The great and the good of British Hillclimbing gathered together at the impressive Best Western Plus Manor Hotel Near Solihull on Saturday 15th January to celebrate, what turned out to be, a fantastic 2021 season. Due to the pandemic this was of course the first time for two years that the Awards Dinner has taken place. Headline BHC sponsor Avon Tyres were there in force, as were senior representatives from BHC Cup title sponsor Footman James.
Championship Co-ordinator Tim Wilson was able to announce that both Avon Tyres and Classic Car Insurance Broker Footman James have re-signed as title sponsors for the BHC and BHC Cup respectively, for the 2022 season.
Major award winners on the night included Wallace Menzies, who “did the double” by winning both the 2021 British Hillclimb Championship and the class based BHC Cup in his Gould GR59. A fantastic achievement when you consider the stiff opposition that he was up against. Runner up in the British Hillclimb Championship after a fabulous season, was Alex Summers in the DJ Firestorm with the hard charging Sean Gould third in the “works” Gould GR59. Wallace beat “new kid on the block” Tom Weaver in his Formula Ford Van Diemen RF91 into second place overall in the class based BHC Cup, in what was Tom’s debut season competing at a national level. The super-fast David Warburton was close behind in third place overall after a stellar season in the 1600cc bike engined Gould.
Amanda George was rewarded for a great season in the beautiful Chevron B19, picking up awards for both the highest placed lady driver and the best performance by a classic/historic racing car, in the Footman James sponsored BHC Cup.
Graham Wynn was awarded the Wynn Developments Seniors Cup for the best performance in the British Hillclimb Championship by a driver over 60. After finishing the 2021 BHC season in twelfth place overall Graham will be gunning for that elusive top ten number in 2022!
Tim Thomson picked up the Norrie Galbraith Shield for the best BHC event during the 2021 season on behalf of Doune Hillclimb and the Lothian Car Club. Doune’s first running of a double-header event in June was seen by many, including the BHC organising committee, as a fabulous event, so good that the double header format is being repeated for the 2022 season as well.
A good time was had by all with drivers and sponsors chatting to each other about their 2022 season plans. The three months to the opening round at Prescott on 23/24 April will whistle by I’m sure, particularly for the many individuals performing modifications to their existing cars and a few more who are “upgrading” to new cars for the season ahead. More details to follow!