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Thursday February 21st
20.30
Paddock Improvements (more images)
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Wednesday October 10th
21.18
Wiscombe Winter Maintenance Day
As has become the custom, a winter maintenance day at
We can offer a whole range of jobs, making use of various skills
or even training some in completely new ones!!
Morning coffee (with biscuits no doubt) will be provided. To help
with the catering arrangements and to also to assist the organisers in
scheduling the ‘Works Sheet’ please let Mike Furse know if you are able to come
along. It is quite a social day really.
Call Mike
Furse on 01308 867914
Tuesday September 25th
21.18
BRIDGE TYRES &
WHEELS 2007
FINAL POSITIONS
1st Ian Gaskell Westfield
SEiW BDH 61.43 points
2nd Martyn Pike Ford
Escort Mk1 61.12 points
3rd James Forsyth Mallock
Mk15/24 59.44 points
4th Marc Coles Ford
Escort Mk 2 58.64 points
5th Tony Wiltshire Ralt RT34 57.93 points
6th Jonathan Wright Volkswagen Golf GTI 57.21
points
Friday September 7th
2007 21.00
MOTORCYCLE MANIA THIS WEEKEND
After a Hill
Climb season greatly affected by event cancellations due to the bad weather
conditions, and injuries to some of the top riders, it's all looking
good for the National Hill Climb Association motor cycle championship
round at Wiscombe Park on Sunday 9th Sept.
All
the main riders are now back in action for what is turning out
to be a ferocious battle for the national hill climb championship.
Paul
Jarrett(Aprilia) from Shropshire is in a titanic battle with Glyn Poole from
Northampton (Honda CR500) for top honours, with Glyn rapidly catching up
after a slow start to the season.They will be joined by Jon Staden (Aprilia)
from Essex, who is running in third place to date.
It will be
good to have the current Hill Climb Champion, Paul Jeffery(Honda
CR500), and previous champion Peter Short, both from Bideford, back after
lay offs, and that will certainly spice up the competition.
They will be
joined by two very quick riders from the Barnstaple area, Martin Grafton and
Martin Fletcher, eager to take on the up country boys.
Local
riders, Les Wilson (HondaCR250) from Taunton, and Paul Jenkins (350KTM) from
Chard will be battling hard for the 250 and 350cc smaller classes.
In the big
bike class, Alan Jolly (950KTM) from Bristol is hoping to increase his class
leading position, as is Wellington pair, Pat and Paul Keates with the Baker F1
Sidecar threewheeler
Wednesday August 1st
2007 21.00
DEJA VU
Many observers thought that history had
been made at Woobridge MC’s Wiscombe Park British Hillclimb round on July 29,
when Martin Groves and Trevor Willis set identical times in the closing run-off
to share the championship spoils and set the day’s outright pace.
But a glance at the records will show
that it’s happened before. In 2001, Tim Mason and Graeme Wight Jr became, in
fact, the first drivers to tie at the head of a British run-off with FTD.
Now comes the curious, not to say
uncanny, co-incidence. Not only did this happen at Wiscombe Park’s second
British run-off in July, but the date was also the 29th and the run-off also
started at 5.15pm… Setting aside co-incidence and reverting to hard
practicalities, both Martin and Trevor agreed that the coveted Sir Nick
Williamson Trophy for FTD should remain in the custody of Woolbridge Motor Club
for safe keeping, and when asked if it might be an idea to saw in half their
Nicholson McLaren Aviation round winners’ trophy (the traditional mounted
aircraft piston presented at every one of the 34 rounds), Groves joked: ‘That’s
OK, so long as they don’t do the same to the cheque!’ In fact identical
trophies, suitably inscribed, would be subsequently prepared to mark this
unique occasion. The win would be Martin’s 60th and would move him
up to third on the all-time British round winners’ list. For Trevor it would be
only his second win, his first – and the first for the OMS marque – coming just
over a week earlier at Bouley Bay.
Co-incidentally, the Jersey venue last
year was also the scene of Simon Durling his first ever win and he, too,
followed it up with another a week later at Wiscombe Park. A year on he scored
his third British win, when he won the first run-off at last Sunday’s meeting.
That opening run-off, on a track still damp from overnight rain, was equally
dramatic. With Durling qualifying top, Basil Pitt was on top form in his GR55C,
with similar 2.8-litre NME power, qualifying a career-best second as they left
Championship front-runners Scott Moran and Groves languishing third and fourth
on the Q-sheets.
