HILL CLIMB AND SPRINT - NEWS ARCHIVE!

2010 HSA Championship regs update
27/12/2009

Many competitors would like to know what (if any) changes there will be to the regs and classes for the 2010 HSA Speed Championship. Here is a Christmas/New Year update.

Our policy is to:

a) Maintain stability of classes and regs year to year and only make changes where necessary.

b) As far as possible follow the regs as written in the MSA Blue Book as these represent a ‘common standard’ and are well understood by scrutineers.

c) Ensure that our class structure is as consistent as possible with the classes that appear in event SRs.

As some of you are probably aware the changes the MSA have introduced for 2010, although seemingly minor, have caused a number of clubs to reconsider their classes and regs. As a national championship we need to ensure that our regs are as consistent as possible with the SRs that clubs issue for the rounds of our championship.

The regs issue is relevant mainly to roadgoing classes.

Series Production – It had been our intention to follow the Blue Book and allow both List 1A and List 1B tyres in these classes (A1, A2, A2.1 and A3) in line with indications we had received from many organising clubs. However, this has changed so that a number (between 6 and 10) of our Championship rounds (mainly in the North of the country) are likely to be running their Series Production Classes on List 1A tyres only. If our championship regs allow List 1B tyres then competitors would need another set of wheels and List 1A tyres (to run in Series Production), fit roll cages (to run in Modified Production) or avoid these events altogether. Consequently we are considering restricting these classes to List 1A only in 2010, which we feel will continue to encourage newcomers to the Sport.
Specialist Production – The tyre issue appears to have resolved itself with the apparent universal adoption of List 1A and List 1B tyres. However, it appears that more events in 2010 (about 50/50 we think) will require the fitment of a full size windscreen. The 2010 Blue Book does not require this and as the situation is pre-existing we are inclined to leave the decision up to competitors who may either chose to fit a windscreen or move into Modified Specialist Production for those events requiring a windscreen.
Roadgoing Suspension – The Blue Book simply requires that ‘configuration must remain standard’. A number of clubs are proposing to issue SRs, which clarify further what suspension modifications are permitted, including spherical type joints as the top mounting of a suspension strut. We are given to believe that the MSA are to issue updates on these points in due course. When this occurs they will automatically be included in our regs. Until then we are not inclined to issue our own technical regulations in this area but would wish to draw competitors’ attention to these permitted changes at some events and remind them that they may not be permitted at others.
Other Classes – A number of initiatives are on-going to try and establish a common set of classes. We are following these and will make any adjustments necessary to ensure that our championship classes are as consistent as possible with the classes at events.

Silverstone Stowe Circuit
16/12/2009

With the Silverstone Stowe circuit appearing on some Championship calenders (including the HSA) next year there is considerable interest in the new layout and facilities currently under construction. Apart from a brief report in Autosport details have been scarce.

With an extended 1.15 mile track and a new tarmac padock it is an exciting new prospect for UK Sprinters. An interesting report can be found on the Skiddmark web site and there is also a brief report on the BRDC site.

The .pdf of the new development can be downloaded here.

Classes for 2010
10/12/2009

There is a lot of discussion taking place on forums and web sites about classes for 2010. Recently a note has appeared on the Chester & Liverpool web site suggesting that the HSA will be adopting the proposed 'Northern Speed Classes' for 2010. This is categorically not the case and our planned class structure for 2010 appears on our calendar & classes web page with further details to appear when our regulations are published early in 2010.

We have been aware of a number of Regional initiatives to establish a common class framework for Speed events and we are supportive of any steps that bring about sensible convergence in the regulations. However, we are also mindful of the need to operate within the framework of categories laid down by the MSA and to adhere to the detailed regulations appearing in the Blue Book as far as possible.

A number of specific regulations included in the 'Northern Speed Classes' (for example those relating to cross ply tyres in Road-Going classes and windscreens for Specialised Production cars) appear sensible if adopted by a large number of organising clubs. We are giving these items serious consideration and, where appropriate, will include them so that competitors see as much consistency as possible between their championship regs and the regs of the events they enter.

John Gallagher receives the Aldon Trophy at Gaydon
08/12/2009

At the annual awards lunch, held at the Motor Heritage Museum, Gaydon on Sunday John Gallagher received the Aldon Trophy as outright winner of the 2009 HSA Richard Egger Insurance Speed Championship.

John is pictured receiving his trophy from Alan Goodwin, one of the founders of the Championship.

The coveted 'HSA Competitor of the year' award this year went to Matt Carter whose excellent performances in his Honda S2000 and his always cheerful disposition made him a worthy winner.

As usual an excellent lunch and atmosphere were enjoyed by all the attendees at this unique venue.

Spectacular calendar for 2010 HSA Richard Egger Insurance Speed Championship
07/12/2009

At the annual HSA awards lunch held at the Heritage Motor Museum, Gaydon on Sunday 6th December the provisional calendar for the 2010 Championship was unveiled.

The 2009 Championship visited more venues than ever before and was rewarded with more competitors entering events. So for 2010 we are adding Silverstone, Brands Hatch, Doune, Mallory Park and Three Sisters along with the hoped for return of Cadwell Park. Naturally all the old favourites are still there making 2010 our best calendar yet.

Go to the calendar page to see the full provisional calendar.

2010 Calender Taking Shape
01/12/2009

The calender for the 2010 season is well developed with an exciting spread of events planned. The HSA championship season will feature the usual array of classic hill climb and sprint venues, together with some old favourites and new ones altogether. In an exciting development more circuit-based sprints are also planned for those who wish to tackle such courses

A number of double-header weekends are also planned, with a good spread of events across the country. This should mean anyone planning a full campaign will not have to travel too far and wide to complete the minimum number of qualifying rounds. As in previous years the 2010 calender will be unveiled at the annual HSA 'get-together' at Gaydon.

The provisional calender will be published for all to see in an announcement the following week.

Official 2009 REI HSA Championship Awards List
24/11/2009

The full list of awards for the 2009 Richard Egger Insurance HSA Speed Championship can be downloaded here.

HSA Annual awards lunch
11/11/2009

The annual HSA awards lunch is being held at the Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon, Warwickshire on Sunday 6th December.

All HSA members and their guests are welcome and an interesting programme will complement the good food and company. Tickets also include free entry to the Heritage Motor Centre itself, which this year features the "50 years of the Mini" exhibition.

The booking form can be dowlnoaded here.

Swansea MC offer entry fee discount
29/10/2009

Swansea Motor Club, organisers of the Llys y Fran hill climbs in west Wales, are offering any competitor who attended the July meeting an entry fee discount. As those present will recall the meeting was unfortunately abandoned due to exceptional circumstances. A discount of £15 can be claimed for anyone who was there and who is planning to return in 2010.

The next summer meeting will be held on the 19th July 2010, details of which can be checked on the Swansea MC website, including information on how to claim the reduced entry fee.

BOB DAYSON
27/10/2009

A memorial service for the late Bob Dayson will take place in the paddock at Shelsley Walsh Hillclimb on Friday 6th November at 2.30pm. The service will be led by the Venerable John Gathercole, retired Archdeacon of Dudley and well known motorsport enthusiast. Eulogies will be given by MAC President John Moody and by renowned hillclimb competitor Simon Durling.
The service will be of approximately 35 minutes duration. The paddock bar will be open from 1.00 pm. There will be tea, coffee and light snacks available in the restaurant, with photo albums and some of Bob's memorabilia on view. All are welcome.

ROY LANE
27/10/2009

A public service of celebration of the life of Roy Lane will be held at St Mary’s Church, Warwick, on Tuesday 10^th November at 12.00 midday. All are welcome.

The season in pictures!
26/10/2009

A selection of skilfully shot and interesting images of selected rounds of the 2009 championship, including the finale at Curborough, can be pre-viewed on the Rhodopsin Photography website:

http://www.rhodopsin.co.uk/Other%20Sports/index.htm

Rhodopsin Photography visit many of the venues attended by the championship and also have available extensive archives, mostly from other meetings held throughout the Midlands area. Photographs can be supplied in various formats and can be ordered on-line. With so many available, there are shots of all competitors with which to make up an interesting memento of the year, or perhaps take a portrait shot of your favourite driver in action to add to their Christmas stocking!

Speedscene Issue 155
23/10/2009

Speedscene Issue 155 has been printed and is being despatched. However, the ongoing situation in the Postal Service, both locally and nationally, will unavoidably delay deliveries.

We are sorry for this inconvenience and are currently working hard to ensure that the delivery of Issue 156, the Christmas issue, will be sent out to arrive before the holiday period.

Llys y Fran Hill Climb Improvements
22/10/2009

Following sterling efforts by Swansea Motor Club, Llys y Fran hill climbs will run with better organisation and improved facilities for 2010. The testing and difficult to master Llys y Fran hill climb course is located in Pembrokeshire, west Wales.

It is situated in a picturesque Country Park together with all the normal facilities, including a fully equipped visitor centre complete with cafe/restaurant. Camping facilities are also available by prior arrangement for anyone wishing to stay over. The venue also benefits from an all-tarmac paddock area. It has proved very popular with spectators over the years, which adds extra interest to the events held there. The hill has also been re-profiled and the course is now officially over 1 kilometre in length.

Drawing on experiences gained over recent years, the Swansea Motor Club is working on various upgrades for the 2010 meetings. The club team plan considerable upgrades to track safety with a new dedicated and fully equipped team. They also plan to introduce new practices and back-up systems to help make the events run more smoothly.

See the Swansea Motor Club website for further details and updates.

ROY LANE
14/10/2009

In what has been a desperately sad week for hillclimbing, we are sorry to announce that Roy Lane has finally succumbed to the illness from which he had suffered for several years now. A true hillclimb legend, there is insufficient space here to do justice to Roy’s achievements in a British Hillclimb career that thrived for over three decades, but in sending condolences to his family, friends and fellow competitors, we are certain that the memory of this popular, dedicated and innovative engineer will survive as long as the sport he loved so much continues to flourish.

An in-depth tribute to Roy will be published in a future edition of Speedscene.

BOB DAYSON
12/10/2009

We are sorry to report that Bob Dayson finally lost his battle with cancer in the early hours of this morning. The ever jovial arch-enthusiast for motorsport, particularly hillclimbing and sporting trials, will long be remembered for his light-hearted but always competitive approach to the sport to which he contributed so much, in so many ways. The HSA would like to offer sincere condolences to Bob’s family and countless friends. One of hillclimbing’s true characters, he will be much missed.

A full appreciation will follow in a future issue of Speedscene

HENSON’S WIN – GALLAGHER’S TITLE
11/10/2009

As the only sub-30sec runner of the day, Andrew Henson set the outright pace at Curborough’s Richard Egger HSA Speed Championship finale in his Ralt-Rover, edging out first run spinner Jim Yardley. A sudden rain shower caught out the veteran Beagle-Honda driver midway through the first runs and put pressure on many of the single seater drivers, including Brian Ball. The 600cc Force-Yamaha driver also spun on his first run and although he recovered later, he failed to catch class winner Robert Way’s Jedi and, crucially, Championship second place man Simon Andrews, who had led Ball by a single point going into the last round. As Andrews and Steve Filkin swapped records in a duel for class C2 honours, the MG Cup TF driver scored a narrow win over Filkin’s Elise to confirm his Championship runner-up placing ahead of Ball.

John Gallagher (pictured earlier this year at Harewood) was also on class-winning record form in his Mazda MX5, confirming the 2009 Richard Egger HSA title that he’d already secured by the preceding round at Shelsley.

After a fine opening shot by Peter Kukainis in his Westfield-Duratec had got right in amongst the single seaters to secure third FTD, Elden FF driver Mike Broome won one of the closest fought Alan Payne Trophy class winners’ run-offs ever seen with the top three; Broome, Ben Hamer’s Mini Turbo and Clive Wooster’s Radical, covered by just seven hundredths of a second on corrected times. Results sheet can be downloaded here

Full report in Speedscene 156.

