley fourth after the first round. Iain Davidson currently holds fifth place in the FTD Championship, whilst Dale's daughter Sarah occupies sixth. Ed Carter, Les Procter, Graham Smith and Kenny Brookes completed the top ten.

In terms of the Harewood Championship, Richard Vale rose to the challenge, taking the championship lead after the first round. Paul Henry is close behind in second, while Harewood regular Henry Moorhouse is settled in third place.

The next event at Harewood Hillclimb is on the 8/9th May, with the MSA fraternity making their first visit of the year to the venue on the Sunday of that meeting. Something not to be missed!

Practice Day

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 22:42 GMT

Practice Day 2010. The sun was shining, surprisingly. The wind was blowing, strongly. But the stage was set for another good start to our season here at Harewood Speed Hillclimb. With the weather working in our favour, for a change, it made for a lovely day at the Hill.

With a full entry list of 60 cars it was unknown whether everyone who intended to turn up actually would turn up on the day, but it wasn't a bad turn out. It was great to see the regulars, many of them turning up with their familiar cars in tow, but it was also nice to see the usual suspects accompanied by new, and somewhat interesting machinery.

One entry in particular that was eagerly anticipated was Karl Jackson is his new supercharged Ariel Atom, something which I'm sure will be a favourite among the spectators during 2010.

Despite the event not being part of the championship, the timing system was still in play throughout the day, giving everyone an impression of what to expect from the coming season. To find out more, please have a look at our 'Results' section for the Practice Day times.

It is now just two weeks until the first official round of our season, and we are very much looking forward to seeing you all out in force on Sunday 11th April to get our season into gear in fine fashion.

Mike Wilson Memorial 20th September, 2009

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 23:02 GMT

For Sunday's event, and keeping with what seemed to be the theme of the season, there were more familiarities at the top of the timing sheets. Saturday's quickest duo of Spedding and Jenkins gracefully traded places for Sunday, giving Jenkins the Fastest Time of the Day, with a 53.21 seconds.

There was an array of well-known names just behind, with Jason Mourant stealing third, having progressed on his fourth fastest time the previous day, heading John Chacksfield and Piers Thynne. Not far behind, Dave Banner, Sandra Tomlin, Iain Davidson, Len Amy and George Bleasdale recorded the remaining fastest times within the top ten, which they each achieved within their three times runs.

With the season now drawn to a close the championship scores are in, and, despite being provisional at the moment, Richard Spedding has risen to the forefront of the FTD Championship, while David Sturdy has provisionally secured the premium spot in the Harewood Championship.

All in all it was another successful weekend at Harewood Hillclimb, and a superlative way to end what has been an exciting season. We are all very much looking forward to 2010 already and we look forward to seeing you all out and about at the Hill.

Photograph: Full Frame Photographic

Greenwood Cup 19th September, 2009

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 21:53 GMT

With the final meeting of the year fast approaching, the penultimate round at the Yorkshire-based Harewood Hillclimb was soon upon us. The Greenwood Cup saw Richard Spedding soar to yet another Fastest time of the Day, with a time of 53.71 seconds, achieving the feat on his third timed run - just heading Morgan Jenkins to the top spot.

John Chacksfield rocketed to the third quickest time, just inches ahead of fourth placed Jason Mourant, while Colin Birkbeck completed the top five fastest competitors of the day. The remaining five spots in the ten fastest times of the day were filled by Harewood regular, Dave Banner, Piers Thynne, Drew Dawson, Len Amy and finally, Iain Davidson.

The Saturday of this final weekend of the 2009 season also saw the arrival of the Ferrari Owners Club, bringing with them some spectacular machines. Christian Mineeff topped the times out of the twenty Ferrari competitors, being the only driver in the class to tear down the 65 second barrier, with a time of 65.79 seconds, which he secured on his second timed run.

The MG Car Club was another feature of the Greenwood Cup meeting, with an impressive showing of various MG cars, from MGB GT models ZR machines, and everything in between. A popular addition to the programme was David Coulthard - not the F1 superstar, his namesake who, along with his Hillclimb outing is also an MG Trophy regular.

Coulthard powered to the top of the times in the MG Cars Group 1 Class, just ahead of another MG trophy regular, Helen Waddington. Meanwhile, it was John Payne and David Morrison who stole honours in the Group 2 & 3 Class and Group 4 & 5 Class, respectively.

Despite a few dramas during the sessions the Greenwood Cup was still as magnificent an event as ever, and a great way set-up to the final event of the year.

Photograph: Tom Rhodes Photographic

Summer Championship August 30th, 2009

Mon, 7 Sep 2009 15:28 GMT

The Summer Championship meeting at our very own Harewood Hillclimb saw a familiar name top the time sheets. After three timed runs each, Harewood regular Richard Spedding powered to top spot, with a time of 53.87 seconds, giving him the fastest time of the day. Colin Birkbeck secured the second fastest time, flying up the hill in 54.81 seconds. These times also gave the duo the two fastest times within Class J.