But come the run-off it was Chris
Merrick that pulled one out of the bag with his Judd powered Gould, leading the
way from Groves and Moran right up until Durling’s final run. Then a typically
neat, but devastatingly quick run by the Gurston School chief instructor
finally did the trick by 0.35sec, to deny the former police officer from Stroud
his own first ever British win. The two championship leaders’ scores would
probably be discarded before the end of the year but they’d demoted Pitt,
despite a half-second improvement on his Q-time, to fifth.
Roger Moran had to settle for sixth,
but was still a firm third on the championship table, still with a substantial
30-point cushion over Durling. Jos Goodyear, who after a late start to his
season was already up to eleventh place on the table after a fine showing in
the Channel Islands with the new Pilbeam-Judd MP97, bagged another four points
for seventh – which he badly needed as he would miss the following week’s
Craigantlet round due to Prodrive commitments in Corsica.
Tom New, his major ambition this year
being to maintain his ‘number 10’ for 2008, kept his hopes alive with eighth
place in the howling 6-cylinder MP88 ahead of Rob Turnbull, who shrugged off
memories of his big accident here last year in the potent Cosworth HB powered
Gould, which he brought home in ninth place. The final point went to Oliver
Tomlin, after a late braking moment at Sawbench which pitched the big
Pilbeam-Judd into a time-wasting tail-slide on the exit. Former rallyman Eynon
Price brought his former skills to bear in his first ever British run-off
appearance. A fine shot in the diminutive 1137cc OMS-Suzuki as he charged the
hairpins with rally-style precision left him just out of the points, ahead of
Jim Robinson and his evergreen (and on the market) Pilbeam-Hart.
BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIP RUN-OFF,
ROUND 23: 1 Simon Durling (2.8 Gould-NME GR55B) 36.62s; 2
Chris Merrick (4.0 Gould-Judd EV/J&F GR55) 36.97s; 3 Martin Groves (3.5
Gould-NME GR55B) 37.14s; 5 Scott Moran (3.5 Gould-NME GR61X) 37.19s; 5 Basil
Pitt (2.8 Gould-NME GR55C) 37.26s; 6 Roger Moran (3.5 Gould-NME GR61X)
38.04s; 7 Jos Goodyear (4.0 Pilbeam-Judd KV4 MP97) 38.18s; 8 Tom New (2.0
Pilbeam-Rover/QED KV6 MP88) 38.45s; 9
Rob Turnbull (2.5 Gould-Opel GR55) 38.76s; 10 Oliver Tomlin (4.0
Pilbeam-Judd EV MP72) 39.16s; 11 Eynon Price (1.1 OMS-Suzuki 2000M) 40.24s; 12
Jim Robinson (2.8 Pilbeam-Hart MP58H) 40.69s.
First away for the final shoot-out of
the day was Roger Moran. But an indifferent day for the 1997 champion ended
when he stalled the engine of the GR61X on the apex of Sawbench. The car ground
to a halt and it meant no score for Roger. Dave Kimberley, who had just made
the cut in the 1600 Force-Hayabusa was forced to withdraw with a broken front
suspension rocker, so that meant that Price, in once again with the little
OMS-Suzuki, would be bound to score provided he reached the top. With another
rally-style run he did just that and the delighted Welshman bagged his first
British hillclimb point.
Next up in the 4-litre Pilbeam-Judd,
Goodyear made it to ninth place this time, confirming his eleventh place on the
championship table. Another steady run from Turnbull netted eighth, but Tomlin
gave the star spangled Pilbeam-Judd everything this time and was rewarded with
seventh place, maintaining his spot on the series table just behind Goodyear.
Baz Pitt got into the 36s for the first time, but the pressure was on with
weather conditions now the best of the day, and it was only good enough for
sixth behind Scott Moran. The championship leader was having a difficult day,
tai-sliding the Gould round the hairpins in an effort to combat the stalling
problem that had left his dad out of the points, but Scott’s six points for
fifth would almost certainly be dropped at the season’s end. Merrick wrestled
his big ex.Lane Gould-Judd into the 35s for the first time to bag a strong
fourth place on one of his best days of the year, closing to within a quarter
of a second of his earlier nemesis Durling, who lost time with an
uncharacteristically sideways attack on Wiscombe’s swooping Esses.
