2025 Championship - Round 14, Shelsley Walsh Hillclimb - Final Championship Positions
The Championship is decided!
As I drove to the historic Shelsley Walsh Hillclimb venue in Worcestershire it felt different to the other rounds. Of course it had to be, it was the last round, the last chance to score and the clock would decide the result!
Two drivers could win at the end of what we all expected to be another brilliant day on the Shelsley Hill. Jon Baldock in his P3 Boxster needed to win to take the overall title, but he would only do that if Stephen Jory didn't win in his P4 944.
Practice Runs
Points being this close at the end of the year is nothing new to the Speed Championship and as the cars (a very impressive entry of 17) rolled out into the morning Worcestershire sunshine for their first practice the drivers had to put all that championship points stuff aside and focus!
The Shelsley Walsh Hillclimb is known for being fast, building to a tight set of esses the exit of which is all important. It’s not long, perhaps 35-45 seconds or so for most, but there is a lot packed into that time such that the drivers have to be at their most accurate and hold their nerves if they are to rise to the top.
In the two practice runs our P1 class cars all improved from the first to the second practice. There was a clear split in the times, three of them posted best practice times in the 36 second bracket while the top two, David Dyson and David Hilton recorded times of 34 seconds. David Dyson went into the lunch break ahead in his GT4RS with a (PDK Corrected) time of 34.34 seconds but with David Hilton's GT3 just a little over half a second behind it was clearly going to be a close-run thing for the class later in the day. Wayne Helme, Phil James and Wayne Eason all put in quick 36 second times. Phil's time corrected for PDK use (2% penalty added).
In P2 Nigel Watkins took his 996 to a practice best of 34.47 seconds to lead the class from Ian Wadsworth in his 911 3.0 SCRS who trailed him by just a second or so having made a significant improvement in his time across the two practice runs.
We had five cars running in P3. Eoin Card experienced the sometimes baffling thing that is two exactly similar times in his practice runs in his road going Cayman. When it happens, it confuses because you know you didn't do it all in exactly the same way. It's all part of the sport, trying to work out what happened and why while also trying not to take a step backwards.
Chris Milne had a practice best of 37.56 seconds in his road going Boxster, not too far away from the much more modified cars in the class. Speaking of which Jon Baldock was trying hard with a 35.31 second practice time, a little under a second ahead of the nearest class rival Graham Rose in his Supercharged 924s, which sounded great as it launched away from the famous Shelsley Hill start line!
We had just three cars taking part in P4, Jake Cartwright, getting quicker all the time in his uniquely painted Boxster supporting wild Apes, Martin Leach in the lovely looking 911E and Stephen Jory in the super quick 944 hoping to defend his Championship title at the last round of the season.
Hope springs eternal but sadly Martin Leach appeared to have other ideas as he lead the practice times for the P4 class with a brilliant 35.47 second run, just over a second slower than the fastest P1 practice time!
During lunch and at other times during the day we had a very professional team of videographers at work filming our cars, talking to drivers about the cars and the championship and Stephen Johnson, a Club Board member who is a great supporter of the championship and a huge motorsport fan. We hope the video will soon be available to view on the club web site, plus social media etc and that it will encourage other Porsche owners to take the leap into our hugely fun and friendly branch of motorsport.
Scoring Runs
So, the final two scoring runs of the 2025 season! As if it wasn't tense enough the weather became a little variable with short sharp showers, the type that make you think the track is wet even though it isn't. Rain on a hill with trees overhanging it adds another dimension as the uncovered parts of the track may well quickly dry but those in the shade of the trees are potentially always less grippy than they were earlier.
In P1 the cars looked and sounded great as they set off in front of a decent number of spectators. At the end of the first scoring run just under a second split three of the five cars with Wayne Helme and the 718GT4 sitting in third place. The top two cars of David Dyson and David Hilton were a little quicker, David Dyson leading the class with an impressive 33.57 second time.
The P2 runners Ian Wadsworth and Nigel Watkins both managed swift first scoring run times in the 34 second bracket, Nigel leading with a great 34.19 second time. Russell Lloyd and Simon Carr had their own road car contest going on and Russell was ahead at the end of the first run with a 38.02 second effort.
Jon Baldock in the modified Boxster was quickest in the P3 contest scoring a brilliant 35.16 second first run. The experienced pair of Graham Rose and Geraint Evans where not far behind both with runs less than a second slower.
