Set in the Teme Valley in the Worcestershire countryside is Shelsley Walsh Hill Climb. The hillclimb is run by Midland Auto Club and is a round of the Petro-Canada Lubricants Porsche National Hillclimb Championship.
The hill is referred to as a ‘power’ hill, since it has few tight technical corners and tends to suit cars with higher power to weight. This year the August Shelsley Walsh was a single day event, meaning practice in the morning followed by two competition runs in the afternoon.
The day started wet and whilst the conditions were poor with strong winds, it remained remarkably warm. For the first runs competitors were assessing the levels of grip and trying to divine the best line in the conditions.
With the start of competition in the road going class David Dyson lead the way with his 991 GT3. David was followed By Robert Lancaster-Gaye and Simon Tarling both in 996 GT3’s. Richard York with a new clutch was making good progress was followed by Ross McDonald.
In the second and final competition run for the road class, David once again lead the way making good use of his 500 bhp in the tricky conditions. Robert significantly closed the gap setting a very impressive time, but not quite catching David. Simon also improved on his first time but struggled to find grip from the 888R tyres which are proving to be very poor in wet conditions. Richard once again pipped Ross to 4th place with Ross only 0.15 second behind, demonstrating that the older car is still very competitive and not to be discounted.
In the Modified class Duncan Andrews was the sole runner returning after a break with his Cayman S.
In summary a very close days racing in challenging conditions. Whilst the hill may suit the more powerful cars, you still need to have skill and high levels of commitment to score good times. The conditions helped to level the field, but the times show everyone was working hard. Whether you have a 500 bhp 991 or a 225 bhp 911 SC there is always competition to be had. This is very clearly demonstrated by the times which show the whole road class was covered by just 3.68 seconds.
The next round of the Championship is at Gurston Down on 24th and 25th August and it will once again prove to be very exciting.