The Porsche Club Speed Championship was there for both the Saturday and Sunday events, as two of the six Hillclimbs in the championship calendar. Taking on the hill were 14 drivers spread across all four of the championship horsepower classes (see class description) some on slick tires and some sharing cars. The hill is a test of finesse as much as speed and rewards the thinking driver rather than those that simply throw caution to the wind.
Saturday Practice
In P4 Father and son team Ian and Adam Cristol were sharing the drive of their road going Boxster S. Adam had not done a Hillclimb before but was able to improve by no less than 10 seconds over his two practice runs. Ian Cristol also made some gains but it was Stephen Jory in his 944 who was quickest in the class at the end of practice with a time of 61.73 seconds.
We had three very experienced runners in P3. Geraint Evans drifted a little off the edge of the narrow tarmac and paid the price with a few unwanted seconds added to his time. Very much the quickest in the class at the end of the second practice run was Wayne Eason in his slick tire equipped Boxster in 61.76 seconds.
In P2 there were another three seasoned drivers and a new hillclimber. Father and son team of Nick and Ian Wadsworth their 911, Mel Spear with the 964 and a new driver Simon Carr Little in his Cayman. Both Mel and Ian took seconds off their first practice times, but Nick’s first run was sub 61 seconds to see him fastest in the class as practice ended. Simon not only managed a respectable time on his first ever run, but then went on to improve by around 5 seconds with obvious potential to be quicker.
P1 driver Howard Cressey piloted his 718 Cayman GTS 4 smoothly as ever to record a time in practice of a little over 62 seconds while David Hilton, sharing the mighty GT3RS with Tim Barber was just a couple of seconds behind Tim.
Andy Fagan had changed class to drive in P1 and was driving on slick racing tires. Despite this being his first event in the higher power class he was quickest after practice with a very impressive time of 57.20 seconds.
Saturday Timed Runs
The sun was still beating down as the drivers were called for their 2 scoring timed runs. The track, perhaps a little dirty earlier in the day, was now cleaner following the passage of numerous sticky competition tires and times looked set to tumble.
In P4 Adam Cristol improved by five seconds on this his first Hillclimb. Ian Cristol was also improving steadily until a moment at the first corner on his final run but with no damage done was ready to repeat the course on Sunday. Stephen Jory and his 944 is always quick and a committed effort took him the P4 class win in 61.82 seconds.
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The P3 drivers were all evenly matched. Graham Rose took a big slice of time off in his supercharged 924s but wasn’t quite able to catch Geraint Evans in his 911 Carrera for second place. Winning the class in his Boxster Wayne Eason managed to squeeze a 0.3 second lead over Geraint to take the class win for the day in 61.26 seconds.
Mel Spear, Ian and Nick Wadsworth pushed on their last timed runs in P2. Roaring down the slope to the Triangle bend before blasting up the hill to the finish it was Nick who took the class win with a great exhibition of car control in 59.27 seconds. Ian Wadsworth was just 0.7 seconds behind having driven the car first on cold tires and Mel Spear was just another 0.9 seconds behind Ian to end the day in third place in his 964 Cup car. Newcomer Simon Carr Little continued to make big step improvements and thoroughly enjoyed himself.
Power has to be driven. That fact is very obvious to anyone who tries to drive a big powerful car up a tight and twisting Hillclimb. Howard Cressey was quick as ever with a best time of 62.33 seconds in his fully road legal Cayman but it was David Hilton who grabbed third place in P1 in the GT3RS in a sub 60 second run. Tim Barber in the same car ended the event in second place with a very swift time of 57.67 seconds. Andy Fagan taking part in the P1 class for the first time captured the class win in his slick tire shod Boxster S with a strong time of 57.20 seconds.
Sunday Round 4 11th June
It was a near mirror image as I drove into the venue on the second day but with one significant difference, it was humid and the forecast for later in the day was for a possible thunderstorm. There had been some overnight rain and the drivers prepared themselves for practice mindful of the possibility of some reduction in grip under the many trees.
Sunday Practice
In P1 Howard Cressey ended practice quicker than his timed runs the day before. David Hilton drove the mighty GT3 to a time of 59.58 seconds. Tim Barber and Andy Fagan continued their nip and tuck battle with Andy just slightly quicker in practice with a time of 56.79 seconds.
P2 practice was held throughout by Nick Wadsworth in the ever so quick 911. Ian Wadsworth sharing the car was less than a second behind and Mel Spear carried on improving his time as we headed into the scoring runs.
All three P3 drivers improved but the practice session ended just as close as the day before with Wayne Eason and his Boxster trailing Geraint Evans by less than 0.1 seconds.
Adam Cristol did well in his first practice run in P4 but got a little wide in the second and so needed to reset before the scoring runs after lunch. Ian Cristol drove with accuracy to find half a second from his previous best but it was Stephen Jory who again was the leading car with a time of 61.37 seconds in the 944.
Sunday Timed Runs
We did experience a little thunder and a small shower, but in truth it made little difference as it seemed to be timed exactly when the organisers had cleverly planned the lunch break. Hence the cars rolled to the line for their timed runs with the track warm and dry and promising some fast times.
Stephen Jory piloted is 944 to a best time of 62.15 to win P4 and Adam and Ian Cristol ended the day just 0.5 seconds apart with Ian taking second in class this time and Adam in third
Wayne Eason and Geraint Evans ended the day grinning at each other having been just a tenth or two apart throughout but with Wayne taking the P3 class win in a time of 60.67 seconds, really close to that magic sub 60 second time, next year perhaps!
Mel spear carried on his progress and managed a great time of 60.07 seconds in third place and Ian Wadsworth achieved a best time of 59.82 to take second place. However, it was Nick who despite suffering a technical glitch on his final run managed a brilliant time of 58.62 seconds to win the class.
We had some drama in P1 as Andy Fagan effectively failed to get a representative time in his timed runs due to a technical problem that saw him managing sticking brakes and lock ups as he progressed up the hill. Not the fastest way to do it but impressive car control nonetheless. David Hilton was remarkably consistent to take second place in his drive of the car he shares with Tim Barber but it was Tim with a last and best time of the event of 56.67 seconds that took the P1 class win in the GT3.
And that was that, a wonderful weekend of friendly sport in a special setting. Looking forward to the next rounds at Harewood on 1st and 2nd July. The remaining rounds are listed below, why not come along and see what we do?
THE CLASSES
P1 over 361 bhp
P2 281 to 360 bhp
P3 220 to 280 bhp
P4 Up to 220 bhp
The remaining rounds are listed below, why not come along and see what we do?
July 1st & 2nd - Harewood Hillclimb
July 8th - Prescott Hillclimb
July 22nd - Castle Combe Sprint
August 26th & 27th - Snetterton 100 Sprint
September 3rd - Brands Hatch Porsche festival Sprint
September 16th - Shelsley Walsh Hillclimb