CRAIGANTLET
Round 3
2nd May 2020
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2022 SEASON REVIEW PART TWO
Written by Stuart Webster
EVENT EIGHT
Bouley Bay, Jersey » 13 July
WALLACE MENZIES TAKES TWO RUN-OFF WINS AND EDGES AHEAD IN THE BHC CHAMPIONSHIP RACE AT BOULEY BAY
The British Hillclimb Championship (BHC) battle recommenced with its annual Summer trip to the Channel Islands. A pandemic driven hiatus meant that it was in fact the first BHC visit since 2019. Over twenty BHC registered contenders made the journey across the water to the historic Bouley Bay Hillclimb located in the Northern part of the beautiful island of Jersey. On a hot and sunny day, two run-off wins helped Wallace Menzies edge further ahead of Alex Summers in the battle for the outright lead in the BHC presented by Avon Tyres. Despite the hot and dry conditions the track remained a little slippery. Outright Bouley Bay record holder Trevor Willis had a strong day with third and fourth place run-off finishes to move ahead of Matt Ryder into fourth place overall in the BHC. Scott Moran took an excellent second place in the first run-off but faded a little with a fifth place finish in the second, but still holds third place overall. All drivers found the track conditions tricky with mistakes being very easy to make.
The first run-off saw a fabulous battle at the top. Wallace Menzies (Gould GR59M) took the overall win by just one hundredth of a second from a hard charging Scott Moran (Gould GR59J). In third place just four hundredths behind Scott was Alex Summers (DJ Firestorm) who in turn was just over a tenth of a second clear of an on-form Trevor Willis (OMS 28 – RPE V8). Richard Spedding (GWR Raptor 2) was just under half a second back in fifth with Matt Ryder (Gould GR59J) in sixth and on a steep learning curve, as he had never seen the hill before. Paul Haimes (Gould GR59) was just three hundredths behind Matt in seventh and two tenths of a second ahead of local Guernsey driver Nick Saunders in his self-developed Reynick. Dave Warburton (Gould GR59) took ninth, three tenths clear of a delighted Nicola Menzies (Gould GR55B) who once again took the final point for tenth. Nicola was in fact the first lady to qualify and score BHC points at Bouley Bay since Agnes Mickel back in the 1970’s.
The second run-off was again won by Wallace Menzies, this time seventeen one hundredths of a second clear of Alex Summers. Alex was up on the clock in the lower reaches of the hill, with Wallace dragging the time back to lead by a mere four hundredths of a second going into the final corner. Wallace’s run-off victory was confirmed by a fantastic power-slide assisted run through the top bend to the finish line. Very spectacular and obviously very effective too! Trevor Willis capped a fine day four tenths of a second behind in third. Richard Spedding produced a great run to secure fourth place just four hundredths ahead of Scott Moran who could not match his first run-off pace and finished fifth. Matt Ryder will have been happy with sixth keeping Nick Saunders two tenths of a second back in an excellent seventh. After not qualifying for the first run-off due to a mistake at Radio corner, Dave Uren (Gould GR55B) was relieved to score BHC points in eighth place, nine tenths of a second clear of the consistent Dave Warburton in ninth. The final point, for the fourth time this season, was secured by Nicola Menzies.
Overall Bouley Bay winner and current BHC Championship leader Wallace Menzies said “It was tough out there today. The hill never really gave us the grip that we needed or expected and as a consequence the car was moving around a lot. It was a case of minimising mistakes to produce a competitive time. I am delighted to have secured two run-off wins and twenty Championship points. Moving onto Val des Terres on Saturday will be a big challenge. The hill has been resurfaced since we were last there in 2019. This is another unknown at what is a mega different hill. With hot temperatures expected, it will make it difficult for all of us. I must admit that I am looking forward to it though!”
