Name: Paul Haimes
Home Town: Farnham, Surrey
Competition Car: Gould GR59 – Suzuki Hayabusa Turbo
Paul’s Gould Hayabusa has taken a lot longer than he initially thought to develop into the reliable top twelve run-off qualifier than it has become in 2021 – seven long years to be precise! He has nine bent con-rods at home to remind him of the, sometimes painful, development process. 2021 has been the year when things finally came together and the methanol fuelled little monster looks like it has finally been tamed – well done Paul!
Motorsport History
Paul has a long history in hillclimbing and competes exclusively in this discipline of motorsport. Brought up in the South West of England, he was first introduced to the sport by his Father and his Uncle Steve Snell, a former South West Hillclimb Champion in the 1990’s. Paul’s first competitive event was in his Father’s Morgan Plus 8 at Werrington Park Hillclimb near Launceston in Cornwall.
Paul has had a great deal of success over the years but really “came of age” in 2001, when he won the Class based Championship that follows the British Hillclimb Championship at most mainland rounds then called the Leaders (now BHC Cup presented by Footman James) in his Mallock Mk 18/20 fitted with a powerful BGG engine.
Graduation to single-seaters followed when Alan Warburton invited him to share a Dallara F397. A V6 engined Dallara soon followed. This early period in single-seaters brought some great results including a first top twelve run-off win at the ultimate driver’s hill, Doune near Stirling in Scotland. Paul made the move into another Dallara, this time with a Tom New built Vauxhall engine in 2010. More success followed including winning the class based Leaders Championship for a second time.
2014 saw Paul commission his current single-seater from Gould and the long development road commenced. Paul’s 2021 season has been fantastic. Not only has he secured a stunning seventh place finish in the BHC presented by Avon Tyres this year, his proudest moment in motorsport to date, but his 2021 season ended with him breaking Jos Goodyear’s long standing Loton Park class record in September, something that not so long ago Paul thought was well out of reach.
Masters Experience: This will be Paul’s and the Gould’s second competitive visit to an FIA Hillclimb Masters event as he qualified and competed at the Gubbio event in Italy back in 2018.
Paul is very proud of being part of Team GB and is looking forward to joining the other drivers from across the country in what will hopefully prove to be a successful event for the team.
Non-motorsport fact
Paul has a passion for education. As an active school governor, he likes to see young people grow as they progress through the educational system.
Braga Fact
The little Gould GR59 – Suzuki Hayabusa Turbo has the smallest engine capacity of any of the Team GB competing cars. This doesn’t mean that it is slow though. On the contrary, with the turbocharged engine running on methanol mated to a sequential gearbox operated by steering wheel mounted paddles, it is a rocket ship. Paul has really taken to the latest Avon Tyres which have been developed during the season too.
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