John Chacksfield managed the third fastest time of the day, with Dave Banner and George Bleasdale following with fourth and fifth times, respectively. Completing the top ten of fastest times were David Grey, Gary Thomas, Iain Davidson, Clive Lightburn and familiar face, Les Procter.

Lotus expert Chris Brooks managed to record the top time within Class 7's Modified Production Cars category. Starting off with a first timed run in 68.22 seconds, his times progressed from there, moving up to a third timed run of 66.91 seconds on his final attempt.

Another Harewood regular and Hillclimb specialist, Simon Green, put his KT Green Westfield through its paces, recording the quickest Class 5 time, just ahead of Richard Vaughan.

Richard Vaughan was all set to enjoy a rare outing, when his car failed to make a getaway from the start line. Luckily, being such a friendly bunch at the Leeds-based venue Dale Cordingley offered Richard the services of his Radical; an opportunity he jumped at. Despite the day not quite going to plan for Richard, he was still said to have an extremely enjoyable day, getting a taste of a spectacular racing car.

Our final weekend of Harewood competition this season is on the 19/20th September, with the Saturday playing host to the Greenwood Cup, while the Sunday will be dominated by the Mike Wilson Memorial meeting.

Montague Burton Trophy August 2nd, 2009

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 09:20 GMT

Sunday's Montague Burton Trophy meeting was dominated by three familiar faces, with Spedding, Blackmore and Chacksfield holding captive the top three positions once again - however this time Blackmore managed to pip Chacksfield for second. Spedding put in a fastest time of 54.07 seconds, with the pursuing duo not far behind.

Simon Green again beat his Class 5 opponents to top the time sheets in his class, while Karl Jackson was back on top in Class 3.

Following round five of the Harewood Hillclimb Championship, David Sturdy now leads with 79.71 points, ahead of Richard Vale, with 78.92, and Henry Moorhouse in third with 77.22 points.

The next round at Harewood Hillclimb is the Summer Championship meeting on Sunday 30th August.

Yorkshire Speed Trophy Meeting August 1st, 2009

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 09:16 GMT

The inaugural Yorkshire Speed Trophy Meeting was definitely well received, and despite the weather playing a vital part once again, everyone had an enjoyable time.

Richard Spedding shone once again, overcoming the difficult conditions to grasp the fastest time of the day, with a time of 61.72 seconds. John Chacksfield secured the second fastest time, recording a time of 63.90 seconds, while Class J record holder James Blackmore set a time of 64.67 seconds to take third.

Simon Green, of Class 5 sponsor KT Green, captured the fastest time in the class, ahead of Ken Green. Meanwhile, Henry Moorhouse took charge of Class 4, ahead of Michael Bellerby and Chris Gibbs.

Harewood Regular, Dale Cordingley, put his skills to the test, enabling him to steal the ninth fastest time of the day and also the best time in Class F, recording a 67.34, with just one run.

British Championship Report July 4th and 5th, 2009

Tue, 7 Jul 2009 14:29 GMT

The weather forecasters got it wrong again! In this event in our favour as the MSA Championship Weekend turned out to be a splendid affair in near idyllic summer conditions throughout the whole weekend.The fine weather brought out the crowds to witness the cream of British Hill Climbers at their very best.

Saturday focused on the usual practice runs, but Sunday turned out to be quite an eventful day. In the qualifying runs for the Top Twelve Run Offs, reigning British Champ Scott Moran honed his times down to a very respectable 49.73. The new traction control system fitted in his Gould GR61X still didn't get him near to his 3 year old outright hill record of 49.19 seconds, but it did bring him the new class record. Close on his heels was a hard charging Martin Groves, briefly taking the lead with a run of 49.54 at the same time eclipsing the class record for the second time in the day. The rest of the field of gladiatorial single seater drivers headed by Moran senior, Roger, were the wrong side of the 50 second mark.

In the first of the run offs, Scott had a miserable run when a traction control wheel caused problems and relegated him to the back of the field. Groves didn't need a better chance than this, comfortably taking the run off with a time four tenths ahead of second placed Trevor Willis in his unique twin Suzuki Hyabusa V8 based OMS.

Moran had the last laugh in the final run off with an FTD of 49.51 which stole the show from Groves by a mere two one hundredths of a second and at the same time lowering the class record for a third time.

The track conditions must have really come to the competitors as several records also fell in the lower powered classes. Andrew Griffiths Caterham took the Class win for up to 1400 cc modified production cars setting a new record at 57.32 seconds - almost half a second under the previous record. Other records to fall were in the lower echelons of the single seater classes where Mark Hemingway, Will Hall and Paul Haimes all took their respective class wins and new records.
Image by Fullframe Photographic