SPEED HILLCLIMBS

If you want to see formula one style cars in action without the hassle of everything you now find at a Grand Prix - from wire fences to guard dogs - take a look at the next major Hill climb or national Sprint event near you.

This is a truly ancient form of motor sport and since the last few years of the 1800s “speed trials” as they were known back before the last war - have gone on all over Britain with very little fuss, few bouts of temper or pointing fingers but heaps of enjoyment for competitors and spectators alike.

For many years it was a BIG sport. In the days when there was only Brooklands to race at the major hillclimb events at Shelsley Walsh ( oldest motor sport event still going anywhere in the world) were of national importance - indeed even the great Hans Stuck sr. appeared there twice,latterly in a factory AUTO UNION. Breaking the hill record was a serious business and in the 1930’s the BBC broadcasted live over the new-fangled wireless as works ERAs and AUSTINs ,MGs and FRAZER NASHs blasted up the 1000 yard incline, between the high banks, hedges, fences and trees.

Biggest name of the day was Raymond Mays who was fastest at most of the meetings between the late 20s and late 40’s - always with exotic machinery such as Bugatti or (left) ERA .Thankfully the hill at Shelsley is practically untouched in layout since the pre world war 1 days, only the surface and safety features have been improved. If you stood where the photograph was taken today, it would look very much the same, bar a few less trees on the inside of the corner. The sence of history is powerful and at the annual vintage event,the very same ERA still blasts by with that wonderful roaring engine and whining supercharger.

Untill the arrival (post war) of Silverstone and Goodwood, the sport remained very important but once road racing got fully into it’s stride it settled back into a very sporting type of sport, out of the spotlight but still very popular with those in the know.Today it is booming quietly - if that makes sense! The number of competitors climbs and the number of top class cars with their 600bhp ex Grand Prix engines creeps higher. Some events pack in a good crowd, notabley Shelsley, but for a spectacle it is perhaps one of the best kept secrets in british sport!

If the leading edge of the sport is akin to a Grand Prix car,then the classes below this cater for most things you could seriously want to compete with from humble Mini Cooper via Caterham and Westfield, Morgan and Porsche to sports racer or tiny motorcycle engined racing car. Variety like this means every runner is of some interest to the spectator and with runs normally lasting between 30 and 50 seconds, there is little time to get bored.

I have done a bit of hillclimbing in the past with (blush) some success and it's surprising how the time your are sat in the car at the event has no effect on the perception of it as a good day's sport afterwards. Wether it was a 27 second dash up the old Ragley Hall climb( which I did in a V8 engined Escort and later a road going Mazda 4x4) or a near 80 second run at a sprint like Colerne (where I ran Rover, Escort and a Kawasaki powered single seater -see right) makes no difference - an event is an event and if your are lucky,a trophy is a trophy whether it's for one of these events or a 24 hour race. It really is great fun if you win!

Luckily the rules are loose enought to allow considerable imagination on the part of the home-tuner or special builder. So long as it complies to the correct safety criteria for the class and the engine is the correct size it's up to you to make the best of what ever car you have.

GOODWOOD - BIGGEST EVENT,SLIGHTEST HILL!

It’s ironic that the recent GOODWOOD FESTIVAL OF SPEED should have become the biggest hillclimb event in the country when the “hill” itself is about the most gentle incline imaginable. It’s an oddball event in which some of the cars are actuallyu competing, others are just being demonstarted. The result is not really important but the atmosphere certainly is. It’s unique as an event and boasts the most remarkable collection of historic racing cars you are ever likely to see and the most unlikely devices for hillclimbing! Classic example must be the Indy roadsters which ran in 1998 and boasted gearing for sppeds over 170 but hardly anything for getting off the line! As a sight to see they were nice, as a spectacle they were rather tame as they rumbled up the hill at low revs,trying to find second gear....

But who cares ,it was such a rare chance to see this sort of car actually moving at all for a european fan.

The real thrill of the day is to catch sight of, stand next to, get the autograph of and even TALK to a legened like Stirling Moss or Mario Andretti. Like the normal sort of hillclimb event, Goodwood's social and unique event offers you the chance to get close to the cars in the paddock area without security fences,guards,dogs or people with "the right pass" getting in your way.

Ah Goodwood! How Glorious it is!