Times They Are A -Changin?

Or so it would seem for OMS constructor Steve Owen, following the performance of the new OMS 28 at Shelsley Walsh Hill Climb over the weekend. On only the second outing for the new car following its first appearance at the British Championship event at Harewood Hillclimb in July where it was hampered by electrical teething problems, Steve and Lynn immediately settled into the car posting respectable times during Saturday's practice session.

With the event benefitting from unexpected good weather, conditions were perfect to push the car and test the new aero package and chassis design. Lynn's best time of 27.73 was a 1/10th second shy of her personal best time at the venue. Whilst Steve's time of 25.77 seconds gave him a full 1/2 second improvement over his previous personal best time. This time placed Steve 3rd in class behind British number 4 driver Jos Goodyear in the Raptor and 2/10ths behind Dave Uren in the highly developed Force. British number 10 driver Richard Spedding finished in 4th place and the second Raptor in the hands of Steve Day 5th in class. A very promising start for the new design and with further developments in the pipeline to improve the car, personal best times should continue to fall.

The OMS 28 design builds on the experience of the OMS 25 chassis, maximising the knowledge gained through developing that car to win the British Hillclimb Championship in 2012. Of the first batch of 5 new chassis built during the winter months all are now sold. Two are currently competing, the first in the hands of Trevor Willis with the Powertec V8 engine and the Steve/Lynn Owen car powered by a 1600cc Hayabusa engine. Neville Rollason and Craig Bates placed an order for their OMS 28 last year, but due to business commitments have taken a year out this season. The fourth chassis is about to be shipped to a customer in Australia and chassis number 5 has been orderd by Simon Andrews and Bernard Kevill who will be running their car with an 1100cc power unit next season.

Although Simon and Bernard have ordered a new car, they are still squeezing personal best times from their OMS 2000M. Bernard ran in the 28's and set a new PB at 28.47 seconds, finishing 9th from 16 competitors in the hotly contested 1100cc racing car class. Simon's new PB of 27.35 secured him 5th in class; with one second covering the first 5 cars.

Lee Griffiths is knocking at the door of a 26 second run in his 1600cc OMS 25; finishing on 27.09 seconds. Mike Fitzsimons shared the 1300cc OMS Hornet of Anne and Mark Goodyear; this is Mikes' third drive this season in as many cars. The trio of OMS cars in racing cars up to 2000cc class all ran in the 27's with Andy McBeath coming out on top at 27.38 seconds, Tim Elmer finished on 27.64 whilst his co-driver Ian Fidoe posted 27.93 seconds.

Trevor Willis had a tough weekend at the power hill, always down on terminal speed to the big V8 engines. In the first of the two Avon Tyres/TTC Group MSA British Hillclimb Championship run offs Trevor finished 4th with Wallace Menzies taking the win and Scott Moran in second place. Run off two saw Trevor tie for 2nd place with Wallace, whilst Scott took the win. The speed difference at the finish line is the biggest disadvantage with championship rival Scott Moran crossing the line at 140mph, Wallace Menzies at 150mph and Trevor at 131mph. This is where the time is lost despite Trevor's best efforts on the challenging section of the hill through Crossing and the Esses, where he is able to match these cars to the Esses split.

Scott snatched the Championship point’s advantage back from Trevor at Shelsley Walsh and with the next round at Gurston Down another power hill; unless the weather intervenes it could well be a repeat result for Trevor?

To view class times click here.

To view the British Hillclimb Championship results table click here.

Date: 19/08/2013 | Author: L.Owen