Longest-running motor sport series in the world visits venues all over the UK including Jersey, Guernsey and Northern IrelandFour-time champion Scott Moran returns to defend 2013 crownBritish Automobile Racing Club (BARC) enters third year of championship promotion
The Avon Tyres/TTC Group MSA British Hillclimb Championship is the longest-running motor sport championship in the world – entering its 67th year in 2014 – and as part of a bumper 17-round schedule, the series will visit no fewer than 11 of the UK’s premier hillclimb venues between April and September.Kicking off proceedings at Prescott Hillclimb near Cheltenham this weekend (26/27 April), the British Automobile Racing Club-run series will embark upon a country-wide tour that includes BARC South West’s award-winning Gurston Down, the oldest motor sport venue in the country Shelsley Walsh, the ‘King of the Hills’ at Doune near Stirling and the closed roads of the Channel Islands and Northern Ireland.The impressive field of ferocious cars will be headed up by reigning four-time champion Scott Moran. The Ludlow-based driver returns to defend his crown behind the wheel of his V8-powered Gould GR61X, and there will be a huge variety of drivers and cars chasing him down.It is a fascinating time for the British Hillclimb Championship, as the established competition is being challenged by a new breed of car. Last year, Moran took his well-developed 3.5-litre NME-powered Gould single-seater to a decisive victory over the 2012 champion Trevor Willis in his OMS 3.2-litre Powertec, but as trends shift towards smaller, lighter cars with forced-induction engines, it is likely the old guard won’t have things their own way for long.Indeed, the star of last year was Alex Summers, who used a small supercharged engine and much lighter chassis to take the fight to the bigger cars. Summers finished fourth overall in his 1.3-litre supercharged DJ Firehawk and won the Avon Tyres/TTC Group MSA Hillclimb Leaders Championship, a class-based series that runs alongside the main championship. All of these leading competitors will return to do battle once more in 2014, with more young guns sure to make an impact as the season goes on.A significant number of motorcycle engine-powered cars, boosted by turbochargers or superchargers, are expected to join the challenge this year as, in the right hands, they have proved capable of beating the more powerful V8-engined cars.There’s even more added excitement this year, as contenders will be vying for qualification into the FIA Hillclimb Masters series. This new international event will bring together the best hillclimb protagonists from around Europe to compete against each other at a special event in Luxembourg in October.Alongside the main hillclimb class will also be the Avon Tyres/TTC Group MSA Hillclimb Leaders Championship – a series that adds huge variety to the British Hillclimb Championship bill as it is open to all types of cars, from road-going saloons and sportscars to purpose-built sports racers and single-seater racing cars.