Jake Cartwright took his P4 Boxster to a solid first scoring time of 36.58 seconds. Stephen Jory and Martin Leach have had several close finishes this year. The first scoring run was to be no different with Martin in the 911E quickest with an excellent 34.94 second time, adding to the pressure on Stephen!
Then the rain came, just a little, and it stopped, then just a little again.....
Showers are awful when you are sitting in your car just a few moments before a timed run, I know, I’ve been there! But our drivers have learnt to take the rough with the smooth and drive to the conditions. Of course for the two main championship contenders both of which needed to win, it was the last thing they wanted!
The P1 second scoring runs were slower other than for David Hilton who took the big and fast GT3 to a 33.99 second time, half a second improvement when track conditions were unknown, brave stuff!
David Dyson's second run was quick but just a tad slower than his first, and as it turned out, class winning time of 33.57 seconds, the GT3RS showing that big cars really can go well on the hills. Wayne Helme has really got a grasp of the 718GT4 this year and has been putting in great times for what remains a road car driven to the events. His first run time of 35.13 seconds was his quickest and secured third place in P1.
It was much the same story in P2 with three of the four just a little slower on their second scoring runs. However, Simon Carr broke that mould in his Cayman by finding nearly a second. Nigel Watkins's great first run time of 34.19 seconds in the 996 remained the quickest and he took the P2 class win by just 0.7 seconds from Ian Wadsworth.
In P3 Chris Milne was impressive in his road going Boxster ending the day in 4th place just a second slower than Graham Rose in the Supercharged 924s who didn't improve on his first run time of 36.02 seconds which was good enough to take third in class. Geraint Evans pushed the 911 Carrera 3.0 hard on his first run and with his second time also slower it was his 35.53 second time that would win him runner up spot in the P3 class.
And so on to Jon Baldock who had been in the lead of the class going into the second scoring runs. Again, as with the others, the P3 cars all struggled to better their earlier times achieved in the perfect conditions. In the end Jon couldn't wrestle a better time, but his first was still the fastest and he took the P3 class win he needed.
Stephen Jory in his P4 944 was just 0.3 seconds behind Martin Leach and his 911E at the end of the first scoring run, but behind he was. To win the Championship he need to beat Martin's first run time (Martin's second was slower like so many others).
Could Stephen put together an improvement when others were failing to do so? Well, he made a valiant effort but sadly lost time and couldn't match Martin Leach and his superb earlier class winning 34.94 second time. That put him second place in P4 for the day and of course it also meant that he just missed out defending his Championship title which would go to Jon Baldock.
THE END OF A GREAT YEAR, AND A NEW CHAMPION
Massive congratulations to Jon Baldock, the new 2025 Champion, and all the class and award winners. The driving this year has exceptional and all taking part have shown this to be what must be one of the friendliest most sporting championships running and a truly marvellous way to get involved in motorsport with your Porsche!
Main Championship Positions
Overall Champion. Jon Baldock
P1 Winner David Dyson
P1 Runner Up. David Hilton
P2 Winner. Nigel Watkins
P2 Runner Up. Ian Wadsworth
P3 Winner. Jon Baldock
P3 Runner Up. Graham Rose
P4 Winner. Stephen Jory
P4 Runner Up. Martin Leach
Best Boxster. Jon Baldock
Best Hillclimber. Stephen Jory
Best Sprinter. Stephen Jory
Some Thanks!
Our Sponsors
We must remember that we can only do what we do because we have had generous sponsorship. NINEMEISTER has been a solid foundation and will be with us again into 2026 for which we are very grateful. CAT Driver Training are leaving us this year but have given us two seasons of much valued support and let's not forget the help we get from Leading Edge Graphics with the decals. I/we have to say a massive thanks to all of them, it made a big difference.
The Club team
To run a Championship, any Championship, you need people to volunteer into official roles. This year we again had Paul Seagrave, Stephen Johnson and Mark Hamilton acting as Stewards and Terry Cox looking after our required technical role, thanks again to all of you, it's really appreciated.
In the office we have Siobhan, Paul, George, Tom and most recently Anwen and Franck all of whom are a source of much needed support as has been Mandy Sear in Motorsport Division who puts up with my daft questions without complaint! Thanks everyone!
And the Drivers!
Not just the drivers who put on such a good show again this year but also the people behind them as without their support they wouldn’t be out there. It’s been a ball!
Congrats again to all our winners and Roll on 2026!
Simon Wilson
Championship Coordinator
Porsche Club GB
simonwilson@porscheclubgb.com
Results here
Final Championship Points