Gurston Down Speed Hillclimb - April 19th & 20th 2008 - Click for pics

Chard and Pitt take the laurels at Gurston Down Speed Hillclimb

THERE WERE some exciting driving and close battles for class position and overall victories on the 1057 yards speed hillclimb course at Gurston Down over the weekend of April 19th and 20th. Saturday’s cold and wet generally favoured the nimble small capacity racing cars and New Milton’s Ian Chard proved bravest on a treacherous track to set Best Time of the Day (BTD) with his little 1.1 litre supercharged Jedi Mk 4. In Sunday’s much improved conditions local expert and British Hillclimb Championship contender Basil Pitt (Wimborne), who had not entered on Saturday, set a cracking time to take BTD.

April 19th
Saturday’s event opened with Pre-War Austin 7s, with Stewart Arkley ((Winscombe) taking the roadgoing division with his Austin 7 Ulster and Terry Griffin (Wick) securing the race division with his Special. Bizarrely the big class of Westfield Cars was won by the invited Graham Miller (Harpenden) driving his 2.0 Ford Escort Mk 2 with considerable gusto!
  A new class for roadgoing production cars is being run at Gurston this year and Salisbury’s Steve Holley was the inaugural winner in his rumbling 5.0 TVR Griffith. In the up to 2000cc modified production marque sports car class former Gurston champion Steve Butts (Abingdon) was well clear in his attractive 1.9 Lotus Elise. And the big 3.1 Datsun 240Z of Castle Cary’s Ben Stapley was a comfortable winner in the over 2000cc modprod marque sports car class.
  The up to 1400c modprod saloon car class is usually a tight battle among a group of very competitive local drivers and this time less than three quarters of a second covered the top four! Southampton father and son team Jim and Steve White were delighted to take a one-two in class in their unique 1.4 Austin Mini (with BMW motorcycle cylinder head) just ahead of Cranborne’s Steve Harris and Yeovil’s Derek Mullis, these two also Mini mounted. Wareham’s Anthony Orchard set some impressive times in the wet in his 1.4 Westfield Megabusa to win the up to 1400cc modprod sports car class.
  Surprise winner in the up to 2000cc modprod saloon car class was Dave Owen from Trowbridge in his well-driven 1.7 Ford Escort Mk 1, over three and a half seconds clear of his nearest rival. No surprise in the up to 2000cc modprod sports car class though as Bristol’s Terry Luff made a successful return to Gurston in his 2.0 Westfield SE. And making excellent use of the power and four-wheel drive in his Subaru Impreza, Adrian Flagg (Christchurch) flew to the win in the over 2000cc modprod salon car class.
  Meanwhile running alone in the over 2000cc modprod sports car class, current Gurston champion Mike Rudge (Cwmbran) drove his 2.3 Westfield with customary brio and was one of just nine drivers to dip under 40 seconds on the day. Simon Marsh (Andover) was also running alone in the hillclimb supersports class in his 1.7 Mallock Mk 18 and took home the first of two awards from his weekend.
  A nice mix of cars in the ‘Historically Interesting’ class was topped by Hugh Kemp (Wylye) in his very tidy 1.6 Palliser WDF3. And in the up to 2000cc sports libre class a spirited drive by Christchurch’s David Frampton in the 1.6 Phoenix 02H took the win here.
  There are some exciting cars competing in the over 2000cc sports libre class at Gurston this season, and one of them, the growling 5.0 Pilbeam MP43 V8 of Dorchester’s Rod Thorne roared to the class win here, also setting second best time of the day in the process.
  Onto the racing cars, and the up to 1100cc class went to Cheltenham’s John Bunting in his 1.1 Jedi Mk 4, the same marque of car that took Ian Chard (New Milton) to the win in the up to 1600cc racing car class, his version using a supercharged 1100cc engine. Chard’s class winning time stole BTD from Rod Thorne by just a tenth of a second.
  The up to 2000cc racing car class was a close run thing between Fareham’s Paul Webster in his 2.0 Dallara F301 and Yeovil’s Roger Cock in his 2.0 Pilbeam MP54, both drivers under 40 seconds and the former taking the win by 0.45secs.
  In the unlimited capacity racing car class John Forsyth (Poole) was on a second run charge to try and wrest BTD away from Chard when the gear selector rod broke in his gearbox at the halfway point, so he had to be content with the class win.
  The special classes for contenders in the HSA Speed Championship went to Neil Duncanson (East Hendred) in his rapid 2.1t Audi Quattro and Craig Bates (Worcester) in his 1.2 OMS

