Porsche Club GB Speed Championship 2024 with NINEMEISTER
Shelsley Walsh Hillclimb Report
I arrived at the Shelsley Walsh Hillclimb paddock at around 5:30pm, on Friday evening, tired after a drawn-out motorway journey and ready for some decent grub in the great Shelsley restaurant and then perhaps a small libation in the bar opposite!
I planned to walk the famous Hillclimb before turning in for the night, but after a generous Chilli Jacket dinner the hill seemed even steeper than I remembered! The beauty of the hill and the quiet calm of the place when the engines are silent was instantly recognisable, a magic place and one that has hosted motorsport since 1905 and holds the title of the oldest motorsport venue still using its original course.
As I walked, I saw a fox, heard an owl and several bats swooped above my head. After a wine to help the digestion, I went to bed dreaming about my own past exploits on the hills.
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Saturday Practice
After a cold night (note to self, take a warm duvet next autumn!) I met our 14 drivers in the paddock which was by then bathed in glorious morning sunshine. The track was a little dusty at first and would need the practice runs to be completed before it would start to show its best grip.
In our highest power class P1 (360+ HP) we had two drivers taking part, Wayne Helme and Phillip James each with Cayman GT4s. Both can hustle their big powerful cars and despite the lack of initial grip the first run times were both under 39 seconds. The second practice runs offered more speed and Wayne ended practice just a tenth ahead of Phillip in a time of 35.74 seconds.
Three P2 (280-360HP) cars lined up for practice. Simon Carr with his road going Cayman S, Mel Spear with the instantly recognisable 964 Cup car and Ian Wadsworth who with slicks fitted to his 911SC/RS would be hard to beat.
Simon was quickly up to speed recording first practice time of 40.85 seconds. Ian Wadsworth was having some clutch issues but was able to complete the first practice a little under 1.5 seconds quicker than Mel Spear and the 964. Both Simon and Mel improved in the second practice run while Ian was a little slower. Mel went into the lunch break quickest in P2 with a run of 36.85 seconds.
Our P3 drivers (cars from 220-280HP) have treated us to many a close-run event this year and clearly this hillclimb was going to ensure it would be another one of those days!
First practice ended with 0.3 seconds between Geraint Evans who was driving his 911 Carerra 3.0, its gleaming silver bodywork looking fabulous as it streaked away from the start line, and Wayne Eason who was determined to get the maximum speed possible from his highly effective Boxster 2.7. Chris Milne was experiencing the Shelsley hill for the first time in his road legal Boxster S and so his first ever run time of 39.71 seconds was mighty impressive.
As expected, second practice produced quicker times but now it was Wayne who was quickest with a 35.40 second run, 0.36 seconds quicker than Geraint. Jon Baldock, another Boxster driver, went into the break in third position just 5 tenths slower than Geraint.
The P4 battle (cars of up to 220BHP) has been running all year with the lead in events swapping run after run between Stephen Jory and his 944S2 and Martin Leach in the air cooled 911E. They say competition improves the breed and certainly judging from their times this year our two top P4 runners have indeed pushed each other to some amazingly good times. Add to that the ever-improving speed of Jake Cartwright and the always quick and smooth driving style of Howard Cressey (both in Boxster models) and the mix has been exciting to say the least.
Practice times in the class tumbled and Stephen completed his second practice less than half a second ahead of Martin to lead the class in 35.68 seconds. Both Jake and Howard made significant step improvements, and the scoring runs for all looked likely to get even better as the track surface was obviously starting to clean up with each successive run.
Lunchtime
Thanks to our generous sponsors (NINEMEISTER, 9M & CAT Driver Training) we were able to organise a very nice, packed lunch for the drivers and a their guests. Prepared by the team catering for the circuit the food and drink was very welcome as the drivers gathered and relaxed in the Shelsley barn seated on bean bags (yes, bean bags, it was great) while sharing notes and jokes ahead of their afternoon scoring runs.
Scoring Timed Runs
Two scoring runs were on offer and as ever the drivers lined up in the holding area recognising the need to score a decent time from the off. For some of course, those in contention for the championship, doing well on this the last hillclimb could be very important, so no pressure at all then!
Jake Cartwright found nearly half a second over the two timed runs to end the day in third place in his Boxster. Martin Leach and Stephen Jory recorded 35 second runs for all of their scoring times with barely a few tenths between them. Stephen Jory was just able to squeeze the P4 win by only 0.07 seconds in a time of 35.10 seconds.
It was much the same story with our P3 drivers, the top three of whom were all around that same 35 second mark. Ending the day third in class with a time of 35.95 seconds was Graham Rose, all the more impressive because he was nursing a less than perfect clutch in the latter stages of the day. First and second in the class was decided by 0.01 (yes 0.01!) seconds with Wayne taking the prize and a useful result towards the championship in a rapid time of 35.22 seconds.
I saw an eye-catching picture of Mel Spear's P2 964 Cup car on the internet after the event. But it doesn't just look good, it goes brilliantly too, and Mel found over half a second on his final scoring timed run to set a 35.95 second time, second place and a few seconds ahead of Simon Carr who ended the day in the 38 second bracket, a fine drive on road tyres.
The P2 class win went to Ian Wadsworth who, with a complaining transmission, drove brilliantly and was able to achieve a truly great time of 34.33 seconds, the quickest Porsche of the day.
Finally, our two P1 drivers. I saw some great photos taken by Ange Rose from somewhere near the top of the hill. It is impressive how these big cars can change direction and steer as accurately as they do on such tight a twisty track. Of course, the driver is the key and both Wayne and Phillip used every available inch of the historic Shelsley tarmac to find their best times. Wayne was the victor by the end of the second scoring run. Both of his runs were in the 34 second band and his best of 34.84 seconds was enough to take the P1 class win from Phillip James who was just 0.61 seconds slower.
We had some truly excellent driving, a marvellously friendly atmosphere in a stunning setting and with some lovely grub thrown in for good measure. Does that not sound like a proper day of enjoyable motorsport?
The next and final round of the season is a sprint at Curborough in the midlands on 29th September, the title is still up for grabs, see you there?