Provisional final championship positions: 1 John Gallagher (1.8 Mazda MX5); 2 Simon Andrews (1.8 MG TF); 3 Brian Ball (0.6 Force-Yamaha); 4 Steve Filkin (1.8 Lotus Elise); 5 Geoff Kershaw (2.9 Ford Sierra); etc.

Successful Curborough Sprint Course Repairs
09/10/2009

The ever popular course operated by Shenstone and District Car Club has been enhanced by surface repair works that should improve both the single and double lap formats. Following the drainage relief work undertaken in the paddock during the spring, the latest improvement work has focused upon the course itself.

The course now benefits from a re-surfaced start area and repair work to the outside of paddock rise. These particular repairs should now enable all cars to use the full width of the road at this formidable corner. Fresh surfacing around flagpole will be of note to all those interested in the double lapper format, where the repairs have smoothed out the tight line approach.

The effect of this work was in evidence at the recent MAC autumn sprint, with Richard Spedding re-setting the 1600cc racing car class benchmark set back in 2002 by Tim Wilson, whilst Rob Turnbull nearly eclipsed the long-standing overall course record set back in 1996 by Roy Lane.

CRYSTAL PALACE 2010
08/10/2009

There is to be a two-day sprint event at the London venue in 2010. Two one-day meetings; one a Nat B event and the other aimed at Historic cars. The week-end chosen is the bank holiday with the events on Sunday 30th & Monday 31st May.

Final documents for HSA Curborough event on October 11th
08/10/2009

The final entry list , Final regs and Commentary sheet for the Oct 11th event at Curborough have been published. Check the entry list as a few more entries have been confirmed at the last minute.

AMBITION FULFILLED
27/09/2009

‘I’ve always wanted to win here,’ said Trevor Willis after taking FTD at the daunting Carse of Cambus hillclimb at Doune. With it came victory by two hundredths of a second over British champion Scott Moran in the final MCL Motorhomes British Hillclimb run-off of the year. Despite gearshift problems demanding second gear starts, Scott and father Roger opened the day’s run-off action with another family one/two after Willis had skated straight on at the notorious East Brae in qualifying. But later in the day, backed up in the OMS-Powertec by constructor Steve Owen (in the points on his first outing in the car), Willis scored his sixth win of the year – and the tenth of his career – to underline his status as 2009 championship runner-up.

With a blinding sub-record shot in the second run-off, four-times Scottish champion Jonathan Rarity chased home the two leaders to head Moran Sr, but not before he’d seen his 1600 racing class record officially broken by the flying Will Hall. With top six finishes each time, Hall finished the year in a fine eighth place on the British series table, but even a class win at record pace was not enough to prevent rival Paul Haimes winning the Hillclimb Leaders Championship for the second time. A class win for Haimes – who also steered the Dallara to a 2009 best third place in the opening shoot-out – was enough to do the trick for the F1 Racing Fuel series’ title.

With Eynon Price also in the points each time and finishing tenth overall on the British table, 1600cc cars figured well in both run-offs. Lee Adams made a great British Championship debut in the new Graeme Wight Jr built GWR Raptor-Hayabusa (pictured), opening his account straight away with sixth place in the opening run-off before an oil leak stemmed the superb new machine’s progress.

Final British Championship positions: 1 Scott Moran 246pts; 2 Trevor Willis 219; 3 Roger Moran 202; 4 Martin Groves 184; 5 Chris Merrick 134; 6 Paul Ranson 113; 7 Tom New 87; 8 Will Hall 83; 9 Deryk Young 80; 10 Eynon Price 75; 11 Paul Haimes 66; 12 Rob Turnbull 45; etc.

Notice of Annual General Meeting
24/09/2009

Notice is hereby given that the tenth Annual General Meeting of the Hillclimb and Sprint Association Limited will be held at:

The Cromwell Hotel
Banbury
OXON
OX16 0TB

at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday October 14th for the following purpose:

1. To receive the report of the Chairman for the 12 months ended 31st October 2008
2. To receive the report of the Secretary for the 12 months ended 31st October 2008
3. To receive the report of the Directors and accounts for the 12 months ended 31st October 2008
4. To re-elect the Directors who retire and offer themselves for re-election
5. To appoint a Committee to hold office unitl the next Annual General Meeting
6. To transact any other ordinary business of an Annual General Meeting

Nominations for the positions of director or committee member should be received by the Secretary 14 days before the meeting. A member of the company entitled to attend and vote may appoiunt a proxy, who need not be a member, to vote on his/her behalf.

The full notice and accounts summary may be downloaded here.

The HSA Sprint at Curborough on October 11th
23/09/2009

A reminder that it isn't too late to get an entry to the HSA's traditional end of season sprint at Curborough on October 11th. Regulations and entry forms can be downloaded from the events page.

To see the list of early entries you can download this spreadsheet.

Championship Finale - Curborough Sprint 11/10/09
22/09/2009

The final round of the championship is looming fast. Entries are steadily coming in from both championship contenders and from members of the various invited clubs, so be sure to get yours submitted soon to secure a place. The details can all be found under the Events tab (above).

The meeting is planned to include the traditional end-of-season class winners run-off for the Alan Payne Memorial Trophy won last year in fine style by current class U leader, Matt Clarke in his highly effective 1380cc Austin Mini.

Richard Egger Insurance for the HSA
22/09/2009

Richard Egger Insurance offer a unique range of insurance products for the motor sport competitor. A new web page has been created specially for visistors from this site.

Bo'ness Hill Climb Revival 2009
14/09/2009

In two days of action-packed hill climbing at the second Revival meeting the organisers laid on a veritable feast. Behind the steering wheel were many of Scotland's finest ranging from the legendary Kenny Allen through such stalwarts as Alex Brown and Alex Graham. Chris Merrick was having a fun week-end driving Vernon Williamson's ex-James Hunt Dastle F3 car whilst Stewart Robb wheeled out his MG Midget - this the car both he and then recently son Stewart made their motor racing debuts. Pictured on the right is Martin Spencer in GN Spider II in the wonderful Courtyard section.

A full report will be appearing in an up-coming Speedscene.

Algar sets the pace
09/09/2009

Nick Algar not only took the Top 12 Run-off victory in the final round of the 2009 SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship but he also lowered the course record and set a new outright Lap Record for the 1.35 mile lap. Algar had already secure the title at Colerne the previous Monday but the pace he showed at Mallory was the icing on the cake.

September 6^th 2009 - Rd 14 SBD British Sprint Championship

1 Nick Algar (3.5 Gould-NME GR55) 54.46secs;
2 Steve Broughton (1.3s OMS-Suzuki CF06) 59.61secs;

3 Mark smith (2.0 Reynard-Vauxhall 903G) 59.67secs;

4 Terry Holmes (3.5 Lola-Judd T90/50) 60.32secs;

5 Graham Porrett (3.5 Lola-Judd T90/50) 62.59secs;

6 Kevin Lealan (2.0 Pilbeam-Vauxhall MP62) 62.64secs;

7 Steve Miles (2.0 Van Diemen-Zetec RF96M) 63.81secs;

8 Glyn Sketchley (1.6 Force-Suzuki PT1600) 64.83secs;

9 Tony Ellis (2.0 Megapin-Duratec 31-07) 66.47secs;

10 Tony Jarvis (2.0 Reynard-Opel FVL) 67.15secs;

11 Martin Webb (2.0 Reynard-Opel FVL) 67.54secs;

12 Bill Gouldthorpe (2.0 Van Diemen-Zetec RF96M) 68.42secs.

Final SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship positions after Round 14:
1 Nick Algar 146 pts; 2 Steve Broughton 119pts; 3 Mark Smith 115pts; 4 Terry Holmes 113pts; 5 Steve Miles 87pts; 6 Kevin Lealan 74pts; 7 Graham Porrett 68pts; 8 Stewart Robb Jnr 66pts; 9 Glyn Sketchley 64pts; 10 Stewart Robb Snr 63pts; 11 Ross Napier 50pts; 12 Phil Lynch 43pts; etc.

TWO MORE FOR TREVOR
06/09/2009

Trevor Willis (pictured) clocked up his fifth win of the year with two successive British run-off victories at Prescott on Sunday. With 2009 champion elect Scott Moran failing to score following a series of gear selection problems, his closest challenger on the Championship table was uncatchable, setting two identical run-off times for FTD.

After an uncharacteristic spin at SemiCircle during the opening run-off, Roger Moran bounced back to chase Willis home in the second shoot-out with a second gear start, the paddle-shift change from first to second having already blunted son Scott’s earlier challenge. Rob Turnbull continued his late season form with second and third places chased first by Deryk Young and then Will Hall. The expected battle raged between Hall and Eynon Price in their Force-Hayabusas, with each bagging successive fourth places after Price had qualified in the afternoon with a new 1600 class record – which was promptly (although unofficially) lowered by Hall during the second shoot-out! In another superb performance in the ‘budget’ 1000cc Martlet-Suzuki, Adam Steel qualified for the opening run-off by demolishing Adam Fleetwood’s long-standing 1100 class record, however a paddle-shift fumble kept him down the order with points at stake.

British Championship positions after Prescott: 1 Scott Moran 230pts; 2 Trevor Willis 214; 3 Roger Moran 194; 4 Martin Groves 184; 5 Chris Merrick 134; 6 Paul Ranson 113; 7 Tom New 87; 8 Deryk Young 80; 9 Will Hall 72; 10 Eynon Price 71; etc.

REI/HSA Speed Championship, Round 18: Gurston Down 29th/30th August 2009
31/08/2009

The drizzling rain and cool breeze did not dampen the spirits of competitors supporting the British Hill Climb and Leaders championships at a superbly run Gurston Down on sunday - despite the turn-around in weather conditions. All saturday's practice runs were taken in near ideal late summer sunshine, with a number of PBs reported. The class runs, however were affected in much the same way as the rest of the meeting by light rain that persisted throughout the day.

The full set of results (practice and class runs) complete with trap speeds and splits can be viewed on the TSL Timing Solutions website.

http://www.tsl-timing.com/?loc=club&season=2009&series=SPRINT&event=club&source=sprint&eventid=93584

TWO IN A ROW FOR SCOTT
30/08/2009

Scott Moran (pictured) secured his second consecutive British Hillclimb Championship title at Gurston Down on August Bank Holiday Sunday.

But on a day when wet weather turned the form book on its ear, neither series leader Moran nor his closest rival, Trevor Willis, qualified for the opening run-off, when a delighted Rob Turnbull took his first British win for over six years ahead of the consistently rapid Roger Moran. Peter Marsh took a superb third place in the V6 Gould on his first ever British run-off appearance, while James Blackmore’s bike-engined OMS, 2-litre class winner Chris Guille and new 1600 racing class record-holder Will Hall rounded out an eclectic top six.

Following a spin during qualifying for the opening run-off, Willis finally came good with a magnificent drive in the closing shoot-out to take his third win of the year in the OMS-Powertec by over a second. Once again the ultra-dependable Roger Moran grabbed second place, leapfrogging the absent Martin Groves to move into third place on the series table. But by that stage, he knew that son Scott needed only a mid-field finish to be sure of a second British title. He was already assured of that by the time Roger took the penultimate run and despite a one/two by Willis and Moran Sr, Scott’s sixth place at the end was enough to clinch a well-deserved second British title.

British Championship positions after Gurston Down: 1 Scott Moran 230pts; 2 Trevor Willis 194; 3 Roger Moran 188; 4 Martin Groves 184; 5 Chris Merrick 134; 6 Paul Ranson 113; 7 Tom New 87; 8 Deryk Young 66; 9 Will Hall 65; 10 Eynon Price 62; etc.

REI/HSA Speed Championship. Round 17: MIRA
22/08/2009

Fine weather greeted competitors at the second visit of the championship to the high speed MIRA proving ground sprint expertly organised by MAC. The previous meeting having also been expertly organised by the Nottingham Sports Car Club only a few weeks ago, where several key HSA class records were re-set by drivers currently placed in the top 10.