Results
BTD: Ian Chard, 1.1s Jedi Mk 4, 36.61secs
Class winners: Stewart Arklay, 0.75 Austin 7 Ulster, 53.00secs; Terry Griffin, 0.75Austin 7 Special, 52.27secs; Graham Millar, 2.0 Ford Escort Mk 2, 41.95secs; Steve Holley, 5.0 TVR Griffith, 46.97secs; Steve Butts, 1.9 Lotus Elise, 42.57secs; Ben Stapley, 3.1 Datsun 240Z, 44.58secs; Jim White, 1.4 Austin Mini, 43.59secs; Anthony Orchard, 1.4 Westfield Megabusa, 42.04secs; Dave Owen, 1.7 Ford Escort Mk 1, 44.41secs; Terry Luff, 2.0 Westfield, 45.29secs; Adrian Flagg, 2.0t Subaru Impreza, 41.00secs; Mike Rudge, 2.3 Westfield Duratec, 39.62secs; Simon Marsh, 1.7 Mallock Mk 18, 44.77secs; Hugh Kemp, 1.6 Palliser WDF3, 43.83secs; David Frampton, 1.6 Phoenix 02H, 41.98scs; Rodney Thorne, 5.0 Pilbeam MP43, 36.71secs; John Bunting, 1.1 Jedi Mk 4, 42.13secs; Ian Chard, 1.1s Jedi Mk 4, 36.61secs; Paul Webster, 2.0 Dallara F310, 39.35secs; John Forsyth, 3.5 Pilbeam MP58, 38.91secs; Neil Duncanson, 2.1t Audi Quattro, 41.17secs; Craig Bates, 1.2 OMS 2000M, 40.06secs

