Shelsley Walsh 2009 starts with the May Midlander*
The real Motor Sport season of 2009 gets underway on May 3^rd & 4^th when speed hill climb action returns to the world famous Shelsley Walsh speed hillclimb in Worcestershire with the May Midlander meeting. In this two-day meeting there is a round of the UK Changes Midland Hill Climb Championship, the Richard Egger Insurance/HSA Speed Championship (The Hillclimb & Sprint Association) and the Paul Matty Sports Cars Lotus Championship.
*Note that this event takes place on the Sunday and Bank **Holiday** Monday, with practice on Sunday and the event on Monday. *
With 170 entrants the classes are packed with highly competitive car and driver combinations. In the heavily subscribed 1100 to 1600cc single seater class is Will Hall in his Force PC Suzuki who is expected to be the front-runner and who was a sensation in 2008 scoring championship points in the British Hillclimb Championship against cars with much larger and more powerful engines. This season he is back with a bigger and more powerful Mistral Suzuki engine and recently shattered the class record at the MAC’s Curborough sprint by the considerable margin of 1.42 seconds.
The 2-litre racing car class has Ash Mason and Steven Day the boss of Midland Championship sponsors UK Changes who are driving their Pilbeam MP 62 Vauxhall. Also in what may prove to be a most competitive class are Andrew Platt in his Dallara and Tony Hunt in his rip-roaring supercharged Force PC with the ever competitive OMS Constructor Steve Owen sharing their 2008 OMS with wife Lynne.
Last years UK Changes Midland Champion Peter Cox will be competing in his classic 5 litre Chevron B42. The unlimited capacity single seater class should see the front runners for Best Time of Day (BTD) amongst its ranks and three of the most powerful cars in speed hill climbing are entered. These are the two Goulds of husband and wife car sharers Deryk and Sue Young, veteran Rob Turnbull with an ex F1 Cosworth engine in his Gould and Jos Goodyear driving the phenomenally powerful Pilbeam-Judd with full traction control and paddle shift gearbox.
Perhaps the favourite should be Trevor Willis in the small but nimble OMS with Suzuki Hayabusa derived Powertec V8 engine. Trevor was third in the 2008 British Hill Climb Championship in this car and he never fails to impress on the tight and incredibly steep confines of the historic Worcestershire Hill.
Why not plan to make it a date and attend every Shelsley event in 2009? Shelsley Walsh is AA signposted approximately 10 miles North West of Worcester. Practice starts at 9:30 am on Sunday and the event starts at 9:30 am on Bank Holiday Monday. Admission is £10 on practice day, £14 on event day and accompanied children under 16 get in free.
This includes parking, transfer to the paddock, and seated trackside enclosures. Excellent catering and light refreshment/bar facilities are available as are a range of souvenirs and regalia.