John Gallagher, who has a dominated the championship this season was back in action following his unfortunate 'off' at the NSCC meeting. Although the car was looking a little worse for wear, and not handling to John's liking, a very determined second run shaved a few more tenths of his own class A2.1 HSA record to take another 10 points. Other A2.1 classmates, Tony Thomas and Barbara Fogden seemingly unable to get onto John's pace.

Matt Carter ran on his own in A2 improving upon his PB and making a searing 109mph through the speed trap in the process. Paul Gill took the class A3 points in the fearsome Dodge Viper followed home by Stephen Morgan's Nissan Pulsar. Former HSA champion, John Bradshaw who is running a low key season narrowly beat the current B1 class leader Stuart Hill. Hill nevertheless coming away from the meeting with an increasingly commanding class lead.

Bob Gale was the sole B2 runner in the Westfield shared with son, Mike. Despite their best efforts, neither were able to get onto terms with their respective PBs. Meanwhile in C2, Steve Filkin took the points after taking seconds off the HSA class record re-set by current second placed man, Simon Andrews at the NSCC round. Despite running in a newly acquired set of fresh slicks, Andrews could not quite match his previous pace and narrowly missed out on the additional point. In contrast, co-driver Bernard Kevill significantly improved on his previous best to score 7 points.

Geoff Kershaw, re-wrote the former A3 record in the extremely rapid Sierra Cosworth to take a decisive lead in the class. Matt Hillam continued with his winning ways to take the Class D points and catapult himself into the top 10 in the SBD Westfield.

In the racing car classes, both Rob Way in the 600cc Jedi and Gary Thomas in the 1100cc Force re-set the HSA class records to take away all important points. Despite early season setbacks, Rob found his sprint form earlier in the year at Llandow, and repeated it at MIRA, taking nearly a second out of the record time set at the NSCC meeting by current class H leader Brian Ball. Gary was lucky to negotiate a last minute entry to the meeting, but his tenacity certainly paid off as he also ran under his own record time to take away the extra championship point followed home by Alan Cleveland and Robin Maryon. Chris Machell took the Mygale to the class L points, although he was unable to get back on terms with his own class record.

Jon Plowe was out again running the historic 3.1 litre Essex-engined Gilbern revelling in its handling balance in marked contrast to his former steed, the Jensen! Geoff Stallard (also running in the Ginetta championship) added to his class points tally, although was unable to get on terms with the current class record.

See the results page for the driver-by-driver analysis and latest championship positions.

MORANS’ CLEAN SWEEP
16/08/2009

Scott Moran (pictured) took a step nearer an almost inevitable second successive British title after taking both run-off wins at Shelsley Walsh. The result moved his 2009 win tally to 13 and his points lead to 41 with just six rounds to go. In a clean sweep for the Moran family, his father Roger finished second each time ahead of an on-the-limit Trevor Willis and Shelsley expert Deryk Young. With his two third places, Willis leveled his Championship score with the absent Martin Groves, who had already announced his withdrawal from the series.

In what has been something of a ‘comeback year’, Moran Sr looks set to overhaul Groves on the Championship table as increases his lead over Chris Merrick. Summer sunshine brought big crowds to Shelsley, most of whom were rooting for Merrick to score his first ever British win after he’d qualified top for the opening run-off. But as co-driver Tom New neared the finish line on his opening run-off shot, the Gould’s Judd unit went off-song. New finished a strong fifth, but a broken valve spring sidelined the car before Merrick had a chance to run.

Driving his Pilbeam-Judd, Oliver Tomlin enjoyed his finest British Championship day so far with sixth and later fifth place, while the impressive Simon Marsh made the cut each time aboard his late father Tony’s Gould V6, getting his first ever British points on the board with ninth place in the afternoon.

British Championship positions after Shelsley Walsh: 1 Scott Moran 225pts; 2= Martin Groves and Trevor Willis 184; 4 Roger Moran 170; 5 Chris Merrick 134; 6 Paul Ranson 113; 7 Tom New 87; 8 Deryk Young 63; 9 Eynon Price 62; 10 Will Hall 53; etc.

London Irish MC: Lydden Sprint - 15th&16th August
13/08/2009

Following recent championship rounds at venues in Wales, the north and midlands, the championship turns its attention to the south-east for the next two rounds amongst others supporting the SBD Motorsport British Sprint series.

A small, but healthy contingent of championship regulars are entered for both Lydden Hill meetings. Although none of the top 3 will be competing this does give others the opportunity to score crucial points. The championship has been a regular visitor to the challenging Kent track and there are a number of HSA class records already chalked up. A number of these are likely to be approached, and weather permitting, surpassed by some of those leading competitors entered.

With the chase for title honours getting very close indeed this meeting will just add further spice to an already hot mix!

FINTRAY HILL RECORD FALLS AFTER 20 YEARS
12/08/2009

Stewart Robb Jr finally broke Roy Lane’s long standing 25.72 hill record at Grampian MC’s short, 725 yard hill at Fintray, near Aberdeen, last Saturday. Lane’s old hill standard was set at 1989’s British Championship meeting in his Pilbeam-DFL MP58. Robb’s father, Stewart Sr, was first inside the record – by a mere hundredth – aboard their 4-litre Pilbeam-Judd MP88. But on a day when nine class records were reset, his son applied the coupe de gras on the very last run of the day with a 25.28.

The traditional large sign at Ruin, which displays the current hill record and its holder, was updated and in place by the start of practice for Sunday’s event!

GROVES ENDS BRITISH HILLCLIMB TITLE BID
11/08/2009

Following their Gould-NME’s recent engine problem at Craigantlet, Martin Groves and Paul Ranson have reluctantly decided to withdraw from the 2009 British Hillclimb Championship. The replacement ’standby’ unit was fitted for the July Harewood event after problems with their own engine, but when during practice in Northern Ireland this unit began smoking heavily, they withdrew the car.

With their own engine awaiting parts and unable to be repaired in time for Shelsley Walsh this coming weekend, Groves is unwilling to risk running the replacement unit. Already 21 points and three wins behind Championship leader Scott Moran, a failure to score at Shelsley will leave the team with little chance of getting back on terms in the title chase with just Gurston, Prescott and Doune remaining.

HILLCLIMB MINI IN THE WIND TUNNEL
11/08/2009

You wouldn’t think that the Alec Issigonis Mini was 50 years old in 2009, judging by the strength in numbers still out there competing in a wide range of competition categories, including hillclimbing and sprinting. And while the ‘special saloon’ variants from the past may be consigned to the sports libre classes in our sport these days, courtesy of the modified production regulation changes of the early 1990s, the classic Mini is still a strong and popular contender in the up to 1400cc modified limited production saloon car class.

But when most folk hear the suggestion that some modern aerodynamic thinking could be applied to the Mini the response frequently includes unkind comparisons with house bricks! The implication is that the classic Mini is beyond help, aerodynamically speaking. Well, recently Racecar Engineering magazine took a hillclimb Mini into the MIRA wind tunnel for a hectic but very revealing half-day session to provide data and copy for a short series of articles in its monthly Aerobytes column, written by former hillclimber Simon McBeath, who’s still very much involved at his local hill, Gurston Down.

The car was provided by Graham and Neal Masters, the father and son team from Southsea, Portsmouth, who are already highly competitive in their class at Gurston, and the test was a chance to check out some aerodynamic concepts developed with them by McBeath, with many test parts manufactured by Southampton-based Carbon Weezel. To find out what the results were, look out especially for the November, December and January issues of Racecar Engineering, published on October 9^th, November 13^th and December 11^th respectively. Back issues can be purchased if you miss one, and subscriptions can be taken out online at www.racecar-engineering.com.

WILLIS STARS, BUT MORAN EXTENDS HIS LEAD AS GROVES NON-STARTS IN ULSTER
01/08/2009

In a day-long duel with Scott Moran, Trevor Willis won his second British round in as many weekends with a superb closing run-off shot at Northern Ireland’s historic Craigantlet hillclimb. Despite Willis's considerable horsepower disadvantage on the upper reaches of the fast Ulster road course, devastating pace on the tighter early section gave him the win from Moran as closed to within four hundredths of Scott’s FTD.

On a day punctuated by brief spells of intermittent drizzle, Moran set the outright pace in winning the opening shoot-out from Willis. Martin Groves never entered the equation as for the second successive year at Craigantlet his Gould was sidelined during practice, this time with engine problems. With Groves out, Moran stretched his championship lead to a healthy 21 points.

Chasing Roger Moran home each time, two fourth place finishes marked Tom New’s best result of the year. His co-driver Chris Merrick spun out of the opening qualifying runs – which with just 13 potential runners let in Peter Herbert for his first British run-off appearance in the Westfield-BDH – but recovered to finish sixth in the second stanza behind the flying Will Hall. And after two mid-field placings as he swapped run-off honours with sparring partner Eynon Price, Hall eased the absent Paul Haimes off the number ten spot on the championship table.

Championship standings after Craigantlet: 1 Scott Moran 205pts; 2 Martin Groves 184; 3 Trevor Willis 168; 4 Roger Moran 152; 5 Chris Merrick 134; 6 Paul Ranson 113; 7 Tom New 81; 8 Eynon Price 62; 9 Deryk Young 49; 10 Will Hall 47; etc.

Thoresby regs available for download
01/08/2009

Regs and entry forms for the HSA round at Thoresby Park on September 12th are available for download. See the calendar page or go to the Nottingham Sports Car Club's own web site.

Motorsport Insurance discounts for HSA competitors and members
29/07/2009

Richard Egger Insurance have announced some exciting new motorsport insurance deals for HSA championship competitors and members.

You can download a pdf of the promotional leaflet (which incidentally features a nice photo of Joe Tisdall's Vixen) by clicking here.

WILLIS’S WISCOMBE WINNER
26/07/2009

Trevor Willis stormed to his first British Hillclimb run-off win of the year, and the fifth of his career, at Wiscombe Park on Sunday. After dominating practice at the venue where he’d tied for the win with Martin Groves two years ago, the OMS-Powertec driver led home Scott and Roger Moran in the dry opening shoot-out. Groves ran fourth, but after coming to Wiscombe in the joint championship lead with defending champion Moran, he slipped to a two point series deficit.

The points battle up front remained largely unchanged as rain upset the form book during qualifying for the second run-off and the later running top contenders, including Willis, failed to make the cut. Having qualified before the rain started in earnest, Roger Moran took his third win of the year in streaming wet conditions, leapfrogging the non-qualifying Chris Merrick to go fourth on the points table. Eynon Price and John Bradburn ran second and third, each scoring their best ever British result.

Performance of the day came from Adam Steel who, on his first British run-off appearance, scored a point in the dry opening shoot-out driving the tiny ‘budget racing’ 1000cc Martlet-Suzuki built in less than four months by his co-driving father Tony. Later, Steel climbed within half a second of Adam Fleetwood’s 1100 class record to qualify equal second with Moran for the second stanza, before splashing through to sixth place in the run-off itself.

Championship positions after Wiscombe Park: 1 Scott Moran 186pts; 1 Martin Groves 184; 3 Trevor Willis 149; 4 Roger Moran 136; 5 Chris Merrick 129; 6 Paul Ranson 106; 7 Tom New 67; 8 Eynon Price 52; 9 Deryk Young 49; 10 Paul Haimes 44; etc.

HSA Curborough Oct 11th Regs
24/07/2009

The regs and entry form for the HSA organised Sprint at Curborough on October 11th can be found here:

http://www.hillclimbandsprint.co.uk/events.asp

Llys y Fran July 19th
21/07/2009

The Swansea Motor Club organised round of the HSA Speed Championship at Llys y Fran on July 19th experienced highly abnormal weather conditions which, according to reports received, led to problems with the timing equipment and running the event.

The Championship Organising committee are waiting on official word and results from the organising club before making any decision on scoring the event.

The Swansea Motor Club have posted a notice on their web site regarding this event:

http://www.swanmoco.co.uk/19th_july_an_explanation.htm

The Swansea Motor Club have now confirmed that no official results will published and therefore we sadly cannot score this event as a round of the 2009 HSA Richard Egger Insurance Speed Championship.