But from fourth place on the Q-sheets,
Willis had set a blistering 35.52 in the bike V8 powered OMS. The only driver
inside 17sec to the split clock in the Esses had really put the pressure on
Groves. The defending champion rose to the occasion, hurtling over Bunny’s Leap
– the scene of his suspension breaking accident last year – with barely a lift.
A tenth down on Willis to the split, the pale yellow Gould’s passage through
the Esses was electrifying and when the car finally lunged across the finish
beam, the clocks stopped – on 35.52.
For the second time, Wiscombe Park had
seen the only tied run-off win in the history of the British Championship.
BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIP
RUN-OFF, ROUND 24: 1=
Willis and Groves 35.52s; 3 Durling 35.61s; 4 Merrick 35.87s; 5 Scott Moran
36.15s; 6 Pitt 36.76s; 7 Tomlin 37.20s; 8 Turnbull 37.53s; 9 Goodyear 37.77s;
10 Price 38.58s; DNF Roger Moran (stalled at Sawbench); DNS Dave Kimberley (1.6
Force-Suzuki) (suspension breakage)
With the long awaited sunshine
strengthening throughout the day, the second runs would be the ones to
determine the outcome of the class runs. Former road rallyist Steve Chaloner
was first away, the Weymouth driver unfortunately forced to run on his own with
his Peugeot 106 XSi, the replacement for his faithful Suzuki Swift. Andy
Russell and his ever nimble Ginetta G15 were also in a class on their own, but
there was better support for the 2-litre ModProd sports cars. Peter Ede came up
trumps there in the Dunnell Zetec powered Westfield with brother Robert, the class
record holder, forced to concede the win by just four hundredths ahead of Paul
Deslandes’ SBD Vauxhall powered Caterham HPC, the only other competitor in the
44s.
Geoff Bruce-Southern’s supercharged
Mini Cooper S Works (also for sale!) took a threequarter second win over the
much travelled Geoff Twemlow’s Kumho-shod ‘shopping’ WRX Impreza. As expected,
a Porsche battle raged in the big sports car class between Yeovil baker Bob
Mortimer and three-times ASWMC Champion Jonathan Williamson. Mortimer got the
nod after ousting early leader Williamson, while Peter Turnbull elbowed his own
911 past Phil Talbot’s Westfield-Cosworth for third place. Royal Naval officer
Richard Churchley took a comprehensive Hillclimb Supersports (Clubmans to you
and me) win in his ex.Matt Harrison/Tim Daniel Mk24 Mallock, well clear of Philip Young’s (ex.Peter and Paul Lord, OK,
so I’m an anorak…) Mk17B.
Simon Fidoe bounced back from a first
run fail to take the 2-litre sports libre win in a class that saw several
drivers investigate the alternative route at Martini. Early leader James
Forsyth was one, and slumped to fourth place ahead of Ian Fidoe, who had held
the runner-up spot at lunchtime in the family Pilbeam-Millington. Both Mike Lee
and
Tony Shearman was never headed in the
599cc Force as he took the first of the single seater wins ahead of Dave
Oldridge’s OMS Hornet in a Yamaha R1 one/two. A sadly depleted 1100 class saw
former Caterham driver Dave Gardner head David Condon’s Jedi-Suzuki with his
similarly powered Force, both drivers in their first year in single seaters.
Eynon Price was on form in the1600
class runs too, leading throughout and making the run-off cut each time. After
a first run excursion, Loton Park class record holder Kimberley’s made the cut
too in the Force-Hayabusa, grabbing second in class at the expense off Phil
Jefferies in the Dave Peers designed (but subsequently heavily modified by Phil
and Dick Foden) RPM-Suzuki, but Kimberley had to sit out the afternoon run-off
with a broken suspension rocker. This was disappointing for Guernseyman Geoff
Guille, as the Force had eased him out of a place in the final shoot-out, but
the OMS-Vauxhall driver was happy enough with second place in the 2-litre class
behind Wiscombe ace Tony Wiltshire’s Ralt-Peugeot. Claiming the scalp of Tom
New, too, was some consolation for Geoff when the V6 Pilbeam stalled at
Martini, within touching distance of the finish line, losing not only the class
position but an almost certain place in the closing run-off. After qualifying
top in both run-offs, Simon Durling naturally bagged the over 2-litre class pot
ahead of championship front runners Groves and Moran.
