Save the Best for Last

Rounds 9 and 10 of the Avon Tyres TTC Group MSA British Hillclimb and Hillclimb Leaders Championships took place today at Shelsley Walsh in Worcestershire.

Sports racing car protagonists Charles Williams and co-driver Tim Cross had an excellent weekend with both drivers dipping into the 30's this weekend in their recently acquired OMS SC1. Charles had the upper hand with a time of 30.21 set in the afternoon runs and Tim finished the day on 30.97 seconds, again set during the afternoon. Both drivers are thoroughly enjoying driving the car and are looking forward to competing at Prescott later in the month

Only two OMS drivers upheld honours for the marque in racing cars up to 1100cc: Simon Andrews driving the OMS 2000M he shares with Bernard Kevill. The pair had an extremely successful weekend with both setting personal best times at Shelsley. Simons' time of 27.93 placed him 4th overall in the class and Bernard sliced a huge chunk of time from his previous PB, resetting it at 28.56 seconds.

The usual OMS drivers featured in the class for racing cars up to 1600cc. Lee Griffiths in his OMS25 ran consistently in the 28's although having spoken with Steve Owen, Lee will investigate the car’s mapping before the next meeting to see if more speed can be found.

Mark Goodyear shared his 1300cc OMS Hornet with Steve Owen; both drivers pushing the car relentlessly all weekend. During the morning timed runs Steve had the upper hand 27.98 to 28.32 seconds from Mark. In the afternoon the tables were turned when Steve missed a gear change between Kennel and Crossing bends, leaving him 10mph down at 96 mph to Marks Esses approach speed of 106mph. Mark's time of 27.49 was good enough to beat Steve and place the smallest capacity car in class in 6th overall to score a Leaders Championship class point.

The final OMS driver in this class was airline pilot James Blackmore with his 1600cc OMS 25. James had another fabulous weekend at Shelsley; lowering still further the PB he set just last month. During morning class runs James time of 26.16 was not only his new PB, but also a fast enough time to qualify him for the Avon Tyres TTC Group MSA British Hillclimb Championship top 12 run off. This was a pretty impressive feat for a 1600cc car at a Shelsley Walsh British Championship meeting, especially when enjoying warm dry weather as we did today. These coveted places are usually the domain of the unlimited capacity single seater cars here at Shelsley.

And saving the best for last was Trevor Willis in his OMS 28 V8. His breathtakingly quick climbs on this historic hill wowed the crowds and gave him a brace of 2nd places: one in each of the British Hillclimb Top 12 run offs. Despite being 20mph down on terminal speed to fellow competitors at the finish line (which will clearly have hampered him on the long drag from Top Esse to the finish) he still managed to defend his run off position from the more powerful cars that are significantly faster in a straight line. Trevor’s fastest time of the weekend was a 23.59 in the second of the run offs, which also gave him second fastest time of day at the meeting.

Well done to all the OMS Drivers today.

To view results from today's meeting click here and for the latest championship positions click here.

Date: 2/06/2013 | Author: L.Owen