BHC Double - Where there’s a Will…

Will Hall blasts his Gould GR59 through the tight confines of Doune on his way to a double run-off victory – Photo Credit: Ben Lawrence

With his first double run-off victory of the season, Will Hall was the ace of Doune in the penultimate weekend of this year's British Hillclimb Championship.

Hall was a popular double winner as warm sunshine bathed the tremendous Scottish venue and admitted that this had been his strongest weekend for some time. However, it could have been different if Sean Gould's fortune on Sunday had turned out better.

Running solo in his Gould GR59 while Matt Ryder was absent following the recent birth of their baby, Gould was quickest through practice and set the pace in the opening class runs to qualify fastest for the first run-off. However, he admitted that he underestimated how much of an improvement both Hall and Wallace Menzies would make in the run-off once they bolted on better rubber, and he was edged back to third in a tight finish.

Later in the final runs of the day, Menzies set a fine sub-36 second mark to edge out Dave Uren. Next to run was Gould, but as he crested the rise into the Esses the bright, low late afternoon sunshine caught him square on and he was fractionally late on the brakes. The car slid off and that took the nose cone off to end his day with less than he might have expected.

Meanwhile, fastest qualifier was Hall and he sat on the line patiently, not for the first time this season, while Gould's car was recovered. Despite the hold up, Hall was mighty and sliced 17-hundredths a second off Menzies’ mark to bag his second win of the weekend. Inevitably, Menzies and Gould were among the first to congratulate Hall on a tremendous weekend as his mid and late season form continues apace.

Elsewhere, Uren had a cracking weekend in his Gould GR55 and ended the day with third in the second run-off, while Trevor Willis was up there too in the OMS 28 despite clattering the barriers in practice on Saturday.

Others to star in the run-offs included Johnathen Varley with a fabulous fourth in the second contest and Alex Coles, who missed the first run-off when the throttle cable failed in his class run. Undaunted, and determined to salvage something from the long trek north from Plymouth, Coles was then fifth fastest in the second run-off.

Paul Haimes, Wil Hamer and Darren Gumbley all got into the points, while Harry Pick bagged his first points of the season with two strong finishes in his Cosworth powered OMS.

Jimmy Harris guides his Van Diemen RF85 to class records on both runs and outright victory in the 2025 class based BHC Cup - Photo Credit: Ben Lawrence

After a tremendous season long battle with Jonathen Varley and David Warburton, Jimmy Harris was crowned 2025 BHC Cup Champion at Doune. The British Hillclimb Cup presented by BMTR supported by Hoosier has had a fabulous season. Harris, who drives a Formula Ford Van Diemen RF85, battled hard with Jonathen Varley (GWR Predator) and David Warburton (Gould GR59), just one of many great battles in the classes throughout the year.

Jimmy’s sixteen class victories show his dominance across the season. His key to winning the Cup were his three class records, one at the opening round at Prescott and two more at the final Doune weekend. Class records were a rare commodity across the 2025 season; this aligned with Jimmy’s consistency across the year was magnificent to witness.

Congratulations to Jimmy and his support team. Here’s to 2026 and what will surely be another BHC Cup season to remember.

Written by Paul Lawrence and published in partnership with Autosport.