Ryder takes first win in Scotland as Hall shares top-spot billing

Key title contenders Matthew Ryder and Will Hall left Scotland with a win apiece after the British Hillclimb Championship’s 2026 visit to the demanding Doune hill.

Saturday was Hall's day as he won the opening run-off by the handsome margin of more than half a second as Ryder slotted into second from Wallace Menzies. It was the third win on the bounce for Hall in his Gould GR59 and followed his dominant weekend at Shelsley Walsh. In truth, Doune is not one of Ryder's best hills, but second was a strong finish in the opening run-off and on Sunday, in the weekend’s second run-off, it all came his way.

Hall knew that he was losing time in the early part of the hill and attacked accordingly in the class runs on Sunday. He was three tenths of a second up on the first split and six miles an hour up at the speed trap. Unfortunately, then it just went wrong as he launched out into the open section at the top of the hill and the car got away from him and spun. The run was over and his place in the second run-off was lost.

That left the battle for victory between Ryder, Menzies and fastest qualifier Dave Uren, and it was Ryder who set the mark with a 35.20s climb to take his first victory at Doune.

“I didn't really expect that coming into the weekend,” admitted Ryder, who thought that Doune would be something of a case of damage limitations before going back to Harewood, one of his stronger hills. So, to come away with a win and a second was an unexpected bonus for the current champion.

Menzies slotted into second again after a strong weekend, while a tremendous third went to David Warburton, who fired his 1600cc Gould GR59 up the narrow hill with complete commitment to get right up amongst the big-engined cars. Alex Coles, after a big rush to get his engine rebuilt following his problems at Shelsley, scored well in both run-offs, as did Paul Haimes to continue their fine campaigns.

The Doune weekend also marked the opening weekend of the Tin Top Challenge, and a strong entry of very potent cars gathered in Scotland. Setting the pace was the monstrous Subaru Legacy of Damien Bradley and on Sunday it was both Bradley and his teammate Stephen Darley driving the Legacy. Darley's own Subaru Impreza was sidelined on Saturday when a broken drive shaft led to a wheel coming off. Others to feature strongly in the tin top run-offs included Donald McCaskill (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 5) and Stuart Reid (Peugeot 205 GTi).