TIGHT AT THE TOP
20/07/2009

Indifferent weather produced some surprise results, particularly in Guernsey, when the British Hillclimb circus visited the Channel Islands in mid-July. But after two days of mixed fortunes for Championship rivals Scott Moran and Martin Groves, their duel couldn’t be closer as they now head for Wiscombe Park on equal points at the top of the table.

Jersey’s Bouley Bay rounds produced a Moran double, with Roger taking another win at the scene of his first ever victory in 1996 before failing to qualify for the second, rain-affected, shoot-out when it was Scott’s turn to win. Chris Merrick ran a consistent second each time ahead of Groves, while a great run in the DJ Firestorm for Bouley first-timer Wallace Menzies bagged the new car’s first British points with eighth place.

Two days later, at Le Val des Terres on Guernsey, the weather was even more unpredictable and top qualifier Chris Guille scored a brilliant first ever British win in the 2-litre OMS-Vauxhall, with even Scott Moran unable to challenge the Guernsey-born driver and Eynon Price and Will Hall proudly flying the 1600 flag in third and fourth. Groves, who had missed the opening cut after a failed run, made up for it later on to take the second run-off win from Trevor Willis and the on-form Guille, thus matching Roy Lane’s all-time best total of 90 British run-off wins.

Full report in Speedscene 155.

Championship positions after Le Val des Terres: 1= Martin Groves and Scott Moran 177pts; 3 Trevor Willis 139; 4 Chris Merrick 123; 5 Roger Moran 118; 6 Paul Ranson 101; 7 Tom New 59; 8 Deryk Young 49; 9 Paul Haimes 41; 10 Eynon Price 40; etc.

Successful Curborough Sprint Course Repairs
10/07/2009

The ever popular curborough sprint course operated by Shenstone and District Car Club has been enhanced with the successful completion of repair work that should improve both the single and double lap formats.

Following the drainage relief work completed during the spring, the latest works have focused upon the course itself. The course now benefits from a resurfaced start area and repairs to the outside of paddock rise and flagpole corner. The repairs to the formidable paddock bend should now enable all cars to use the full width of the road. The repairs to flagpole will be of note to all those interested in the double lap events as the new surface has smoothed out the inside of the corner.

The effect of this work was in evidence at the recent MAC autumn sprint where Richard Spedding re-set Tim Wilson's benchmark set back in 2002, whilst veteran Rob Turnbull nearly elcipsed the long-standing overall course record set in 1996 by Roy Lane.

Kevin Hamilton's excellent blog
06/07/2009

Kevin Hamilton, who is competing in the competitive Mazda MX5 class, has an excellent blog where you can read about his experiences through the season.

Kevin Hamilton's blog

DUEL IN THE SUN
05/07/2009

Martin Groves took over the series lead from Scott Moran in another gripping British Hillclimb duel at a warm and sunny Harewood. After first Groves, then Moran had broken the class record in qualifying, Moran failed to score in the opening run-off when a traction control wheel sensor failed, leaving Groves to take the win by four tenths of a second from a hard charging Trevor Willis. After fitting a replacement sensor, Moran fought back in the second shoot-out with an FTD shot on the last run of the day, beating his season-long rival by just two hundredths, but Groves (pictured) is now back in charge of the Championship with a four point lead.

With a new class record in his Caterham-Hayabusa, Andrew Griffiths began a record-breaking trend which was taken up in all but one of the single-seater classes, Mark Hemingway, Will Hall and Paul Haimes all setting new class standards with Hall and Haimes making the run-off cut each time. Hall’s 1600cc bike engined Force outran Haimes’ 2-litre Dallara by two hundredths in the opening shoot-out, but a broken driveshaft stemmed his challenge in the second stanza.

As at Prescott the previous weekend, Lee Griffiths once again set the outright pace among a strong Richard Egger/HSA championship contingent, whilst Robert Capper, continues to impress, finishing third in the 600cc racing class in his Nemesis. After a head gasket had blown on his Elise, Steve Filkin shared REI/HSA championship third place man Simon Andrews’ X-Power Cup MG TF, chasing his benefactor home behind a strong contingent of 2-litre ModProd British championship regulars. In the HSA ‘B’ Licence class, Eric Morrey followed up his Prescott win with another in the turbocharged Clan, keeping the Peugeot 205 of Emerson Kent and Chris Flavell at bay. Championship leader John Gallagher headed a quartet of Mazda MX5s to finish fourth.

Full report in Speedscene 155.

Championship positions after Harewood: 1 Martin Groves 151pts; 2 Scott Moran 147; 3 Trevor Willis 116; 4 Chris Merrick 105; 5 Roger Moran 95; 6 Paul Ranson 91; 7 Tom New 56; 8 Deryk Young 49; 9 Paul Haimes 29; 10 Jos Goodyear 21; etc.

WILLIS SETS PRESCOTT PACE
30/06/2009

Defending Avon/BMTR Challenge champion Trevor Willis was in a class of his own at Prescott’s Midland Hillclimb Championship round on Sunday. Running a second and a quarter clear of the field, he won both run-offs to regain the lead in this year’s series from the absent Scott Moran. After gearbox problems stymied his opening qualifier, Deryk Young chased hard in the final shoot-out to consolidate his third place on the table. Once again it was Will Hall that provided the fireworks, his second run-off shot in the bike-engined Force just three tenths behind Young’s V8 Gould to set third FTD.

The event was also round 9 of the Richard Egger/HSA Speed series. Lee Griffiths set the outright pace among the HSA competitors with a best of 44.09 secs in the OMS Hornet. Next up was Brian Ball, his cracking 44.20 in the Force-Yamaha good enough for fourth place behind regular pacemaker Dave Oldridge in a competitive 600cc class that saw Eurosport Moto GP commentator Toby Moody finally wrest the win from constructor/co-driver Bill Chaplin. Star among the ‘A’ licence members was Andy Dunbar, the Westfield driver chasing home regular 2-litre racing ModProd winner Chris Child and holding off Kelvin Lee’s Lotus 7 in a top three covered by a mere four hundredths. In a sixteen-strong HSA ‘B’ licence class, Eric Morrey and the Clan took the win, with the only sub-50 run as Stuart Hill’s Westfield held off Neil Duncanson’s Quattro for second place.

Full report in Speedscene 155.

Round 9: Prescott Midsummer Speed Fest
30/06/2009

Following the excellent two-day meeting, which was blessed with glorious hot weather, the championship table is also beginning to hot up! With many drivers able to capitalise on the grippy track a number of HSA class records were eclipsed. The results and points allocation for each class will be posted on the results page upon receipt of the hard copy of the timekeeper's official results from the Bugatti Owners' Club. Check back soon for the full details and the usual driver-by-driver analysis.

Something different.....
24/06/2009

Malta may be quite a small island but would you believe that it has seven speed venues?

You can find out more about their championship and the tracks at the Island Car Club's web site. So if you are planning a trip to Malta you may be able to combine it with a spot of spectating.

Borough 19 regs for Debden & Hethel
23/06/2009

The Borough 19 regs for Debden on July 12th and Hethel on August 2nd can now be downloaded.

Borough 19 Motor Club continues to offer excellent value for money with both events offering 3 timed runs (time and weather permitting) for the relatively inexpensive entry fees of £70 for Debden and a very reasonable £80 for Hethel.

Lydden Regs August 15/16
23/06/2009

The Lydden regs have just been released and you can find them here.

MORAN AND GROVES ON RECORD FORM AGAIN
21/06/2009

In a re-run of their duel at Loton Park’s season opener, Martin Groves and Scott Moran (pictured) each broke the hill record at Doune last weekend. Moran qualified top each time, ahead of Trevor Willis and Groves, but after an all-out charge by Groves had shaved five hundredths from his own record to beat his rival to the win in the opening run-off, Moran turned the tables later, a super-smooth shot carving another quarter-second off the new mark to win the second shoot-out.

Willis hurled the diminutive OMS-Powertec up the daunting, barrier-lined slopes for third place each time, drawing clear of Chris Merrick for third spot on the MCL Motorhomes series table. Merrick twice had to give best to his co-driver as Tom New rapidly dialled their Gould-Judd into the Scottish hill. With two strong fourth place run-off finishes, Roger Moran leapfrogged Paul Ranson by one point to take over fifth place in the series.

Chased hard by Will Hall, Scottish hillclimb champion Jonathan Rarity was one of several drivers on record-breaking form at Doune as he took the 1600 racing class win in his minimalist MH Ghost. Both drivers made the cut for the opening run-off but in the heat of battle during qualifying for the second shoot-out, both spun away a further chance for points at the notorious, blind brow East Brae!

A full report will follow in Speedscene.

Championship standings after Doune: 1 Scott Moran 137pts; 2 Martin Groves 132; 3 Trevor Willis 100; 4 Chris Merrick 92; 5 Roger Moran 80; 6 Paul Ranson 79; 7 Tom New 50; 8 Deryk Young 44; 9 Paul Haimes 24; 10 Jos Goodyear 21; etc.

Sean McClurg at Castle Combe
15/06/2009

2006 HSA Champion, Sean McClurg, is now circuit racing sharing Nick Thompson's beautiful Chevron B6.

The pair took third overall in Sunday's HSCC Guards Trophy race at Castle Combe.

Well done!

Llandow regs July 18th
15/06/2009

The Llandow regs have just been released and you can find them here.

TWO MORE FOR MORAN
14/06/2009

With two straight run-off wins at Loton Park on Sunday, Scott Moran made it five wins in a row and increased his MCL Motorhomes British Championship lead over Martin Groves to five points. Groves chased hard for second place each time but despite lowering Adam Fleetwood’s long-standing class record during the qualifying runs, with British points at stake he couldn’t match the smooth, unrelenting pace of hill record holder Moran.

The latest of a growing number of competitors to install a paddle gearshift, Trevor Willis dialled in the new system to run third each time and level with Chris Merrick in third place on the series table. Another superb performance from Will Hall brought his tiny bike-engined Force, the only 1600cc car to make the run-off cut, into the points each time.

Backed up by his father Roger (pictured) in the supercharged DJ Firehawk, ‘occasional driver’ Todd Fleetwood mirrored his brother Adam’s Easter class win over 2-litre ace Paul Haimes and would also have made second cut, had he been registered for the championship. Despite warm, dry weather, the only other class record of the day fell at the hands of Midland Man of the Meeting Andrew Griffiths, who lowered his previous record in the Caterham-Hayabusa by half a second.

Full report in Speedscene 154.

Championship positions after Loton Park: 1 Scott Moran 117pts; 2 Martin Groves 112; 3= Chris Merrick and Trevor Willis 84; 5 Paul Ranson 67; 6 Roger Moran 66; etc.

Wet Graham Hill Trophy Sprint doesn't deter REI/HSA competitors
11/06/2009

Despite a succession of early torrential downpours complete with thunder and lightning, the Owen Motoring Club ran the 2009 Graham Hill Trophy with their usual skill and spirit. Despite standing water on the course and a large puddle on the startline access/return road most competitors elected to take both practice runs, although it was too much for some!

With a great second run shot on a still greasy track, Gary Thomas in the ex.Phil Davies Force PT claimed his second Curborough FTD in as many months to take the prestigious wooden-rimmed 1960s F1 BRM steering wheel trophy. Former double winner, Jeremy Wilson in the larger engined PT, was unable to defend as he declined to take his second run following a high speed spin just after the finish line which caused some damage. Other potential FTD contenders Steve Day and Ash Mason were unable to take their timed runs with a gear selection problem in their newly acquired DJ Firehawk, whilst Lindsay Mercer's very rapid Radical was unfortunately a non-starter.

Despite the poor weather there were some similarly impressive Round 8 performances by other REI/HSA competitors. Michael Andrews contunues to impress on only his first competitive visit to the course with two solid runs. The unfortunate Jim Stevens understeered off at Fradley causing some minor damage, although co-driver Farid Ahmed got a respectable first run in to score some points. Upon inspection the damage was too great and the car was withdrawn. Michael Cowen ran under 40 secs on his second run and on only his second competitive visit to the venue.