Photos: Andrew le Poidevin
EVENT NINE
Le Val des Terres, Guernsey » 17 July
WALLACE MENZIES TAKES A RUN-OFF WIN, BUT ALEX SUMMERS ALSO WINS A RUN-OFF AND BREAKS THE OUTRIGHT RECORD AS THE BHC CHAMPIONSHIP RACE GETS EVEN HOTTER AT VAL DES TERRES
Two runs under the existing outright record and a win in the second run-off saw Wallace Menzies cap a near perfect Channel Islands double header. His forty one point haul from the two events saw him edge further ahead of Alex Summers in the battle for the outright lead in the BHC. On a very hot and sunny day at Le Val des Terres Hillclimb in Guernsey’s capital St. Peter Port, the battle for who wins the 2022 Championship once again pushed the top drivers into places that even they thought they couldn’t go. Wallace, Alex and Scott Moran all dug deep and produced times in the run-offs that were under Scott’s existing outright record of 26.99, which he set back in 2015. Wallace now holds an eight point lead moving into the last four events of the season. With Alex having a zero to drop due to his fuel pump failure at Harewood, the battle between Alex and Wallace was pretty much exactly equal. With drivers starting to drop scores after the Wiscombe Park event, this was soon to play out. Breaking hill records during what remains of the season was therefore to prove critical in who was to be crowned 2022 BHC Champion.
With Matt Ryder having to withdraw from the meeting in qualifying due to minor front end damage to his Gould, the rest of the Championship contenders continued battle, with the pace as hot as the weather! As in Jersey the first run-off was won by just one hundredth of a second, this time by Alex Summers from Wallace Menzies. Both drivers carved over four tenths of a second off the existing record as they pushed for the win. Scott Moran finished half a second adrift in third, just seven one hundredths shy of his own existing outright record. Richard Spedding was having a strong day, producing personal best times to finish in fourth place, two tenths of a second ahead of a hard trying Trevor Willis in fifth. Guernsey driver Nick Saunders continued his giant killing form from Bouley Bay to finish sixth, over half a second clear of another local Tim Tulie (Empire 00). This was a magnificent result for Tim who has much less power available than most of his competition. His skill and local knowledge seemed to more than make up for any lack of power. Dave Uren was happy to get points on the board again in eighth, two tenths of a second clear of Dave Warburton who finished ninth. Local driver Steve Brehaut (Empire EVO3) was delighted to pick up the final point for tenth.
The second run-off was won by Wallace Menzies with a time exactly equal to the one he set in the first run-off. There’s consistency for you!
The extra point for breaking the existing outright record was most welcome and was vital in the tight battle for BHC honours. Scott Moran upped the ante to finish three tenths of second back in second. His time was also under his existing record. Scott will be both pleased and relieved to score good points in his quest to get on even terms with Wallace and Alex in the Championship battle. Richard Spedding once again produced a personal best, this time finishing a magnificent third. This was a seasons best for Richard and did him no harm at all in his quest to take the fight to Dave Uren in the battle for sixth place overall in the BHC. Alex Summers was a disappointed fourth suffering from a severe lack of front end grip. Two tenths of a second behind in fifth was Nick Saunders. This was his best result of the 2022 Channel Islands BHC events, leaving him with a big smile on his face. Trevor Willis faded a little to finish sixth four tenths of a second up on the hard charging Tim Tulie, who again produced a personal best time in seventh. Dave Warburton was just six hundredths of a second behind in eighth, ahead of locals Matt Bougourd (Force HC) in ninth and final point scorer Steve Breahaut. This was a great performance by Matt as this was his first ever BHC run-off qualification and points score.
New Val des Terres outright record holder Alex Summers said “I am so pleased to come away with the record. With the grandstand at the top of the hill it made for a very special atmosphere which really added to the sense of achievement. I am disappointed with the second run-off result. I just didn’t have any grip at the front end, so suffered all the way up. Congratulations to Wallace on his forty one Channel Islands points – awesome consistency. It’s great for the Championship as we are just about equal after dropped scores, but I won’t pretend that it isn’t stressful! We hopefully have some upgrades to fit to the car for Wiscombe so I’m really looking forward to that.”
