Name: David Warburton
Home Town: Amersham
Competition Car: Gould GR59 - Hayabusa
Motorsport Background & Experience:
David has been around the sport of Hillclimbing since he was born. His Dad, Allan, has competed in Hillclimbing for over forty years. When David was a boy, his Dad was competing in a Dallara F3 car and qualifying for British Hillclimb Championship (BHC) run-offs too. David would therefore spend many a Summer weekend at Hillclimb venues throughout the UK watching his Dad and other top drivers, imagining that one day it would be him behind the wheel!
David applied for his competition licence at the age of just fifteen and started competing at the age of sixteen. His first competitive steps were taken in a Caterham with an 1800cc K Series engine that he shared with his Dad. His speed and bravery were immediately obvious and he started to produce some very good times. Over the nine seasons that David competed in the Caterham many class records were broken. David also won the award for the best performance by a driver under twenty five years of age in the Midland Hillclimb Championship as well as the award for the best performance by a driver under thirty years of age in the British Hillclimb Leaders Championship (now BHC Cup presented by Classic Car Insurance Broker Footman James).
In its final guise the Caterham was a real monster, having a 2.5 litre Duratec engine but still weighing less than five hundred kilos. This bucked the trend of his class, which was starting to fill with lightweight motorcycle engined machinery. David learnt a lot in this car, not least the bravery needed to take the finish line kink at Gurston Down flat at 118mph! This on road tyres and with no aero to speak of shows his bravery and skill that shines through to this day.
Other major achievements of his time in the Caterham are a 2015 BHC presented by Avon Tyres run-off qualification at a wet Doune, when he finished eleventh and qualifying twice for the FIA Hillclimb Masters. The events at Eschdorf Luxemburg in 2014 and Sternberk in the Czech Republic in 2016 live long in David’s memory, particularly at Sternberk where he managed to win his class. A fantastic achievement and one that cemented that he wanted to test himself against the cream of both British and hopefully European Hillclimbing in the not too distant future.
BHC/BHC Cup Experience:
With the purchase of the ‘works’ Gould GR59 from the factory in 2018 David took his first steps into the world of slicks, aero and downforce. Fitted with a 1600cc Hayabusa engine, the 2018 season was primarily a learning experience, as David worked out what the car could really do. Trusting the Gould in the high speed flowing sections of BHC venues such as Gurston Down, Shelsley Walsh and Doune was a real eye opener and an experience that would hold David in good stead for future seasons. Eleven run-off qualifications and a best finish of fifth at Doune gave a glimpse of David’s talent and what he could achieve in the future.
The 2019 season brought David his first permanent top ten number, when he secured tenth place overall in the BHC. A total of twenty one run-off qualifications and fifth overall at Val des Terres, Guernsey showed great consistency throughout the season. After the 2020 Championship was cancelled due to the Coronavirus pandemic, David showed he had lost none of his speed in 2021, finishing a best ever ninth overall with forty nine points. He is currently lying in eighth place overall in the 2022 BHC, one place and one point clear of fellow Gould GR59 driver Paul Haimes in what is proving to be a great battle for Championship honours.
A fact that not many people know:
The scar on David’s forehead is not from being attacked by a polar bear in France, which is what he told his primary school friends, but from hitting his head on a rusty bicycle handlebar which subsequently became infected and nearly left him blind. A great story for his school friends but equally a very lucky escape!
Wiscombe Park Fact:
This weekend is David’s second ever visit to the beautiful parkland of Wiscombe Park. His first visit in 2021 netted a best of the season and equal best ever run-off finish of fifth. David is very much still in the learning phase at Wiscombe. He absolutely loves track, particularly when he gets into the tree lined Esses section up to Sawbench hairpin along Castle Straight and into Martini. The downforce that the Gould produces breeds confidence and given a dry track David is sure that his times will improve. Look out for the silver Gould as it takes to the track. With David’s attacking style and bravery it is sure to be a spectacular site. David celebrated his thirtieth birthday last week, so when you see him in the paddock wish him a belated Happy Birthday!
Advance tickets can be purchased by clicking on the button below.