The First Time - Shelsley Walsh

Whilst a few drivers made the journey to Ireland for the British Hillclimb Championship rounds on the weekend of 3rd and 4th May many chose to compete at Shelsley Walsh; the second round of The Midland Hill Climb Championship at Shelsley Walsh.

Saturday practice started on a dry but slippery track. An incident during morning practice brought the lunch break forward to allow the marshals and officials to prepare the hill for a restart at 2.00pm. Unfortunately the rain that had been forecast for later that afternoon arrived early, leaving many drivers to take both of their practice runs in wet or damp conditions.

First time visitors to Shelsley were two of the the three Maltese OMS car owners Adam Bugeja and Fabio Baldacchino. They had travelled to the UK with a friend who was running at the event Zach Zammat. It was good to meet the guys and hear about the mods they have done to their cars adapting them for the less than smooth road venues they run in Malta.

Torrential overnight rain brought a very grey, wet morning. The start of the event was delayed due to a total power failure that resulted in all the computers going down. This could possibly be the reason why Resultsman was unable to display the live run times which are usually available for those following at home. Class positions and times given in this report are all unofficial and based on the paddock clock display.

As the morning progressed the track began to dry so later runners had the better track conditions. There were a number of minor incidents as drivers were caught out by the tricky conditions. Qualification for the first of the two BMTR Top Ten Challenge rounds only drew runners from the racing car classes. Fastest qualifier was Simon Moyse on 27.88 seconds. Five OMS drivers qualified George Brown 1137T, Andy McBeath 1300S, Lee Griffiths 1300T, Steve Owen 1600 and Neville Rollason 1300S. Unfortunately Lee was unable to take his run due to a mechanical problem and retired from the meeting. Steve Owen finished equal second with Simon Moyse in the supercharged 2 litre Gould.

Nev Rollason put in a superb climb to take the win, the first time he has ever won a run off and to do it at Shelsley Walsh will be a very special memory. When he returned to the paddock his grin said it all, he was absolutely delighted. Congratulations Nev.

Early afternoon classes were once again blighted by a sharp rain shower during lunch with the track drying quickly, but not enough for the early runners. Simon Andrews was fortunate that by the time the 1100cc racers went out it was dry and he improved on his morning time to snatch second in class and qualify for the second run off. Harry Pick in the 600cc Hornet was grouped in with the 1100cc cars. He too improved in the afternoon and finished well up in what was the largest class at the meeting with 17 runners. Other OMS runners in class were Mark Goodyear in the Hornet who finished fourth and Derek Sweeney in a 2000M.

Tina Hawkes was leading the 1600cc class after the morning runs with Steve Owen in second, following a wrong gear selection in the Esses. He managed to snatch the win away from Tina by the narrowest of margins on his afternoon run finishing on 27.51 to Tina's 27.53 second climb, with both drivers qualifying for the second run off.

Nev finished second to Simon Moyse in the 2.0 Ltr racing car class: Simon's best was a 26.80 and Nev's a 27.35 Andy McBeath finished fourth on 28.60 whilst Lee had to settle for his first run time of 29.84 that placed him fifth in the class.

Again five OMS cars qualified for the second of the day's Midland Hill Climb Championship Top Ten Run Offs. On this occasion Simon Andrews in the 1100cc OMS 28 joined the party. Steve Owen once again finished second overall with Nev finishing in equal fifth place, George seventh and Simon in eighth spot. Andy McBeath unfortunately had a failed run when his rear suspension suffered a breakage whilst in the Esses, where he came to a halt and was moved into the holding slot until the run off was over.

At the prize presentation Steve Owen was named Midland Hill Climb Championship Man of The Meeting. Simon Moyse took fastest time of day and the second run off was won by a delighted John Chalmers.

There are currently no times or splits available on Resultsman. To view results once they have been posted visit the Shelsley Walsh website by clicking here.

Unofficial Times for Run Off One

Unofficial Times for Run Off Two

Date: 4/05/2015 | Author: L.Owen