John Gallagher, who is currently at the top of the table took the Mazda points with Tony Thomas taking second. Kevin Hamilton who made the trip down from Scotland pay dividends narrowly beat Barbara Fogden into fourth position to take third in the class.

Current champion, John Palmer was unable to get on terms with his own B1 record, being over two seconds adrift was followed home by Graham Boulter in the Kudos Coupe.

Ben Hamer took the small capacity mod-prod points after he and brother Wil elected to run the Mini turbo on slicks. Unfortunately, Wil threw away his initial lead with a high speed spin at Paddock on his second timed run. In the larger capacity mod-prod class initial leader Simon Andrews swapped places with Steve Filkin, with Filkin taking the points with a decisive second shot. An on-form Bernard Kevill took third on both runs closing to within two tenths of co-driver Andrews' time. Phil Skipp lost the Astra GSi following a long graceful slide through paddock leaving him unable to challenge Emerson Kent who claimed fourth from co-driver Chris Flavell in the Spoox Peugeot.

Brian Ball took the small capacity racing car class REI points although guest co.driver Simon Marsh took a n excellent class win on the day. Newcomer Robert Capper completed two solid runs whilst Peter Hubbard threw away his challenge with a spin. Paul Tinsley was very quick on the drying track, running just under 32 seconds despite a wet weather set up complete with the anti-roll bars disconnected in the class K Swift, whilst Chris Machell in the Mygale declined to take his second run.

Welcome returnee Graham Cashmore took the points in the Imp-engined Davrian from Michael TIndale in the Clan, whilst Eric Morrey who is still getting used to the new turbo installation in his Clan took the class P points. Geoff Stallard ran his Ginetta G12 to the class W points with a second run in the low 38 secs bracket.

Hugh Whitcombe took a good win in the treacherous track conditions over an exuberant Jonathan Plowe who was running his recently acquired 3.1 litre Gilbern for the first time.

See the results page for all the details and analysis.

HSA Members invited to Scimitar Owners Club Curborough August 16
11/06/2009

HSA members are invited to the Scimitar Owners Club event to be held on the Curborough long course on August 16th.

Regs can be found here.

Entry lists published
10/06/2009

BARC (Yorks) now publish entry lists for the forthcoming meetings at Harewood hill climb. Entry lists for meetings held at Gurston Down, Prescott, and Llys-Y-Fran are often also published in advance of the meetings too.

With qualifying rounds of the championship to be held at these venues over the coming summer months, check out the respective websites for a sneak preview of which championship contenders are planning to compete.

MORAN BACK ON TOP
31/05/2009

Scott Moran powered into the lead of the MCL Motorhomes British Hillclimb Championship last weekend after taking both run-off wins at Shelsley Walsh. Under pressure from his top qualifying rival, Martin Groves spun out of the opening shoot-out and failed to score, but a marginally more cautious runner-up spot in the second run-off (‘I couldn’t afford to drop another round!’ confessed the three-times champion) left Moran with a three point series lead. An on-form Paul Ranson continued his climb up the championship table to fifth place, with second and third in the run-offs. After taking a front corner off the Gould-Judd during Saturday’s practice, Tom New (pictured) recovered brilliantly to finish fourth in the closing run-off, beating co-driver Chris Merrick for the first time.

The best weather of the year so far prompted several new class records, including the pre-71 racing car mark as Richard Jones and the Brabham-BDA shaved four hundredths of Peter Voigt’s 5-years-old Techcraft-Buick standard.

Full report in Speedscene 154.

Championship positions after Shelsley Walsh: 1 Scott Moran 97pts; 2 Martin Groves 94; 3 Chris Merrick 71; 4 Trevor Willis 68; 5 Paul Ranson 59; 6 Roger Moran 53; etc.

Championship decals
27/05/2009

All entrants to the HSA speed championship are reminded to ensure that they display the title sponsor and, where applicable the class sponsors' decals on the car at all qualifying rounds. This is essential for a variety of promotional reasons, but also because the allocation of hard earnt championship points is conditional on the car carrying them in accordance with the relevant Common Regulation in the Blue Book.

If, for whatever reason you require a replacement or spare, please contact the Championship Coordinator for assistance.

GROVES AND MORAN SHARE GURSTON HONOURS
24/05/2009

Topping 130mph into the Hollow Bend sweeper and 150mph over the finish line, championship leader Martin Groves and rival Scott Moran swapped wins and second places at Sunday’s MCL Motorhomes British Hillclimb rounds at Gurston Down. With 24 rounds still to run, the battling duo are inching clear of the field and the series is looking increasingly like a two-horse race, but Chris Merrick and Trevor Willis are still fighting hard for third place. Merrick chased the two leaders home in the opening run-off only for Willis to get the upper hand in the second shoot-out, although the OMS-Powertec driver’s devastating pace on the early part of the hill was blunted each time by a lack of urge on the power-sapping blast over Burke’s Rise to the finish. Another good weekend for Paul Ranson saw Groves’ co-driver move into the championship top six behind the consistent Roger Moran.

Basking in the May sunshine, a good crowd also enjoyed entertaining class battles, the Rutland brothers disputing the1100cc racing class by hundredths before a similarly close1600cc tussle between the ever spectacular Eynon Price and Will Hall. Amid fine two-wheel action from the NHCA contingent, Glyn Poole repeated his April Prescott form as he twice lowered Gurston’s outright motorcycle record.

Full report in Speedscene 154.

British Hillclimb Championship positions after Gurston: 1 Martin Groves 85pts; 2 Scott Moran 77; 3 Chris Merrick 59; 4 Trevor Willis 55; 5 Roger Moran 43; 6 Paul Ranson 42; etc.

Scoring amendments
20/05/2009

At the recent Championship event at Loton Park on May 16th, our eligibility scrutineer advised that one of our Class B1 competitors was using tyres from List 1B instead of the required List 1A. Accordingly he has been moved to Championship Class D. It was also confirmed that these tyres were used at our Gurston Down round. The Championship Organising Committee has carefully discussed and considered how to progress this situation and, in accordance with Regulation 7, which does not allow a competitor to score points in more than one Championship Class, has re-allocated Gurston Down points as if this competitor was competing in Championship Class D. This change has an impact on the position points scored by other competitors in both Classes B1 and D at Gurston Down. Any queries arising out of these changes may be made to the Championship Co-ordinator.

HSA membership renewals
17/05/2009

A gentle reminder to registered Championship competitors that HSA membership must be re-newed if it expires during the Championship year. Failure to produce an up to date membership card at events may result in not being allowed to drive, even despite being in possession of an up to date Championship registration card. Please refer to the Championship regulations for clarification if required; 'Championship competitors must hold current membership of the HSA ....'

TONY MARSH
16/05/2009

The funeral of the late Tony Marsh (see below) will take place at 11.00am on May 27^th at Chichester Crematorium.
Tony’s son Peter has asked that those wishing to attend would kindly inform him, so that names and numbers are known.
Peter can be Emailed on: peter@turbodynamics.co.uk , or phoned at his work number (01202 487497).

WET WEEKEND FOR BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIP CHASERS
11/05/2009

The weather did its best to disrupt a hectic two days for MCL Motorhomes British Hillclimb competitors travelling north for rounds at Barbon Manor and Harewood last weekend. After torrential rain shortly after the start of Barbon’s event on Saturday and a long delay to clear standing water, most of the top championship runners qualified, and then ran for points, in sunshine on a steadily drying track. With second runs abandoned due to time constraints, Championship leader Martin Groves set FTD in the single run-off, chased hard by Trevor Willis and an on-form Chris Merrick, who eased out defending champion Scott Moran by a hundredth. An early class run in the dry had paid off for Mike Fitzsimons. Just two weeks short of his 71st birthday, he made history in Tim Wilson’s OMS-Hayabusa as the oldest driver ever to qualify top for a British Hillclimb run-off – the single point he scored on the day’s final run being the icing on the cake!

More rain, though only showery by comparison with Barbon, turned the two run-offs at the following day’s Harewood event into something of a lottery on a slippery track. Groves' co-driver Paul Ranson made the most of the worsening conditions to take second place each time and bag the best combined result of his career while Roger Moran, also running early in the opening shoot-out, took his first win of the year. Running last, a superb shot from Groves demonstrated the former champion’s skill as he bagged third place on what was by then a treacherous track.

Outqualified by his father Roger (pictured), who topped the Q-sheets with a time that would remain as the best of the day, Scott Moran ran early to bag the second run-off win in similar conditions, making it a family clean sweep on the day. Once again, Groves secured third place despite running almost last. He still heads the championship table, but Scott Moran is closing the gap and after a consistently good weekend, Chris Merrick holds third place.

Full report in Speedscene 154.

Championship positions after Harewood: 1 Martin Groves 66pts; 2 Scott Moran 58; 3 Chris Merrick 45; 4 Trevor Willis 42; 5 Roger Moran 33; 6 Paul Ranson 27; etc.

TONY MARSH
08/05/2009

In what has been a sad week for motorsport, we are sorry to learn of the passing of Tony Marsh, at the age of 77. One of the true all-rounders, Tony’s motorsport career began in a 1952 Hagley trial and embraced everything from autotests through hillclimbing to Grand Prix racing. Winner of the British hillclimb championship an unrivalled six times, he also competed internationally alongside drivers such as Fangio and Moss. After a break from motorsport to concentrate on such varied pursuits as yachting, flying and ski-bobbing as a member of the British team, Tony returned to a successful hillclimbing and sprinting career in the late eighties which he pursued right up to this current season. Even with such a long and varied career behind him, he remained the ultimate enthusiast and will be sorely missed, nowhere more so that at his local hill, Gurston Down, at which he advised on the layout and where he rarely missed a meeting. The HSA would like to offer sympathy to his Tony’s wife Liza, to his sons, Simon, Peter and Paul, and to all whose lives were touched by this ever courteous, mild-mannered gentleman.

In-depth tributes to HSA members Tony Marsh and Allan Staniforth will follow in Speedscene 154

ALLAN STANIFORTH
06/05/2009

The Association was saddened to hear of the passing of Allan Staniforth, on May 2^nd. He was 84. One of the true ‘elder statesmen' of the sport, he began racing and writing about motor racing in the 1950s. For many years, his ‘day job’ was as a staff journalist on the Daily Mirror, a discipline that honed his style as perhaps the most readable of all motorsport technical authors. As a driver/constructor, the originator of the Terrapin range of ‘do it yourself’ hillclimb single-seaters influenced just about everyone who’s ever built or worked on their own cars, including top hillclimb car constructor David Gould. On his retirement from full-time journalism, Allan’s Terrapin Services consultancy proved invaluable to generations of racers. Allan was a regular competitor in his Megapin single-seater right up until his final weeks, and his death will leave a void in paddocks across the country, particularly his beloved Harewood, that will be difficult, if not impossible, to fill. The Association offers sincere condolences to Allan’s family, and to the countless enthusiasts whose motorsport careers have been influenced by his wise and unfailingly jovial guidance.

A full appreciation of Allan’s career will follow in a future issue of Speedscene.

Shelsley Walsh May 4th
05/05/2009

After a pleasant practice day on the Sunday, normal Bank Holiday Monday weather returned for the timed runs on the following day.

Most competitors experienced two wet or very damp runs with only a small number being lucky enough to get a run in on an almost dry track. Being a round of the Midland Hillclimb Championship there was a very full entry including many of the top single seaters in the country.

Trevor Willis came out on top in both run-offs and took FTD in the second run-off with a time of 29.25 seconds driving his 2.8 litre OMS-Powertec. There wan an excellent entry of single seaters including the 'new' spaceframe DJ Firehawk of Ash Mason and Steve Day which had only been picked up the Wednesday before. Also very much in attendance were competitors in the Paul Matty Lotus Championship including the pretty Lotus 69 of Tony Wallen pictured here.

A few misfortunes befell HSA competitors with the FVL of Martin Webb and Tony Jarvis breaking is diff on its final practice run and didn't appear for the timed runs. The wet track saw five serious incidents occur during the day, all expertly handled by the marshals and rescue teams. Thankfully there were no injuries but there was some sad looking machinery including the RALT RT3 of John Burton/Richard Opie with damage to front and rear and for Mike Gale, who took a corner off his Dad's Westfield on his second run.

