MSA British Hillclimb Championship

Nicholson McLaren Aviation MSA British Hillclimb Championship

Rounds 27 & 28 - August 23rd & 24th - Gurston Down, near Salisbury, Wiltshire

Second place in round 28 was enough to secure Scott Moran's first ever MSA British Hillclimb Championship. Even though Moran (pictured left) did not win either run-off he gathered sufficient points to prevent Martin Groves from catching him with six rounds remaining in the final three events of 2008.

Having won the first run-off, Groves' three-year reign as champion was ended when he was unable to start round 28 after his co-driver Paul Ranson suffered gearbox failure. Moran had only managed a fifth place in the earlier round 27 and Groves' win prolonged the agony a little further for both drivers but his non start delivered the opportunity for Moran who duly delivered.

Fastest Time of the Day and Man of the Meeting went to Prodrive WRC electrical engineer Jos Goodyear who overcame a crash when almost certain of a round 27 win. After some great work by his team he managed to get the result he has been threatening all season with what was only his second ever championship run-off win.

Trevor Willis continued his consistent season by taking third and fifth place. His fourteen points puts him only three behind Groves and second place may yet be a possibility.

Round 27

1 Martin Groves (3.5 Gould-NME GR55) 27.41s; 2 Roger Moran (3.5 Gould-NME GR61) 27.51s; 3 Trevor Willis (2.8 OMS-Powertec) 28.87s; 4 Basil Pitt (2.8 Gould-NME GR55) 28.99s; 5 Scott Moran (3.5 Gould-NME GR61) 29.30s; 6 Chris Merrick (4.0 Gould-Judd EV GR55) 30.97s; 7 Deryk Young (4.0 Gould-Judd GR51B) 33.21s; 8 Tom New (2.0 Pilbeam-Rover KV6 MP88) 34.76s; 9 Alastair Crawford (3.5 Gould-Cosworth GR37) 38.04s; Paul Ranson (3.5 Gould-NME GR55) Fail; Paul Haimes (2.0 Dallara-Opel F301) Fail; Jos Goodyear (4.0 Pilbeam-Judd MP97) Fail.

Round 28

1 Goodyear 26.47s Best Time of the Day; 2 Scott Moran 26.88s; 3 Merrick 26.98s; 4 Roger Moran 27.05s; 5 Willis 27.11s; 6 Young 27.64s; 7 Pitt 28.32s; 8 Crawford 29.38s; Haimes 29.67s; Ranson Fail; Groves did not start; William Mason (2.0 Reynard Connaught-Peugeot) DNS.


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