The usual fine selection of Loti
gathered a Paul Matty Championship round delighted all followers of the
Hornsey/Cheshunt/Hethel marque, and former champion Nick Glazzard’s immaculate
Gold Leaf liveried 51B took the win on both scratch and handicap, from Tony
Wallen’s 51 Formula Ford, with Dave Hampton’s F2 69 second quickest on the
road. The Bert Hadley Championship Austin 7 contenders fielded their usual two
classes, for road and track cars. Former champion Stewart Arklay pedaled his
Ruby chassised Ulster Special round the hairpins as quickly as anyone on the
day to beat all but one of the race spec machines as he headed Dan Cowley’s A7.
Another former Bert Hadley champion, Terry Griffin, lowered Darell Woods’ class
standard, setting the day’s only class record to take the track car win in his
evocative, aluminium bodied single seater. A three car GTD40 class (with one
actually an FHC E Type!) saw Roy Wing in charge from Andrew Fordyce, in the
much modified, Lynx development Jaguar, and original company founder ‘Toby
Koran’ – the sometime professional wrestler otherwise known as Ray Christopher!
The meeting concluded with a selection
of cars and drivers chasing Wiscombe Park and Bridge Tyres ASWMC Championship
points. Gordon Iles’ ran on his own in the Mini to take the opening standard
production class, while engine builder Marc Peadon took his Auto Engineering
Rover 200 BRM to the 1800 win ahead of graphic designer Danny Gosling’s Toyota
MR2. The 2.6-litre class fell to perhaps Wiscombe’s least travelled competitor,
George Koopman, from nearby Colyton, who just managed to keep his Renault Clio
clear of Dan Trotman, having his first outing in his own example after
previously sharing father Hugh’s Elise. The experienced Den Conibear switched
from Nissan GTiR to an equally rapid Subaru 22B this year, and scored another
win with the car, almost two seconds clear of Simon Neve’s Evo6. In the first
of the limited production classes, Martin Vickery’s Ford crossflow powered
Westfield SEi led the way from Geoff and Graham Blake’s Westfield-Zetec. A
45.49 from2004 Wiscombe champion Simon Mogford set the outright pace among the
ASWMC contenders as he stormed to the larger class win over Peter Halliday’s V6
TVR Tasmin.
Former Metro Cup racer Philip Hunt’s MG
Metro was less than a second clear over relative newcomer Keith Forrest’s
stripped out Austin Mini in the first of the ModProd classes. With Norman
Dunford’s Escort, Ian Yeo’s Nissan Pulsar and Stuart Black’s FF2000 Swift all
running on their own the final class scrap, for 1800 ModProds, saw Ben Rowe and
father Dave dispute the leading places in their hard worked, Yamaha powered
Toyota MR2 – with over 145,000 miles on the clock!
Jerry Sturman
WISCOMBE PARK, 29 July
Woolbridge MC
Nicholson McLaren Aviation MSA British
Hillclimb Championship, rounds 23 & 24: PowerMec Hillclimb Leaders
Championship, round 9
FTD: Martin Groves (3.5 Gould-NME
GR55B) and Trevor Willis
(2.8 OMS-Powertec/SBD CF06) 35.52s
Class winners: Steve Chaloner (1.4 Peugeot 106 XSi)
52.41s; Andrew Russell (1.1 Ginetta-Imp G15) 46.90s; Peter Ede (2.0
Westfield-Zetec SEi) 44.61s; Geoff Bruce-Southern (1.6s Mini Cooper S Works)
48.13s; Bob Mortimer (3.5 Porsche 911 RS) 44.35s; Richard Churchley (1.7
Mallock-Ford Mk18) 44.58s; Simon Fidoe (2.0 Pilbeam-Millington MP43) 40.69s;
Rodney Thorne (5.0 Pilbeam-Rover MP43) 41.23s; Tony Shearman (0.6 Force-Yamaha
DR6) 42.69s; Dave Gardner (1.1 Force-Suzuki HC) 43.80s; Price 38.74s; Tony
Wiltshire (2.0 Ralt-Peugeot RT34) 37.90s; Groves 35.94s; Nick Glazzard (1.6
Lotus-Ford TC 51B) 43.60s; Stewart Arklay (0.75 Austin 7 Special) 55.18s; Terry
Griffin (0.75 Austin 7 Race Spl) 53.89s (record);
Roy Wing (5.7 GTD 40) 51.42s; Gordon Iles (1.4 BMC Mini) 49.29s; Marc Peadon
(1.8 Rover 200 BRM) 50.59s; George Koopman (2.0 Renault Clio) 49.94s; Den
Conibear (2.2t Subaru 22B) 46.33s; Martin Vickery (1.7 Westfield SEi) 48.05s;
Geoff Mogford (2.0 Westfeld-Vauxhall SE) 45.49s; Phillip Hunt (1.3 MG Metro)
57.57s; Ben Rowe (1.6 Toyota MR2 Mk1) 51.98s; Norman Dunford (2.0 Ford Escort)
50.42s; Ian Yeo (2.0t Nissan Pulsar GTiR) 47.13s; Stuart Black (2.0 Swift
FF2000) 49.34s.
