Rounds 7&8 Harewood Hillclimb 6&7 July
A busy month! 3 Event reports and results in quick succession!
Harewood 6&7 July
The M62 wasn't exactly shouting summer as I made my way to Harewood Hillclimb on the outskirts of Harrogate on Saturday 6th July. The UK was in a period of unsettled weather (Don't they really mean rain when they say that on TV?) and after the hot and sunny day we had enjoyed at Prescott just a week before I entered the paddock with a little trepidation given the cool breeze blowing across the top of the Harewood Hill.
There were nine Porsches taking part. Most had driven the hill numerous times before, although given the changing conditions no one run could be expected to be as the last and the drivers needed to respond accordingly.
Practice
With a long and complicated hill like Harewood the first run has to be a little conservative. In P4 Stephen Jory started practice with a 67 second run and then improved to a best of 65.60 once grip levels were better known.
In P3 it was Chris Milne's first drive at the hill and he ended practice with a very credible time of 71.8 seconds. It was Wayne Eason in his Boxster that was able to best get the measure of the hill in practice with a time of 65.19 seconds while Geraint Evans took the 911 Carrera 3.0 to a time of 67.58 seconds to sit in second place and just a half a second ahead of Graham Rose who’s Supercharged 924s has been in great form of late.
Two P2 runners were taking part. Ian Wadsworth in the 911 SC/RS and Mel Spear in his 964 Cup car. Ian's car runs on slicks and is lighter but the 964 is known to be a great handling car. Ian ended practice 0.42 seconds behind Mel.
There were also two cars taking part in the P1 class, the well developed 996 of David Hilton who uses slicks and David Dyson with his GT3 in road legal trim. The difference in power between the two seems to be balanced by the difference in grip and so a close battle was expected. David Dyson ended practice approx half a second ahead but it could go either way in the scoring timed runs to follow.
Scoring Runs
Three runs were expected after lunch. The timing of the meeting was a bit complicated due to the British Hillclimb Championship also being there but it ran smoothly and times started to fall as the conditions became warmer and grip more consistent.
The P1 battle was as close as expected and the best time did indeed swap between the two Davids. Times were all around the 64 second mark. In the end it was David Dyson who took the class win for the day with a great road car time of 63.57 on his final run in the GT3. David Hilton was less than half a second behind (after a slick tire adjustment) in the 996.
For the P2 Class Ian Wadsworth overtook Mel Spear with his first timed run and managed to remain there ending the day with a swift 65.34 second time, just under two seconds ahead of Mel who brought the 964 home in a best of 67.31 seconds.
Chris Milne carried on nibbling away at his times all afternoon and ended the day with a sub 70 second time of 69.64 seconds, a great result. Third in the P3 class went to Graham Rose who, with a time of 67.58 seconds in his supercharged 924s, was just over a second slower than Geraint and his 911 who was very consistent with a 66 second time in each of his three scoring runs the best of which was 66.39 seconds to take second in class. Winning the class in a brilliant time of 64.77 seconds, also varying little across all three of the timed runs was Wayne Eason and his Boxster.
Stephen Jory was the only P4 runner taking part however the nature of the sport is that all drivers, regardless of the size of the class, want to do their best time if possible and of course they are competing not just for our championship points and awards but also the local clubs awards at the end of the day.
Stephen set about the hill determined to get a good time and was rewarded with a quick best P4 time of 65.74 seconds.
Harewood organised a brilliant BBQ in the evening of the Saturday event and many of us tucked into some great food, and a drink or two before retiring for the night and looking forward to what we hoped would be another good day of sport.
Sunday July 7th
Sunday was to say the least tricky! The weather for reasons best known to itself decided to change, a lot. Some of our slick tyre runners became quicker at changing tyres due to this, perhaps not 2.5 seconds a set F1 style, but a fair bit quicker than when they arrived, I think!
Practice
Our two P1 runners took advantage of the initially dry surface. From the 2 runs it was David Dyson who had the advantage as practice closed in a best time of 65.60 seconds, a little over a second slower than the day before and ahead of David Hilton who (after slick adjustment) was less than half a second adrift.
Mel Spear missed his first practice run in P2 but banked a good time on his second. Ian Wadsworth was again very quick though and went into the timed runs in his 911 SC/RS leading the class by a handful of seconds after a quick 65.68 second practice, which was just a few tenths slower than his best of the day before.
Chris Milne in his Boxster was learning the hill in P3 and put in a solid practice performance with a best of just under 72 seconds. At the top of the class however Wayne Eason was dominant again in the Boxster and ended practice with a best of 65.37 seconds ahead of Geraint Evans in the 911 3.0 Carrera by just under three seconds.
Howard Cressey was welcomed to the event in P4 having been unable to take part the day before. He managed a solid 72 second run in practice, his first runs of the weekend. However, Stephen Jory was fast straight off the mark to end practice leading P4 with a 67.12 second run in his 944 S2.
Scoring Runs
Practice had been fairly unaffected by the predicted changes in weather. As the cars looked at going out on their first timed runs the rain came, showers and then warm sunshine. It was hard to judge the track conditions and all the Porsche drivers taking part did a great job of coping with the on/off weather that afternoon.
In the highest power class (P1) the weather did stifle the final best scoring times a little from the day before. The big cars searched for the grip on the hill and it was a swap for first place with David Hilton taking the class win on the Sunday with a great last effort of 70.32 seconds, beating David Dyson's time of 73.13 seconds as he struggled for grip on his road tires. Both cars looked and sounded great however as they blasted up the hill past the crowds who were there to watch the British Hillclimb Championship cars (but our cars as well obviously!)
In P2 Ian Wadsworth was unbeatable on the day to record a best scoring time of 74.91 seconds taking the P2 class award ahead of Mel Spear in the pretty 964 Cup car.
The P3 battle was as close as we thought it might be! Chris Milne put in a brilliant time in his road legal Boxster of 74.92 seconds to grab third place in class. Geraint Evans recovered well from a slower first scoring timed run to a best of 74.59 seconds for second but it was Wayne Eason who was quickest again cracking the 74 second barrier in best of 73.71 seconds to take the Boxster to the P3 class win for the second time that weekend.
Stephen Jory had been on great forming his 944 S2 and while Howard Cressey did really well after much less time on the hill to take second place in a 77.38 second best Stephen wowed us all with a 72.13 second timed run in the front engine car and thus taking the P4 class win for the day.
In summary, a lot of variables to deal with for all, but handled really well across the weekend and great driving on show!
Simon Wilson
Championship Coordinator
Porsche Club GB
simonwilson@porscheclubgb.com |
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