April 20th
Sunday’s event saw much improved conditions as weak sunshine and a breeze gradually dried the track. Four one-make classes opened proceedings, with the Ginetta class falling to the 2.0 G12 of Nick Stephens (Leamington Spa). The ‘Big Healey and Warwick Cars’ division of the Austin Healey class went to Tom Walker from Bristol in his 3000 Mk 1, just 0.29secs ahead of the Mk 2 of Richard Mason (Bromyard). And in the ‘Sprites’ division of the Austin Healeys, Stuart Bullas and co-driver Robin Johnson (both from Birmingham) had the customary scrap in their shared 1.4 Sprite but this time Bullas came out ahead of class record holding Johnson by over a second. The TR Cars class is also open to Triumph GT6s, and Pen Davies (Oswestry) won in his 2.5 GT6 with a couple of very brisk runs. The inaugural TVR Cars class was very well supported and Hugh Davies from Southampton established the class record with the win in his 5.0 Chimaera.
  On to the ‘regular’ classes then, and the newly established road going production class saw a tight scrap between Simon Brown (Bourton) in his 2.0 Mitsubishi FTO and Alan booth (Fordingbridge) in his 3.1Porsche Carrera, the former emerging as winner by just 0.02seconds! Steve Butts (Abingdon) was again well in charge of the up to 2000cc modprod marque sports car class in his 1.9 Elise.
  The closest battle of the day was in the over 2000cc modprod marque sports car class as Gurston regulars Ben Stapley (3.1 Datsun 240Z, Castle Cary) and Steve Holley (5.0 TVR Griffith, Salisbury) dead heated. Stapley was declared the winner on aggregate, his second best time beating that of Holley. In the up to 1400cc modprod saloon car class Neal Masters (Southsea) held sway after the first runs, but battery problems for him and a charging second run from arch rival Jim White (Southampton) saw the latter ease relatively well ahead in this normally tight class, the winning margin 0.68 seconds. White’s time put him in second place in the Gates of Brockenhurst Gurston Down Championship after this first round, with Masters in third overall.
  Anthony Orchard (Wareham) ran alone in his 1.4 Westfield Megabusa in the up to 1400cc modprod sports car class and set a time good enough for fifth overall in the Gurston Championship at this stage. In the up to 2000cc modprod saloon car class Andy Bascombe (Verwood) was flying again and took a comfortable class win and fourth overall in the Gurston championship after round 1. Tery Luff (Bristol) completed his weekend double in his 2.0 Westfield, taking the up to 2000cc modprod sports car class again.
  2007 Gurston championship runner up Colin Smith (New York, Lincs) only just finished the build on his latest 2.0t Ford Escort Cosworth in time for this weekend’s events and had a fraught time getting the car to run properly. But help from friends and class mates eventually allowed a clean run at the hill and he came away with a class win in the over 2000cc modprod saloon car class and a reasonable bag of championship points. But the 2007 Gurston champion Mike Rudge (Cwmbran) was on top form in his 2.3 Westfield SEi Duratec, putting in a fleet and smooth second climb to ease into the lead of this year’s championship by 0.01 points after this first round!
  Simon Marsh (Andover) was another driver scoring a double this weekend with his 1.7 Mallock Mk 18 in the hillclimb supersports class. And in the Historically Interesting cars, class record holder Geoff Hunt (Andover) took his almost customary win with his immaculate 1.6 Lotus 22. Keith Diggle (Aldershot) put a couple of consistent runs together to win the up to 2000cc sports libre class with his 2.0 WEV HCS. And a good scrap ensued in the over 2000cc sports libre class as Rod Thorne (Dorchester) spun the 5.0 Pilbeam MP43 at the Karousel hairpin on his first run but made up for it by storming to the class win with his second climb. He finished just 0.28 seconds ahead of Salisbury’s Chris Cannell aboard the 3.5 SPA Judd V8.
  In the 600cc racing car class Tony Pashley (Bridgwater) was another first run spinner but he too came through for the class win in his self-constructed 0.6 Marengo. John Bunting (Cheltenham) took his second class win of the weekend in the up to 1100cc racing car class again in his 1.1 Jedi Mk 4. The 1600cc racing car class saw some very rapid times and James Blackmore (Ropley, Hants) flew second time up in his 1.6 OMS CF04 to take the class, 0.45secs clear of first run leader Peter Sexton (Lymington) in his 1.6 OMS 200M.
  The up to 2000cc racing car class always sees some rapid action and did not disappoint, with Paul Haimes (Farnham), last year’s Top Ten Challenge runner up, emerging the winner in his rapid Dallara F301. But the fleetest man of the weekend was Basil Pitt (Wimborne) in his 2.8 Gould GR55C, the first to dip under 30 seconds on his first climb, then going deep into the 28 second bracket with an aggressive but smooth second run charge to set BTD and take the lead in the 2009 Gurston Down Top Ten Challenge.

Results
BTD: Basil Pitt, 2.8 Gould GR55C, 28.57secs;
Class winners Nick Stephens, 2.0 Gineta G12, 36.85secs;; Tom Walker, 3.0 Austin Healey Mk 1, 39.48secs; Stuart Bullas, 1.4 Austin Healey Sprite, 38.99secs; Pen Davies, 2.5 Triumph GT6, 39.41secs; Hugh Davies, 5.0 TVR Chimaera, 38.79secs; Simon Brown, 2.0 Mitsubishi FTO, 43.96secs; Steve Butts, 1.9 Lotus Elise, 36.55secs; Ben Stapley, 3.1 Datsun 240Z, 37.60secs; Jim White, 1.4 Austin Mini, 37.44secs; Anthony Orchard, 1.4 Westfield Megabusa; Andy Bascombe, 2.0 Ford Escort RS, 35.75secs; Terry Luff, 2.0 Westfield SE, 34.91secs; Colin Smith, 2.0t Ford Escort Cosworth, 35.70secs; Mike Rudge, 2.3 Westfield SEi, 31.66secs; Simon Marsh, 1.7 Mallock Mk 18, 34.15secs; Geoff Hunt, 1.6 Lotus 22, 35.05secs; Keith Diggle, 2.0 WEV HCS, 32.11secs; Rod Thorne, 5.0 Pilbeam MP43, 31.56secs; Tony Pashley, 0.6 Marengo, 34.88secs; John Bunting, 1.1 Jedi Mk 4; James Blackmore, 1.6 OMS CF04, 30.51secs; Paul Haimes, 2.0 Dallara F301, 29.89secs; Basil Pitt, 2.8 Gould GR55C, 28.57secs

Events Remaining 2008 calendar is as follows;

Event information from the BARC (SW) on 01725 552832, or www.gurstondown.org

© Motopia™ 2008

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