The Battle
The country’s premier hillclimb series, the Nicholson McLaren Aviation
British Hillclimb Champiosnhip comes to Devon this weekend with a battle for the
lead which is being fiercely contended. To date there has been twenty two
rounds throughout the British Isles, from Scotland to the Channel Islands and
the main protagonists are locked in a titanic battle. With twelve rounds to run
the outcome is still far from settled, with the champion of the last two years,
Martin Groves chasing the young pretender Scott Moran. Moran made a strong
start to the season with but reigning champion Groves has applied the pressure
particularly during last week’s events in Guernsey and Jersey. It was at Bouley
Bay last week when the results list took on a new appearance with Trevor Willis
claiming a Top 12 victory and a new hill record at the wheel of his OMS CF06.
It is certainly a long time since a chassis other than a Pilbeam or Gould took
the premier position so no doubt chassis constructor Steve Owens and all those
involved with the project took time out for a celebratory glass of champagne
(or something) to mark the occasion. Can Willis disturb the championship status
quo again at Wiscombe?
Groves has the experience and the knowledge of what is required to win a
championship but Moran from Ludlow has challenged him for two years and can now
add guile to his superb car control. Both are devastatingly quick in their state
of the art Formula One like single seater Goulds and will not only be fighting
each other but bidding for a new hill record should track conditions allow.
Emerging from the heat of the Channel Islands sunshine a week ago, a
large class of the fastest single seater racing cars in the country will be in
action at the south Devon venue. Although the focus of attention will be on
these ultimate machines, laden with Formula One technology, there will be a
huge supporting cast of saloon and sports cars. Included in an entry of over
140 will be competitors of the Paul Matty Lotus Sports car class and vintage
Austin Sevens.
Amongst the top class entry, of the
Woolbridge Motor Club organised event, which is sponsored by the Porsche centre
Exeter, will be a number local drivers who will be vying for supremacy in their
individual classes whilst taking-on the those from hill climbing's 'premier
league'. Key amongst these will be Ottery St Mary driver, Ed Hollier and his
OMS SCI sports racer. The car having been heavily re-worked during the closed
season by Bob Hollier,Ed’s father. The combination havs proved to be blindingly
quick at hills across the country claiming victories and new class records. On
his home hill Ed will certainly be looking to embarrass more powerful cars with
the Suzuki Hayabusa powered machine.
Campaigning a larger capacity sports
racing car will be Frampton’s Rod Thorne who with a recent performance gain
will be seeking a good result in his third car in three seasons, the Rover V8
powered Pilbeam MP43 sports racing car. He will face stern opposition in the
form of Mike Endean who will me making a rare visit to Wiscombe Park in his
Ford Puma which features a Gould chassis, four wheel drive and a turbo-charged
engine
Another fierce battle in prospect will be
in the 600 cc to 1100 cc Racing Car category where Exmouth's Dave Gardner is
lined up against some stiff opposition in his Force HC.
Supporting the national championship
categories will be a national permit event where more local drivers will be out
to show their mettle against the acknowledged best. In saloon cars we will see
Exmouth’s Andrew Goodfellow who will campaign his Ford Mondeo whilst George
Koopman and his Renault Clio will probably make the shortest trip to Wiscombe
as he lives in nearby Colyton. In different capacity classes on the sports car
categories will be Westfield SEi pilots Martin Vickery, from Whimple, and
Teignmouth driver and previous Wiscombe Park champion Geoff Mogford.