The final words went to current BHC Championship leader Wallace Menzies who said “We quickly got to a decent set-up for the car and the grip levels were much better than at Bouley Bay where we all struggled a little. Well done to Alex for his new outright hill record. It is super tight at the top of the Championship and outright hill records have become even more important. It is critical that we maximise our performance at Wiscombe in a couple of weeks’ time. It will be difficult as I’m sure that Alex, Scotty and a few others will be hard on it.”.
Photos: Andrew le Poidevin & guernseymotorsport.com
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EVENT TEN
Wiscombe Park » 30/31 July
WISCOMBE PARK RECORD SMASHED IN THE INTENSE BATTLE FOR BHC HONOURS
An already intense BHC Championship battle was turned up another couple of notches as the outright record came under fire at Wiscombe Park in rural Devon. Alex Summers was the first to reset the record books and secure that vital extra point in the first run-off on Saturday afternoon. He was in fact the first person in history to set a time of under thirty three seconds, on the sixtieth anniversary of the first BHC visit to the beautiful Devon parkland venue. On Sunday, a brilliant second run-off was headlined by Scott Moran also going sub thirty three, but being pipped for the win by an incredible run from Wallace Menzies, who set a time within one hundredth of a second of Alex’s outright record time set the day before. It was quite a weekend! As we moved into the latter stages of the season a titanic battle to see who would win the 2022 BHC, was looking like a two horse race between two time Champion Menzies and 2015 Champion Alex Summers. With dropped scores about to come into play, Wallace held a slender lead moving into the last three events of the season. Despite his record breaking performance, Scott Moran now found himself adrift of Alex in third place overall. After a weekend when both set personal best times and as a result took a healthy haul of BHC points, Trevor Willis and Matt Ryder remained in fourth and fifth places overall.
The first run-off saw the pace hot up as the sun shone towards the end of the day! Summers new outright record time of 32.94 gave him a gap of just over a quarter of a second from the chasing Wallace Menzies. Both Alex and Wallace were really ‘on it’ particularly through the tight tree lined Esses section of the track, as they looked for every extra hundredth of a second that they could find. Nearly four tenths of a second back in a fine third place was Trevor Willis who was having a great day, setting times he had never set before. Matt Ryder (Gould GR59 Judd) bounced back from his Guernsey disappointment to finish just twelve one hundredths of a second behind Trevor in fourth place. A disappointed fifth was Scott Moran in the Gould GR59J. ‘Scotty’ was not disappointed with his time which was a personal best, but was somewhat disbelieving to finish with only six points!
The second run-off was won by Wallace Menzies with an excellent time of 32.95 seconds. He was just three one hundredths of a second ahead of Scott Moran in the growing sub thirty three second club! Both Wallace and Scott however secured a vital bonus point for being under the record that stood before the weekend. Just under two tenths of a second behind Wallace was BHC Championship challenger Alex Summers. Alex tried Avon Tyres for the first time during qualifying and found that they had no adverse effects on the balance of the car. This gave him the confidence to fit them for the second run-off too. Alex was in fact ahead on the clock at half way in the Esses. His time did however slip away in the section from Sawbench up to Martini resulting in a third place finish.
With a class win on both Saturday and Sunday BHC Cup, presented by Classic Car Insurance Broker Footman James, leader coming into the weekend Richard Spedding (GWR Raptor 2) had a great weekend as did Alex Coles in his Formula Ford Van Diemen RF86. A rare defeat for Johnathen Varley in the GWR Predator dented his Championship challenge a little. It was Alex Coles however that came away from Wiscombe leading the Cup. Its onto Shelsley Walsh to recommence battle!
