The Midland Automobile Club has announced a capacity entry for its first British Hill Climb Championship event of the season, to be staged at Shelsley Walsh, near Worcester, at the weekend. (6/7th June)
Young local driver Alex Summers, from Tenbury Wells, currently leads the points table on 70 having won both run-offs at the recent Gurston Down meeting, tying with Scott Moran for maximum points on the first run-off, then beating the reigning champion - with whom he shares the Gould GR61X racing car - on the final run.
As all of the top drivers and cars from across the country head to Shelsley Walsh, Moran lies jointly in second place overall together with 2012 champion Trevor Willis, of Worcester, both on 58 points, followed by Midlands driver Will Hall on 46 and Scottish driver Wallace Menzies on 37 points.
Five times champion Scott Moran commented: "Alex is really getting to grips with the car, which although now being ten years old, is well prepared and obviously perfectly suited to the job, so we are both looking forward to the challenge of our next appearance at Shelsley Walsh."
Twenty five cars are entered into classes for road-going production cars including record holders Sarah Bosworth, of Sheffield, in a Lotus Elise and Roy Standley, of Leamington Spa, in a Mitsubishi Evo 5RS.
Caterhams and Westfields form the major part of nearly 20 cars entered into the specialist production car class, while current Midland Hill Climb Champion, Mike Turpin, of Hereford, continues the defence of his title with his highly successful Vauxhall VX220 in the modified production car class.
Always popular with spectators at the iconic venue are a dozen entrants with cars eligible as pre and post war "Shelsley Specials‟ featuring David Leigh, of Rugeley and Martin Spencer, of Dudley, with their highly original GN Spiders.
The sports libre and supersports classes sees veteran driver Charles Williams of Claverley in an OMS, up against newcomer Thomas Grantham-Wright of Wolverhampton in his Brytec Bullet, being shared for this event by son and promising young driver Henry Grantham-Wright. However, it could well be former Midland champion Rob Stevens showing the way as usual in his Force SR4.
The single-seater racing car classes go from strength to strength with yet again nearly 30 cars entered into the 1100cc class, with many new drivers and highly competitive seasoned drivers sharing machines, thereby putting greater pressure on co-drivers, with Chris Aspinall in the very technical and aerodynamic F1-inspired Empire Wraith going well this season.
Other crowd-pleasing classes include racing cars manufactured between 1972 and 1985 and those made between 1986 to 1992, featuring famous names such as Pilbeam, Brabham, Lola and Chevron.
Adding a splash of colour - mainly red - to the proceedings will be ten cars entered into the Ferrari Hill Climb Championship, together with a wide selection of other diverse competitors and their cars, ranging from Mike Mohr of Wolverhampton in his much-campaigned Turner sports car, to Scottish journalist David Finlay competing in the latest futuristic BMW i8 electric car.
Billed as the „Best of British‟ event, practice and qualifying for all drivers takes place on Saturday starting at 9.15am while timed competition runs in programme order with full commentary take place on Sunday. A run-off for the fastest twelve cars vying for points in the British championship takes place at the end of both morning and afternoon sessions on Sunday.
Tickets are available on the gate, at £12.00 for Saturday and £15.00 for Sunday admitting you to the Paddock and seated enclosures. Children under 16 are free. Programmes are available on the day at £3.00