Having taken class wins at Wiscombe earlier in the season, and more recently at Gurston Down, baker and confectioner Bob Mortimer will be involved in a battle with friend and fellow Porsche driver Jonathan Williamson as the pit their relative skills against each other in their RS and Carrera 911 respectively.
Gates open for the practice runs at 10.00
on both Saturday and Sunday with the all important championship runs commencing
on Sunday morning. The meeting is scheduled to be completed by 17.30.
Admission: Saturday £6 per adult. Sunday:
£7 per adult. Special Weekend ticket: £11.
Accompanied children under 14 FREE.
Car Parking FREE.
Transfer to the competitor's enclosure
FREE.
Catering and licenced bar available.
Wiscombe Park is situated north of
Blackberry Camp and south of Farway Park and will be signposted from Honiton
and on the A3052. For SatNav users the post code is EX24 6JE.
Tuesday May 15th
2007 21.30
Wiltshire’s
Win?
Just
a week after the popular historic meeting at Wiscombe Park complete with
fourteen pre-war ERAs the emphasis at the challenging south Devon speed hill
climb venue returns to more contemporary machinery with two events during the
weekend. Saturday sees the Torbay Motor Club makes it’s second visit to
Wiscombe Park whilst the following day
the venue hosts a round of the Bridge Tyres and Wheels Association of South
Western Motor Clubs Hillclimb Championship. Many competitors will be in action
on both days using the Saturday meeting to learn the course and set-up there
cars for critical championship event the following day.
The
focus of attention for overall honours will be on Ralt RT34 pilot and Ogwell
resident Tony Wiltshire and experienced Pilbeam driver John Forsyth who will be
at the wheel of his three and a half litre Cosworth DFZ powered MP58. Wiltshire
has already taken two victories at Wiscombe this season with his Peugeot
powered machine and will no doubt be looking for a hat-trick of wins. This
weekend however there will be greater opposition in the form of two drivers
from Yeovil. Builder Roger Cock who will be bidding for victory with his two
litre Pilbeam MP54 as will architect
Peter Smith who will be sharing the driving duties in his Gould GR37 with
Kelvin Jouhar.
If
the track is wet however the drivers of these large capacity single-seaters
racing cars may come under pressure from Ottery St Mary’s Ed Hollier who has a
reputation for giant killing in such conditions. Now equipped with a re-chassised OMS SC1 powered by a highly
tuned Suzuki GSX 1300R Hayabusa motorcycle engine. In slippery conditions the
improved power to weight ratio of the OMS, combined with Hollier’s talents ,
could see the local driver catapulted into contention for overall victory. But
Hollier is not the only Ottery resident in contention for a class win as Martyn
Pike has started his season with a class win at Wiscombe and at the Prescott
track in the Midlands. At the wheel of his rapid 1700 c.c. Ford Escort in the
Modified Production Saloon Car class Exmouth driver Tony Parsons will be keen
to keep Pike honest with his 1800 c.c. Ford Fiesta.
It is not just the premier single-seater class which is of
interest to local competitors as Bridge Tyres and Wheels Wiscombe Young Driver
champion Jonathan Wright seeks to make an attack on the main Wiscombe series
this year. The Wellington man, along with Peter Stiles from Taunton, will be
the pre-event favourites in the Series Road Production class but first of all
will have to defeat Jo and Roger Hodgson in their fleet Lotus Elan and Chard’s
Mark Peadon who this season is campaigning a Rover 200 BRM.
The
Limited Road Production category will see the two litre Westfields of Guy Child
and Geoff Mogford go ‘head to head’. Child, from Exmouth. with his wide bodied
version will face the Teignmouth man with the knowledge that the latter is a
past champion at Wiscombe Park and therefore knows what is required to post a
quick time. In the smaller capacity Road Production class Exeter’s Ian Hodgson,
Westfield 1600 c.c., will face stern competition from Weymouth father and son
duo Graham and Geoff Blake, also Westfield mounted and Martin Vickery from
Whimple. Vickery’s 1700 Westfield must be pre-event favourite for the win but
it is likely to be a tough contest.