New member of the sub thirty three second club Scott Moran said “ We made a few minor adjustments to the setup of the car on Saturday evening and this was enough to get us into the mix. I am delighted to go sub thirty three and be so close to the outright record today which made up for Saturday’s result. Both Wallace and Alex have been the class of the field this year. It’s been great to get in amongst the two of them on occasion, but whoever comes out on top it’s going to be very well deserved.”
Current BHC Championship leader Wallace Menzies said “I am very happy with the progress that we made from Saturday to Sunday. I am really delighted to have won the Sunday run-off but it was mighty close with Scotty! The new Wiscombe format of a run-off on both Saturday and Sunday was interesting and seemed to attract a really good crowd on both days. The welcome that we get at Wiscombe from both the organising Club and the locals is always great and creates a really good atmosphere.”
Photos: Nigel Cole
Designers and constructors of lightweight speed hillclimb and sprint cars. DJ also manufacture high quality carbon fibre aerofoils for motorsport and track use.
EVENT ELEVEN
Shelsley Walsh » 13/14 August
MATT RYDER WINS AT SHELSLEY WALSH AS WALLACE MENZIES EDGES AHEAD IN TIGHT BHC CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLE
A hot and steamy Shelsley Walsh served up a brilliant run-off win for Matt Ryder as the BHC Championship battle took a little nudge in the direction of reigning Champion Wallace Menzies. With only one timed run and run-off possible due to a number of factors, not least temperatures in the nineties and a number of delays, the BHC Championship battle between Menzies and Alex Summers will move into its last two weekends finely poised. With Sean Gould’s outright record remaining just out of reach, Menzies retains a slender but potentially decisive lead as the Championship moves on to Prescott. Unless Wallace has the perfect weekend at Prescott, it looked highly likely that the Championship will not be decided until the final round at Loton Park at the end of September. Scott Moran is now nailed on in third place overall with Trevor Willis and Matt Ryder battling intensely over 4th place overall.
The only run-off of the weekend saw the pace crank up as weather and track conditions remained sweltering. Matt Ryder produced a fantastic time carving nearly a second off his fourth place qualifying time to finish only seven hundredths of a second outside the existing record with a time of 22.44 seconds. Just over a tenth of a second behind in joint second were Wallace Menzies and Scott Moran. Wallace was in fact ahead until a scrappy passage of the Esses saw things slip away from him. An understeering moment at top Ess blunted Alex Summers chances of victory as he posted a time in the late 22 second bracket. This could be decisive in the outcome of the 2022 BHC as he now sits five points adrift of defending Champion Wallace Menzies.
In the BHC Cup, Alex Coles continued his fine form in his Formula Ford Van Diemen RF86. He now holds an eight point advantage over Richard Spedding as we head to the last two events of the season. Johnathen Varley (GWR Predator) sits in third place, but is now eleven points behind Alex. A good weekend for Alex at Prescott may just secure him the 2022 Cup.
First time Shelsley winner Matt Ryder said “It was certainly a challenging weekend in the heat, but I am absolutely thrilled with the result! The car was feeling great all weekend, and I was feeling more and more comfortable on each run. When we put some fresher tyres on for the final run everything just felt a little bit better and I was confident to push. It wasn’t the perfect run, my foot even slipped off the throttle pedal exiting Kennel and I had to get back on it immediately! If only we had had the second runs that were planned, I would have loved another run or two to really have a crack at Sean’s record!”