WERRINGTON PARK 2nd & 3rd MAY
05/05/2009

Dave Gardner, sharing John Forsyth’s well known 3.5litre Pilbeam MP58, broke John’s 1996 record on both days to leave it at 33.94sec, an improvement of 0.87sec. Otherwise a busy weekend with obviously fine track conditions following overnight rains. With resurfacing planned for later this year that record must surely be at risk in 2010?

REI/HSA Speed Championship. Round 5; Oliver's Mount
04/05/2009

This weekend saw the REI/HSA Speed Championship's first outing to it's most northern event; the challenging 1076 metre hill at Oliver’s Mount near Scarborough. Saturday's event, round 5 of the Championship, was the first of three days' hillclimbing which form the popular Oliver's Mount Festival of Speed weekend. Open to cars and bikes alike, the Festival attracts an eclectic mix of machinery from Frazer Nashs and Radicals to classic Nortons, full race motorbikes and sidecars.

We had hoped to see six of our competitors score, but sadly car troubles kept Barbara Fogden and Matt Carter at home, leaving Wil Ker, Ben Hamer, Kevin Hamilton and John Gallagher to compete. Luckily, the weather was perfect and all competitors enjoyed consistent improvements in their times.

With slick organisation managed by Auto 66 Club, the offer of six runs (two practice and four timed) represents excellent value for money. The MX-5s of Kevin Hamilton and John Gallagher swapped fastest times all day, with Kevin edging the win on his last Championship qualifying run. However, the most notable time of the day came from Wil Ker, in the turbo Mini, who managed to re-set the course class record (mod prod up to 1400), which had remained unbeaten since 2001.

For anyone who considered attending this event, but may not have been able to enter, don't forget HSA members are invited to other meetings at Oliver's Mount which are being held later in the year. See 'Invited Events' for more information.

THE STOLEN MARCH & LOLA
01/05/2009

News has just surfaced that the two cars have been recovered, the March untouched and the Lola dismantled but everything there. Nice to have a happy ending for a change!

REI/HSA Speed Championship. Rounds 3 & 4; Wiscombe Park
27/04/2009

Another weekend and yet another round of the Richard Egger Insurance/HSA Championship. In fact two rounds with the weekend of hillclimbing at Wiscombe Park. Track conditions started slippery on Saturday but improved with a dry and windy day, Sunday was generally better although interspersed with two light showers. Inevitably there were a few incidents and our John Bradshaw may be sidelined for several rounds following an off with his Striker.

Saturday and Matt Carter took his class award and set a new REI/HSA Championship class A2 record. Geoff Kershaw, Vincent Dubois and Neil Duncanson did the same in class C3, Geoff leading our pack and a class 2^nd on the day by just 0.21sec from Wiscombe icon Jonathan Williamson in this 911. Similarly the two Johns set a new standard in class W2 with their shared Ralt RT3.

Sunday and Geoff Kershaw again set a new standard in class C3 with Vincent snapping at his heals. Class W2 and the two Johns both broke Burton’s Saturday record and split by just 0.03sec!

Both days saw Dave Gardner split the overall honours with John Forsyth in their shared MP58.

GROVES’ PRESCOTT DOUBLE
26/04/2009

‘This is my best start to a season yet,’ said Martin Groves, after two straight wins at Prescott on Sunday raised his tally to three out of four in this year’s MCL Motorhomes British Hillclimb Championship. After trading hill records with him at Loton Park’s opening rounds a fortnight ago Groves’ main rival, defending champion Scott Moran, chased him home each time at Prescott. The Championship is already beginning to look like a two-horse race as the leading pair, split now by just two points, lead the third placed Deryk Young by a 14 point margin. However there are still 30 rounds to run and, as last year’s runner-up Groves demonstrated after his disastrous start to the 2008 season, anything can happen.

After a two-week break, the British Hillclimb circus heads north for the most hectic weekend of the series. Two rounds at Cumbria’s fast and picturesque Barbon Manor course on May 9^th are followed by a trip across the Pennines to Harewood, the longest hill in the Championship, for two more rounds the following day.

Full Prescott report in Speedscene 153.

Championship positions after rounds 3 & 4: 1 Martin Groves 40pts; 2 Scott Moran 38; 3 Deryk Young 24; 4 Chris Merrick 23; 5 Trevor Willis 22; 6 Jos Goodyear 21; etc.

Two historic cars stolen
20/04/2009

Bruce Fullerton has had a March 78B and Lola T460 Atlantic, which are campaigned in the HSCC Championship, stolen from a garage last week. He is trying to spread the word around the motor racing community to both get the cars back as well as avoiding someone buying car/spares which are stolen.

He is offering a £10,000 reward for info leading to their return as they are very prized cars which have been completely restored and are now used in competition.

Contacts:
e: brucef@wessextg.com
m: +44 (0) 7712 885 354
t: +44 (0) 8700 869 941

REI/HSA Speed Championship. Round 2; Gurston Down
19/04/2009

Multiple Midland Speed Champion Gary Thomas, driving his new Force-Suzuki, led a strong HSA contingent at Gurston Down on Saturday contesting round two of the Richard Egger Speed Championship on the opening day of the BARC Southwest Centre’s April double-header. After overcoming starter motor problems, Ralt-Vauxhall pairing John Burton and John Opie took second and third places in the racing class. Ed Bradshaw kept his bike powered Caterham clear of a 16-strong saloon and sportscar field as Neil Duncanson powered his Quattro through from fourth place to depose early runner-up Steven O’Leary’s Megablade.

Saturday’s FTD man James Blackmore in his diminutive OMS-Hayabusa came under fire the following day once the big V8s got into gear, defending Gurston Top Ten Champion Dave Gardner snatching top honours by just six hundredths from Pilbeam-DFZ co-driver John Forsyth after the duo had tied for the outright lead on the first runs. Although Sunday’s Gates Gurston Championship round wasn’t an HSA round, Association stalwart Fyrth Crosse had stayed on for the weekend and bagged the Historic class record in his ex.Mike Wilds Ensign from long-time holder Geoff Hunt as the local driver closed his Lotus 22 to within a hundredth of his old mark. With a time almost half a second inside Hunt’s record, Crosse also grabbed grab fourth place on the Gurston Championship table after this opening round.

A full report of both days’ motorsport will appear in Speedscene 153.

Regs for Debden 10th May & Bentwaters 17th May
15/04/2009

The regs for the meeting to be held Debden on May 10th can be downloaded here and those for Bentwaters Park on May 17th can be dowloaded here.
HSA members are invited.

HILL RECORD DUEL IN OPENING CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND
13/04/2009

Loton Park’s outright hill record fell twice in a superb MCL Motorhomes British Championship opener on Easter Monday. Top exponents Martin Groves and Scott Moran resumed their 2008 title battle, Groves drawing first blood to take the opening run-off of the season from his rival as he set the first new hill standard. Then in the second shoot-out, Moran (pictured) fought to relieve his opponent of the record by a further four hundredths, the battling duo ending the day on equal points at the head of the series table. Jos Goodyear bounced back from a big off on Cedar Straight during Saturday’s practice session to trade third and fourth places each time with an on-form Deryk Young as they tied for a championship third place.
Former double champion Adam Fleetwood made his comeback in the ex.Wallace Menzies supercharged DJ Firehawk-Hayabusa, demolishing the 2-litre class record and qualifying the car each time, scraping into the points in the first run-off before skating straight on at Hall on the second. On a day of records unprecedented at a Loton Park season opener, Dave Wilson scored a popular 2-litre ModProd sportscar win with the ‘Pink Peril’ Caterham-Vauxhall, carving over a second off Ash Mason’s previous class mark.

Full report and pictures in Speedscene 153.

Championship positions after rounds 1 and 2: 1= Scott Moran and Martin Groves 20pts; 3= Deryk Young and Jos Goodyear 15; 5 Chris Merrick 9; 6 Roger Moran 8; etc.

MGCC Curborough
08/04/2009

Following the 1st Championship event at Curborough, the Championship committee had the opportunity of talking to the MGCC reference the return of HSA "accepted" entries. The MGCC were and are most apologetic but explained that the restriction on numbers came long after the SR's were approved and published.

The MGCC realises that there were 16 very disappointed HSA members. As a gesture towards them and the HSA, they have offered guanteed places to these 16 drivers at their next Curborough event on Sunday August 2nd. Whilst it will not be a HSA Championship round, it does give another opportunity to compete at Curborough. Just put on your entry form "HSA competitor returned entry 5th April"

REI/HSA Speed Championship. Round 1; Curborough Double Lap
06/04/2009

Sunday 5^th April saw the opening round of the Richard Egger Insurance/HSA Speed Championship held in bright and dry, but cold conditions at Curborough organised by the MGCC. Overnight campers reported ice on the inside of their tents – Brave!

It was a 2 lap event so all Class winners were establishing HSA record times. 20 Championship contenders finally made the start line with Matt Clarke, running first, but on his own in the Class with a fine 1^st run at 71.23 secs. The Imp Class saw the Cairney father and son team battle with newcomer Graeme Williamson, father Stuart running out the eventual winner with a 70 dead, some 1.35 secs in front of son, Andrew.

Class A2.1, the Mazda MX5 class saw last year’s winner Barbara Fogden, with the 1590cc engine, battling with the larger 1840cc units of Kevin Hamilton and John Gallagher. Surprising extra competitor on the day was Robert Way since his normal 600cc Jedi had succumbed to fuel feed problems, so Rob used his entry for a day out. Robert led the day with 2 very fast drives and a best of 71.14 secs which compared favourably to the days Class winner John Gallagher at 72.56. Barbara was pleased with her 74.47 secs but needs a gate to stop engaging 5^th instead of 3^rdon her upshifts!!!

Class A2 saw Matt Carter at the wheel of the Honda S2000 stopping the clocks at 67.86 secs to beat the Lotus Elise of Jim Stevens and newcomer co-driver Farid Ahmed. With 2007 Champion John Bradshaw unfortunately a non starter Bob Gale's Westfield took the B2 with a quick 65.26 secs.

Unfortunately last year’s woes continued for the dual driven MG TF of Simon Andrews and Bernard Kevill in Class C2. The engine blew as Simon crossed the line on his first timed run. A cracked liner was the initial diagnosis.

Richard Colwill, on his own in the Class F Radical, did well to run under the magic minute achieving a best time of 59.68 secs. Five single seaters concluded the day all running in different Classes. Paul Tinsley 57.14, Chris Machell 59.62, Darren Gumbley running in new tyres at 61.58 and a storming FTD time of 54.64 for Paul Masters in the 998cc Jedi.

The next round sees competitors take to the hills for the first time this season and will take place at Gurston Down on the 18^th April. A healthy entry list is reported and weather permitting the early season pace-setters form should shine through.

Great Western Sprint - Castle Combe March 28th
04/04/2009

To Castle Combe for the first round of the 2009 British Sprint Championship. Organised by the Bristol Motor Club this was the second running of the event held over 1 3/4 laps of the fast Wiltshire circuit.

Terry Holmes (pictured) was in imperious form as he hurtled round Castle Combe in the blustery conditions; the Chichester Chippy in the blustery conditions in the blustery conditions, who last won a round of the Sprint Championship at Croft in 2004, just failed to grab a maximum when the gear linkage broke on his second run. Nick Algar was still acclimatising himself to the GR55 he acquired towards the end of 2008 qualifying third fastest but he hauled the Gould up into second spot whilst matching Holmes points tally. The Supercharged Hayabusa engined OMS of Steve Broughton was third and top of the highly competitive two litres.

Simon Bainbridge’s Audi TT Replica was once again the focus of attention in the paddock and on track. The twin-turbocharged four-wheel-drive beast was at home on the sweeps of Combe as the Yorkshireman rumbled up to seventh place. Peter Howgate had his customary good start to the season netting 4 points in the Rover K powered Ralt whilst class records, set in last year’s monsoon conditions, were falling on nearly every run.