Local
interest in the saloon car classes is provided by another Whimple resident as
Marc Coles looks to make his bid for a second Wiscombe Championship. The Escort
driver faces stern competition in the 1400 c.c. to 1800 c.c. division of the
Series Road Production category whilst Colyton’s George Koopman will be taking
his road-going Renault Clio up against Alex Clark from Exeter with his
turbo-charged Renault 5.
The driver pairing of Rodney Thorne and Colin Pook will debut the formers new machine in the Sports Libre category. Having sampled a Pilbeam single-seater last year the duo will now campaign a Pilbeam MP43 sports car which has been equipped with the five litre Rover V8 engine which powered Thorne’s ultra successful Westfield. The large ‘two seater’ sports chassis will certainly be a new and different challenge and should be particularly spectacular at the south Devon venue.
Sunday May 6th
2007 18.30
HISTORY IN THE MAKING AT HISTORIC MEETING!
The weekend of May 12th/13th sees an
action packed programme of speed hillclimbing at the south Devon track with the
main focus of attention being the annual Vintage Sports Car Club meeting on
Sunday 13th. Always a first class event for enthusiasts of historic
and pre-war cars this weekend’s meeting has amassed an entry of over 120
vintage and historic cars spanning six decades. This year’s memorial meeting
pays respect to the Majors Richard Chichester and Charles Lambton, who
instigated the hillclimb at Wiscombe back in the 1950s, and to Martin Morris
who owned and competed in ERA R9B nicknamed “Humphrey”.
Following Martin’s death his son David vowed to gather
together as many of the pre-war voiturette racers as a tribute and his tireless
efforts have amassed a stunning total of fourteen ERAs (English Racing
Automobiles) with examples from the United Kingdom, Europe and one freighted
from the United States of America. Such a collection of machinery is
unprecedented when one considers that the Shelsley Walsh Centenary meeting only
attracted eight or so and that was considered at the time to be unique. VSCC
Competition Secretary Bob Wimmer somewhat understates the matter when he opines
that the Wiscombe Park event “will be really rather special”. Apart from the
ERAs, cars representing marques such as: Frazer Nash, Austin, MG, Delage,
Wolseley, Alvis, Talbot. Morgan, Lea Francis and Bentley, to name but a few,
will be in action with the oldest being a 1906 Mors Le Sanglier to be driven by
Oliver May and the latest being Mike Gilbert’s 1955 Formula 3 Cooper.
Saturday will see the 500 Owners Club making their annual
visit to Wiscombe. With over 130 entries there will be great variety on the
hill with over forty motorcycles, a number of cars powered by motorcycle
engines and a selection of more contemporary saloons and sports cars, both
road-going and modified in addition to single-seater racing cars. The entry
does include a number of competitors who will also be competing in the historic
meeting the following day including eleven of the select band of ERAs. So if
you cannot get to Wiscombe on the Sunday you do not have to miss the sight,
sound and experience of these historic machines.
Gates open for the practice runs at 10.00 with the
competitive event starting after a lunch break. The meetings should be
completed by 17.30.
Admission: Saturday £6 per adult, Sunday £15 per adult. Accompanied
children under 14 FREE. Car Parking FREE.
Transfer to the competitor's enclosure FREE.
Catering and licenced bar available.
Wiscombe Park is situated north of Blackberry Camp and south
of Farway Park and will be signposted from Honiton and on the A3052.
Thursday April 26th
2007 20.00
NEW SEASON STARTS - BATTLE ON!
A new season brings new goals and new
expectations for drivers as the season of speed hillclimbing gets underway at
Wiscombe Park this weekend (Saturday/Sunday April 28/29).
A full programme of motor sport spread across the two days
will see a variety of machinery in action; from road-going saloons through the
modified categories of saloons and sports to a selection of racing car classes.
A number of one-make categories are included in the Sunday running order
catering for TVR and cars of the Triumph TR Register.
For the drivers it will be critical to get their 2007
campaigns off to a good start and that will certainly be true for Exmouth Civil
Servant Dave Gardner. Dave, will looking for a good performance on his home
hill at the wheel of a new car for the season in the form of a Force
single-seater racing car. Having graduated from a Caterham 7 HPC sports car to
an OMS racing car last year further progress is anticipated with the more
contemporary machine.