Photos: Paul & Ben Lawrence
EVENT TWELVE
Prescott » 3/4 September
WALLACE MENZIES STRENGTHENS HIS GRIP ON THE BHC TITLE AT RAIN AFFECTED PRESCOTT
A topsy turvy rain affected day saw Wallace Menzies creep closer to retaining BHC title. After dropped scores are taken into account there are only a few points between the two Championship protagonists, Menzies & Summers, as they head into the final round at Loton Park in Shropshire. It really has been a classic season and despite the best efforts of the weather, Prescott did not disappoint. After a great season Scott Moran is now confirmed in third place ahead of Trevor Willis, who is strong favourite to be confirmed in fourth place overall. Matt Ryder unfortunately suffered gearbox failure while warming his tyres on his Sunday morning practice run and as a result withdrew from the meeting. Unless Matt has a fantastic weekend at Loton Park it now looks likely that he will finish the season in fifth place. If you had said to Matt at the start of his first season in big single seaters that he would finish fifth overall in the BHC and that he would end the season as the outright Harewood record holder he would have bitten your hand off though! Definitely a star of the future.
The first run-off saw a few surprises in both qualification and finishing order. The rain came at exactly the wrong moment for the fastest qualifiers who were faced with worsening grip as the rain increased in intensity. This resulted in a ‘surprise’ second run-off win of the season for Dave Uren in his Nicholson McLaren engined Gould GR55B. His time of 37.09 seconds gave him a near three tenths of a second gap over a delighted Paul Haimes in his turbo charged Hayabusa engined Gould GR59. The star of the run-off however was Scotsman Stuart Sugden (GWR Raptor), who finished in a fabulous third place overall. Despite finishing in a personal best fourth place, Johnathen Varley (GWR Predator) was a little disappointed. A couple of mistakes saw him finish with a time of 38.32 seconds and not the 37 run he really wanted. Darren Gumbley (Force TA) was another driver to produce a best ever BHC run-off finish. His fifth place will be something that will stay in his memory for some time to come. David Warburton (Gould GR59) was just six hundredths of a second behind in sixth. Yet another driver to produce their best ever BHC run-off finish was Jack Cottrill (DJ Dallara Cosworth XD) who finished seventh. So what of the top qualifiers and contenders? The answer was simple that they were unfortunately out on the track when the conditions were at their worst. This resulted in an irrelevant eighth and tenth for Wallace Menzies and Alex Summers respectively. Scores that were discarded immediately. After a strong qualifying performance Richard Spedding slipped back to finish only ninth. Out of the points altogether were Trevor Willis and fastest qualifier Scott Moran, who due to the deteriorating track conditions decided not to take his run.
After qualifying took place in changeable track conditions resulting in a ‘different’ look to the qualifying order, the second run-off was won with a super last run of the day by defending Champion Wallace Menzies. Only six one hundredths behind Wallace was Alex Summers. Up on the clock until the final corner at semi-circle, Alex unfortunately lost out on the run to the finish line to finish agonisingly short. This could prove very costly at the end of the season. A storming run, finishing with a personal best time of 35.61 seconds was a delighted Trevor Willis. This left him just four one hundredths of a second ahead of Scott Moran. After an event that promised so much, ‘Scotty’ will be disappointed to take only a fourth place finish from the weekend.
After a class win in the first timed runs followed by a rain affected fourth in the second timed runs, Alex Coles cannot now be caught in his Formula Ford Van Diemen RF86. Alex can now call himself overall Champion in the BHC Cup presented by Classic Car Insurance Broker Footman James. His sixteen class wins during a fantastic season, six of them with new class records showed great consistency to keep himself ahead of the pack. What will the lad from Plymouth be driving in 2023? The battle for second overall continues, Richard Spedding (GWR Raptor 2) held a slim two point lead over Johnathen Varley in the GWR Predator going into the final weekend at Loton Park.
Current BHC leader Wallace Menzies said “I came into the weekend with the knowledge that it was only four rounds to go and consequently minimising mistakes was my top priority. The first run-off was difficult but good fun. Sliding the car around from start to finish made me quickly realise that a good point scoring run was just not achievable. Second qualifying was very difficult and I was delighted to qualify fastest. When Trevor set his personal best time, I knew that I had no margin for error. The new tyres that we had saved for use on Sunday were really good and enabled me to sneak ahead of Alex. I now know that finishing ahead of Alex is my priority at Loton Park.”