Rd 1 SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship: Castle Combe

1 Terry Holmes (3.5 Lola-Judd/Connaught ERH) 117.44secs; 2 Nick Algar (3.5 Gould-NME GR55) 120.08secs; 3 Steve Broughton (1.4s OMS-Suzuki CF08) 121.31secs; 4 Kevin Lealan (2.0 Pilbeam-Vauxhall MP62) 125.09secs; 5 Mark Smith (2.0 Reynard-Vauxhall 903G) 125.34secs; 6 Graham Porrett (3.5 Lola-Judd/Connaught ERH) 126.27secs; 7 Simon Bainbridge (4.2t Audi TT Replica 4wd) 127.23secs; 8 Steve Miles (2.0 Van Diemen-Zetec RF96MM09) 129.33secs; 9 Phil Lynch (3.2 Ralt-Judd RT37) 129.76secs; 10 Jonathan Toulmin (1.1 Marengo-Suzuki 2) 136.91secs; 11 Peter Howgate (1.8 Ralt-Rover K RT30) 137.58secs; 12 Glyn Sketchley (1.6 Force-Suzuki PT1600) 138.42secs.

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Positions:

1= Terry Holmes & Nick Algar 13pts; 3 Steve Broughton 12pts; 4= Kevin Lealan & Mark Smith 10pts; etc

FTD: Terry Holmes 117.44secs – Outright Course Record

Class Winners - NB all setting new records: Rob Clarke (1.8 Lotus Elise 111S) 152.77secs; Tim Pollard (2.2 Vauxhall VX220) 157.87secs; Matt Nichols (2.0 Renault Megane R26) 154.46secs; Ian Parr (1.0 Sylva Riot) 148.49secs; Kevin Jones (3.0 Noble M12 GTO3) 143.17secs; Matthew Howell (1.4 Rover Mini) 151.83secs; Ian Beacham (2.0 Peugeot 205 GTi) 152.05secs; Grahame Harden (1.0 Westfield Megablade)

Class X Update
03/04/2009

The Championship Organising Committee, having considered the entries received so far and in accordance with the last paragraph of Item 4 in the published regulations have decided to re-instate Class X, for Classic Formula Ford cars built up to 31st December 1973, in the Championship.

HSA Members invited to more Curborough events
02/04/2009

For any members disappointed at not taking part in the Sprint at Curborough on April 5th they may be pleased to learn that they are invited to Curborough events run by both the Aston Martin Owners Club and BARC Midlands in 2009.

The two AMOC events are 3 lappers and two of the three BARC events are 2 lappers. Details can be found on the invited events page.

Ty Croes Sprint, Anglesey, 5th and 6th September 2009
01/04/2009

Great news for those of you looking to include the sprint at Anglesey in your Championship season; their entry list for Richard Egger competitors is still very much OPEN and they are keen to receive more entries. Just a reminder that cheques for the event will not be banked until the closing day in August and cancellations before the closing date are not penalised with a fee. Remember that this weekend sprint represents TWO rounds of the championship, so double points for one return journey. In addition to this, with the few who ran at the event last year, there will be many records up for grabs. The National Sprint Course of the Anglesey Circuit proves fast challenging competition with free camping. Reviews from last year's event report excellent facilities, not only for those going alone, but for those looking for an excuse for a weekend away with the family.

SRs & Entry Forms
31/03/2009

As it seems that few organisers will be sending out Supplementary Regs and Entry Forms this year we have added links to these documents on the Championship Calendar page.

Llys y Fran regs
30/03/2009

SRs for Llys y Fran on July 19th can be downloaded here, and the entry form here. You can also view the netry list as it builds up at the Swansea Motor Club web site.

http://www.swanmoco.co.uk/Entry%20Forms/july2009_provisional_entry_list.htm

BRITISH HILLCLIMB SEASON GETS INTO GEAR AT EASTER
29/03/2009

Loton Park on Easter Monday sees the start of this year’s 34-round MSA British Hillclimb Championship. The series is sponsored for the sixth successive time by Mike Endean, this year through his MCL Motorhomes company, and the event will see all 2008’s top contenders in action including former double champion Graeme Wight Jr in the charismatic Predator V10, who takes on a competitive field of big single-seaters headed by reigning title-holder Scott Moran, former triple champ Martin Groves and rising star Trevor Willis.

With his Rover V6 powered Pilbeam appearing at Loton in the hands of its new owner, Cornishman Mike Tregoning, former 2-litre ace Tom New gets his first taste of V8 power alongside Chris Merrick. His successor to the number 10 spot in the Championship, Paul Haimes in the Dallara, heads a strong 2-litre class which also sees the return of another former champion, Adam Fleetwood. The former hill record-holder will partner father Roger in the ex.Wallace Menzies supercharged DJ Firehawk-Suzuki.

Expect more fireworks as Will Hall, now with a bigger Hayabusa in his Force, takes on rapid Welshman Eynon Price and the rest in a competitive 1600 class. Driving his awesome 700bhp Puma-Gould, Endean himself will join the new Mallock-BDG of Chris and Ashley Ward among the sports libres. A good entry of classic racers is headed by defending UK Changes Midland Hillclimb Champion Peter Cox’s beefy Chevron-Rover, while Paul Matty Classic champ Richard Jones in his Brabham-BDA will come under fire from Simon Durling’s Brabham-Buick and HSA stalwart Alan Goodwin’s Aldon AL3 sportsracer in the pre-‘72 class.

With practice on Easter Sunday, April 12, the competitive action gets under way the following day after a final practice session starting at 9.00am

Curborough, 5th April
24/03/2009

It has been very unfortunate to hear today that some competitors have been unable to secure an entry to our opening round at Curborough on 5th April. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience and resulting frustration this might have caused. The MGCC had originally planned for this event to cater for 100 cars, but received in excess of (an overwhelming) 120 entries! We understand that the original oversubscriptions were returned even before the closing date had passed and at the weekend, the Clerk of the Course felt it untenable to run the double lapper with 100 cars, requesting that the entry be reduced to 80. A further 20 entries were therefore declined and this was done on a 'last in, first out' basis. Whilst this is understandably very disappointing for those competitors who had hoped to include the event in their 2009 Championship calendar, it does reinforce the need for entries to be submitted as early as possible. Competitors are once again advised not to wait for entry forms to arrive in the post; refer to Club websites for downloads or call the Competition Secretaries direct. In addition and as always, please do not hesitate to contact compsec@hillclimbandsprint.co.uk with any resulting queries.

ALDON AUTOMOTIVE BREAK IN
24/03/2009

On the night of Sunday 22/03/09 ALDON Automotive's premises were broken into and a number of items of value were stolen. These include:

RS2000 16v Race Engine (chain driven) - FWD engine converted to RWD (see photo right), with Throttle Bodies, dry sump, Mountune Head & Cams (large cam followers). It also has an Orange Cam Cover, an Aldon Inlet Manifold and a Steel Flywheel.

2 x Dry sump tanks, 1 x Fire Extinguisher, 1 x Air & Fuel Ratio Meter

4 wheel Brain James Trailer - 'A' series low slung trailer. 2 years old.

If anyone comes across any information regarding these items please contact Alan Goodwin, Aldon Automotive Ltd on 01384 572553. There will be a reward for any information leading to recovery.

Star of Stoneleigh!
14/03/2009

Judging by the number of admirers, questions and photos taken, the Star of Race Retro at Stoneleigh Park this week-end must have been HSA member Graham Boulter's beautiful self built KUDOS Coupe.

Featured on the Richard Egger Insurance stand by the entrance to Hall 1 there was always a crowd around the car and reading the fascinating history of it's inception (with a steam engine!)through to its current configuration.

Many thanks to Graham for exhibiting his car and and to all our members and friends who stopped by for a chat.

Competitor listing
03/03/2009

Apologies to all competitors who have registered during the last week, but who's names have not been uploaded to the competitor listing. This has been due to a technical problem and should be resolved very shortly. Registration cards, decals and badges will be sent out at the beginning of next week.

Harewood, August 1st
24/02/2009

For those competitors wishing to enter the Harewood event in August, please carry on in the normal way, but ensuring to note that you are competing in the Richard Egger Insurance/HSA Speed Championship 2009. The amendment to their regs has been lodged with the MSA and it will, as planned, continue to count as a Championship round.

Championship update
24/02/2009

Oliver''s Mount

For those competitors looking to enter the round at Oliver''s Mount, please do not hesitate to do so. The error in their regs will be amended to include our Championship in the event on May 2nd.

Cadwell

It is with great regret that Borough 19 have decided to cancel their annual sprint at Cadwell. Many apologies to those competitors who were looking forward to a great day''s sprinting there.

Further updates regarding Harewood and Curborough will follow as soon as any news is received. Once again, please direct queries via email rather than the public forum.

Many thanks

Entry forms and regulations
19/02/2009

No doubt eager competitors are now busy searching out entry forms and regulations in order not to miss out on competing at their favourite venues this season. PLEASE NOTE; the traditional awaiting the arrival of entry forms through your letter box is not the most reliable way of doing this. The majority of Clubs are now impressing upon Competitors that forms can be downloaded directly in order to save time, paper and postage. REI/HSA Competitors are therefore STRONGLY advised to either download forms and regulations from the organising Club's website (where applicable and able), or to contact the Club's Competition Secretary directly.

Llandow test day March 19th
12/02/2009

HSA members are invited to take part in an exclusive pre season test day at the Llandow circuit near Cardiff Airport on Thursday 19th March. Half and full day sessions are available at a discounted rate. More details can be found on the HSA General Forum.

NEW WEB SITE HERE!
11/02/2009

Welcome to the new look Hillclimb and Sprint Association web site, introduced to celebrate our 30th Anniversary year.

We have added a number of new features including simplified navigation, 'ask an expert', a competitors photo gallery and events and test days that members are invited to.

Please note that some of the page names have changed and so, if you try and use a bookmark from your favourites for one of these pages, you will automatically be taken back to the home page. If this happens you will need to use the navigation bar to find the page you want and then re-bookmark it.

MSA championship permit issued
10/02/2009

The MSA have issued permit number CHS2009/053 for the Richard Egger Insurance/HSA Speed Championship 2009 and final regulations can now be downloaded here;

http://www.hillclimbandsprint.co.uk/regs.asp

Unfortunately the Cadwell sprint scheduled for October has been cancelled, however alternative dates have been offered to all participating Championships and Clubs. News will be updated as soon as confirmation is received.

Championship regulations, registration cards, decals and badges will be forwarded to all registered Competitors during the first two weeks of March.

NEW WEB SITE COMING
02/02/2009

We are working on a 'new look' web site for the 2009 season and are hoping to launch in the next few weeks. It will have improved navigation, a fresh look and some new features. For technical reasons a number of pages will have different names so please be warned that some of your current bookmarks will no longer work. We appreciate that for our users any changes take a little time to get used to but we believe the effort will be worth it.

As a 'taster', one of the new features, ask an expert, where we will endeavour to answer any Hillclimbing or Sprinting related questions that members or potential members may wish to ask, is being introduced now.

INVITED EVENTS
17/01/2009

The HSA is delighted for it's members to be invited to a variety of events across the country throughout the 2009 Season. Please browse these at

http://www.hillclimbandsprint.co.uk/invited.asp

Rermember to keep checking back as the list is not yet exhaustive.

REGISTER FOR THE RICHARD EGGER INSURANCE/HSA SPEED CHAMPIONSHIP ONLINE
16/01/2009

Online registration is now LIVE!

HSA members wishing to compete in the 2009 Richard Egger Insurance/HSA Speed Championship may now register and pay their entry fees online by following the 'Register' link here. The registration fee has been held at £32 for 2009.

For members unable to complete registration online or who would prefer to register and enter by post, please contact the Championship Co-ordinator, Kathryn Blackburn who will forward the appropriate registration documentation. Contact details can be found in SPEEDSCENE or on the regulations page .