Taunton Civil Servant Peter Stiles. Peter, will looking for a
good performance on his home hill at the wheel of the Volkswagen Golf GTI but
the competition could not be fiercer as Jonathan Wright who also drives the
Golf will be seeking to go one better in the Bridge Tyres and Wheels Wiscombe
Championship having finished as runner-up last season. Stiles and Wright will
have to repel the challenge of the rapid Lotus Elan driven by Jo and Roger
Hodgson and Marc Peadon. The Chard driver is another who will be settling-in to
driving yet another new machine having in recent years forsaken his Peugeot in
favour of a Toyota MR2 and will now be seen at the wheel of a Rover 200 BRM.
But other local competitors will be vying for class wins and
amongst them will be Alex Clark from Whipton in his Renault 5 Turbo. A past
winner at Wiscombe Park Alex will have to deal with a stern challenge in the
road-going class from Jeff Bruce-Southern in his supercharged BMW Mini Cooper
‘S’ Works. The mid capacity division of the Limited Production Road Car class
is dominated by Westfield chassis and will see local drivers Ian Hodgson
(Exeter) and Martin Vickery (Whimple) take-on the father and son combination of
Graham and Geoff Blake from south Dorset.
One of the most entertaining classes of the weekend, will see
previous Bridge Tyres and Wheels Wiscombe Champion Geoff Mogford commence his
attack to reclaim the title at the wheel of the two litre Westfield SE. The
Teignmouth driver will line-up against another rapid Westfield pilot, in the
form of Andy Cawsey and Carcraft Cyclone pilot Tony Streeting.
The Series Production Road Car over 2600 c.c. category of the
Sunday meeting will see retired Dorchester garage proprietor Paul Channon at
the wheel of his thunderous AC Cobra battling against Sturminster Newton
resident Tim Ayres in his four litre Morgan while Weymouth driver Michael
Willgoss takes to the hill with his turbocharged four wheel drive Escort
Cosworth in a battle against stern opposition which includes a Nissan GTiR,
Jaguar XK140 and a Porsche 911 Carrera.
Colin Pook who, with fellow Frampton resident Rodney Thorne,
has campaigned both a five litre V8 Westfield and a twin-turbo V8 powered
single-seater Pilbeam in recent years. Pook however will return to the wheel of
his Vision V86 sports racer until the new mount which he and Thorne will be
sharing this season is readied.
There will be no shortage of competition in the single-seater
classes. In the large capacity class in particular there will be changes. Tony
Wiltshire, a Wiscombe winner in recent seasons, will again be campaigning his
Ralt RT34 powered by a Peugeot engine from an
ex-BTCC touring car and again he will have John Forsyth with his 3.5
litre V8 engined Pilbeam MP58 as opposition. This duo have fought a number of
close battles in their individual quest for supremacy at the south Devon course
and this weekend should be no different. However Forsyth needs to tune the
suspension set-up of the Pilbeam having recently changed to radial ply racing
slicks from the more widely used crossply versions. Roger Cock who will be
seeking to keep messers Wiltshire and Forsyth ‘honest’ as he strives for a good
result in his Pilbeam MP58.
Gates open for the practice runs at 10.00 with the
competitive event starting after a lunch break.
The meeting should be completed by 17.30.
Admission: £6 per adult. Accompanied children under 14
FREE. Car Parking FREE.
Transfer to the competitor's enclosure FREE.
Catering and licensed bar available.
PHILATELY FOR HILLCLIMBERS!
The topic of stamp collecting may well be unusual for a website
allied to motor sport but let me assure you it is for a good reason. During the
2006 season the Devon and Cornwall Air Ambulance assisted at two incidents on
the hill. Although both of these occasions happened to be during motorcycle events
we must remember that at one stage the flying doctors looked likely visitors
during the national championship car meeting in July as well. In an initiative
to support the local air ambulance organisation Gwyneth Wright and the
Woolbridge Motor Club have instigated a collection of used postage stamps to
raise funds to enable a donation to be made to the charity which carries out
the fundraising for the service.
We all appreciate the nature of our sport and that the back-up of
such emergency services is critical so we would ask drivers, marshals and
anyone interested in the sport at Wiscombe Park to tear around the stamps and
detached them from envelopes etc as they receive their post, save them and then
bring them along to meetings during the season when a collecting point will be
arranged. Every little helps. We look forward to your support.
For further information please contact:
Geoff Pickett
Telephone/Facsimile: 01305 251662 Mobile: 07765
094380
e-mail: media@wiscombepark.co.uk
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