Online registration now LIVE!
16/01/2009

HSA members wishing to compete in the 2009 Richard Egger Insurance/HSA Speed Championship may now register and pay their entry fees on-line here. The registration fee has been held at £32 for 2009.

For members unable to complete registration online or who would prefer to register and enter by post, please contact the Championship Co-ordinator, Kathryn Blackburn who will forward the appropriate registration documentation. Contact details can be found in SPEEDSCENE or on the regulations page .

Online registration testing underway
15/01/2009

As previously announced online championship registration is to be available for the first time. The system is currently being checked for correct operation and functionality and also de-bugged. Once the system is up and running all Richard Egger Insurance/HSA Speed Championship entrants can register using this service.

More details to follow... once fault-free and ready to go 'live' an announcement, together with important information will be made. Check back soon!

Best Stand Award at Autosport 2009
12/01/2009

We are pleased to announce that "RICHARD EGGER INSURANCE WINS BEST NATIONAL MOTORSPORTS STAND" AT THE 2009 AUTOSPORT SHOW ".

Pictured are Fyrth Crosse, Paul Parker, Alan Terry and John Bradshaw on the stand with the award and Chris Bennett's Caterham.

Picture courtesy of Geoff Mayes Media

2009 Championship Calendar Update
09/01/2009

There are a couple of important updates to report for those competitors already planning their Championship calendar for 2009. Nottingham Sports Car Club have now confirmed our invitation to their MIRA sprint which will be held on August 8th. Although not finally confirmed, the Championship is also invited to their sprint at Thoresby Park on 12th September.

Unfortunately we have been advised by BARC (SE) that the annual Goodwood meeting in May has been postponed and regrettably the alternative date that has been offered clashes with the MAC MIRA sprint to be held on August 22nd. The traditional Goodwood event, therefore, will not form part of the Championship calendar for 2009.

However, it is hopeful that, for those of you still wishing to attend the ever popular Goodwood, HSA members will remain invited. A comprehensive list of this and other events to which members are invited during 2009 is currently being compiled and please look out for further announcements.

Autosport Show 2009
06/01/2009

A reminder that the HSA will be present the Autosport Show at the NEC at the end of this week on stand 7040 as guests of our championship sponsor, Richard Egger Insurance. Several members will be there each day, so do pop along for a chat whatever your interest - official, enthusiast, veteran competitor or completely new to the world of speed hill climbing and sprints we will be delighted to see you and be happy to provide up-to-date information and answer questions.

STOLEN MARCH & LOLA
05/01/2009

News has just surfaced that the two cars have been recovered, the March untouched and Lola dismantled but everything still there. How pleasant to have a good news story!

NEWS ARCHIVE

Latest News News Archive

2010 HSA Championship regs update 27/12/2009

Silverstone Stowe Circuit 16/12/2009

Classes for 2010 10/12/2009

John Gallagher receives the Aldon Trophy at Gaydon 08/12/2009

Spectacular calendar for 2010 HSA Richard Egger Insurance Speed Championship 07/12/2009

2010 Calender Taking Shape 01/12/2009

Official 2009 REI HSA Championship Awards List 24/11/2009

HSA Annual awards lunch 11/11/2009

Swansea MC offer entry fee discount 29/10/2009

BOB DAYSON 27/10/2009

ROY LANE 27/10/2009

The season in pictures! 26/10/2009

Speedscene Issue 155 23/10/2009

Llys y Fran Hill Climb Improvements 22/10/2009

ROY LANE 14/10/2009

BOB DAYSON 12/10/2009

HENSON’S WIN – GALLAGHER’S TITLE 11/10/2009

Successful Curborough Sprint Course Repairs 09/10/2009

CRYSTAL PALACE 2010 08/10/2009

Final documents for HSA Curborough event on October 11th 08/10/2009

AMBITION FULFILLED 27/09/2009

Notice of Annual General Meeting 24/09/2009

The HSA Sprint at Curborough on October 11th 23/09/2009

Championship Finale - Curborough Sprint 11/10/09 22/09/2009

Richard Egger Insurance for the HSA 22/09/2009

Bo'ness Hill Climb Revival 2009 14/09/2009

Algar sets the pace 09/09/2009

TWO MORE FOR TREVOR 06/09/2009

REI/HSA Speed Championship, Round 18: Gurston Down 29th/30th August 2009 31/08/2009

TWO IN A ROW FOR SCOTT 30/08/2009

REI/HSA Speed Championship. Round 17: MIRA 22/08/2009

MORANS’ CLEAN SWEEP 16/08/2009

London Irish MC: Lydden Sprint - 15th&16th August 13/08/2009

FINTRAY HILL RECORD FALLS AFTER 20 YEARS 12/08/2009

GROVES ENDS BRITISH HILLCLIMB TITLE BID 11/08/2009

HILLCLIMB MINI IN THE WIND TUNNEL 11/08/2009

WILLIS STARS, BUT MORAN EXTENDS HIS LEAD AS GROVES NON-STARTS IN ULSTER 01/08/2009

Thoresby regs available for download 01/08/2009

Motorsport Insurance discounts for HSA competitors and members 29/07/2009

WILLIS’S WISCOMBE WINNER 26/07/2009

HSA Curborough Oct 11th Regs 24/07/2009

Llys y Fran July 19th 21/07/2009

TIGHT AT THE TOP 20/07/2009

Successful Curborough Sprint Course Repairs 10/07/2009

Kevin Hamilton's excellent blog 06/07/2009

DUEL IN THE SUN 05/07/2009

WILLIS SETS PRESCOTT PACE 30/06/2009

Round 9: Prescott Midsummer Speed Fest 30/06/2009

Something different..... 24/06/2009

Borough 19 regs for Debden & Hethel 23/06/2009

Lydden Regs August 15/16 23/06/2009

MORAN AND GROVES ON RECORD FORM AGAIN 21/06/2009

Sean McClurg at Castle Combe 15/06/2009

Llandow regs July 18th 15/06/2009

TWO MORE FOR MORAN 14/06/2009

Wet Graham Hill Trophy Sprint doesn't deter REI/HSA competitors 11/06/2009

HSA Members invited to Scimitar Owners Club Curborough August 16 11/06/2009

Entry lists published 10/06/2009

MORAN BACK ON TOP 31/05/2009

Championship decals 27/05/2009

GROVES AND MORAN SHARE GURSTON HONOURS 24/05/2009

Scoring amendments 20/05/2009

HSA membership renewals 17/05/2009

TONY MARSH 16/05/2009

WET WEEKEND FOR BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIP CHASERS 11/05/2009

TONY MARSH 08/05/2009

ALLAN STANIFORTH 06/05/2009

Shelsley Walsh May 4th 05/05/2009

WERRINGTON PARK 2nd & 3rd MAY 05/05/2009

REI/HSA Speed Championship. Round 5; Oliver's Mount 04/05/2009

THE STOLEN MARCH & LOLA 01/05/2009

REI/HSA Speed Championship. Rounds 3 & 4; Wiscombe Park 27/04/2009

GROVES’ PRESCOTT DOUBLE 26/04/2009

Two historic cars stolen 20/04/2009

REI/HSA Speed Championship. Round 2; Gurston Down 19/04/2009

Regs for Debden 10th May & Bentwaters 17th May 15/04/2009

HILL RECORD DUEL IN OPENING CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 13/04/2009

MGCC Curborough 08/04/2009

2010 HSA Championship regs update
27/12/2009

Silverstone Stowe Circuit
16/12/2009

Classes for 2010
10/12/2009

John Gallagher receives the Aldon Trophy at Gaydon
08/12/2009

Spectacular calendar for 2010 HSA Richard Egger Insurance Speed Championship
07/12/2009

2010 Calender Taking Shape
01/12/2009

Official 2009 REI HSA Championship Awards List
24/11/2009

HSA Annual awards lunch
11/11/2009

Swansea MC offer entry fee discount
29/10/2009

BOB DAYSON
27/10/2009

ROY LANE
27/10/2009

The season in pictures!
26/10/2009

Speedscene Issue 155
23/10/2009

Llys y Fran Hill Climb Improvements
22/10/2009

ROY LANE
14/10/2009

BOB DAYSON
12/10/2009

HENSON’S WIN – GALLAGHER’S TITLE
11/10/2009

Successful Curborough Sprint Course Repairs
09/10/2009

CRYSTAL PALACE 2010
08/10/2009

Final documents for HSA Curborough event on October 11th
08/10/2009

AMBITION FULFILLED
27/09/2009

Notice of Annual General Meeting
24/09/2009

The HSA Sprint at Curborough on October 11th
23/09/2009

Championship Finale - Curborough Sprint 11/10/09
22/09/2009

Richard Egger Insurance for the HSA
22/09/2009

Bo'ness Hill Climb Revival 2009
14/09/2009

Algar sets the pace
09/09/2009

TWO MORE FOR TREVOR
06/09/2009

REI/HSA Speed Championship, Round 18: Gurston Down 29th/30th August 2009
31/08/2009

TWO IN A ROW FOR SCOTT
30/08/2009

REI/HSA Speed Championship. Round 17: MIRA
22/08/2009

MORANS’ CLEAN SWEEP
16/08/2009

London Irish MC: Lydden Sprint - 15th&16th August
13/08/2009

FINTRAY HILL RECORD FALLS AFTER 20 YEARS
12/08/2009

GROVES ENDS BRITISH HILLCLIMB TITLE BID
11/08/2009

HILLCLIMB MINI IN THE WIND TUNNEL
11/08/2009

WILLIS STARS, BUT MORAN EXTENDS HIS LEAD AS GROVES NON-STARTS IN ULSTER
01/08/2009

Thoresby regs available for download
01/08/2009

Motorsport Insurance discounts for HSA competitors and members
29/07/2009

WILLIS’S WISCOMBE WINNER
26/07/2009

HSA Curborough Oct 11th Regs
24/07/2009

Llys y Fran July 19th
21/07/2009

TIGHT AT THE TOP
20/07/2009

Successful Curborough Sprint Course Repairs
10/07/2009

Kevin Hamilton's excellent blog
06/07/2009

DUEL IN THE SUN
05/07/2009

WILLIS SETS PRESCOTT PACE
30/06/2009

Round 9: Prescott Midsummer Speed Fest
30/06/2009

Something different.....
24/06/2009

Borough 19 regs for Debden & Hethel
23/06/2009

Lydden Regs August 15/16
23/06/2009

MORAN AND GROVES ON RECORD FORM AGAIN
21/06/2009

Sean McClurg at Castle Combe
15/06/2009

Llandow regs July 18th
15/06/2009

TWO MORE FOR MORAN
14/06/2009

Wet Graham Hill Trophy Sprint doesn't deter REI/HSA competitors
11/06/2009

HSA Members invited to Scimitar Owners Club Curborough August 16
11/06/2009

Entry lists published
10/06/2009

MORAN BACK ON TOP
31/05/2009

Championship decals
27/05/2009

GROVES AND MORAN SHARE GURSTON HONOURS
24/05/2009

Scoring amendments
20/05/2009

HSA membership renewals
17/05/2009

TONY MARSH
16/05/2009

WET WEEKEND FOR BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIP CHASERS
11/05/2009

TONY MARSH
08/05/2009

ALLAN STANIFORTH
06/05/2009

Shelsley Walsh May 4th
05/05/2009

WERRINGTON PARK 2nd & 3rd MAY
05/05/2009

REI/HSA Speed Championship. Round 5; Oliver's Mount
04/05/2009

THE STOLEN MARCH & LOLA
01/05/2009

REI/HSA Speed Championship. Rounds 3 & 4; Wiscombe Park
27/04/2009

GROVES’ PRESCOTT DOUBLE
26/04/2009

Two historic cars stolen
20/04/2009

REI/HSA Speed Championship. Round 2; Gurston Down
19/04/2009

Regs for Debden 10th May & Bentwaters 17th May
15/04/2009

HILL RECORD DUEL IN OPENING CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND
13/04/2009

MGCC Curborough
08/04/2009

REI/HSA Speed Championship. Round 1; Curborough Double Lap
06/04/2009

Great Western Sprint - Castle Combe March 28th
04/04/2009