Harewood Hillclimb 19th & 20th September

[Craig Senior]

The final two rounds of the OMS championship at Harewood take place next weekend and promise to offer a action all the way.

On Saturday 19 September there will be special classes for Ferrari and MG cars. Around 20 Ferraris and 15 MGs will be put through their paces at the north’s premier hillclimb in the Greenwood Cup meeting.

Sunday 20 September will see the climax of the OMS championship at the Mike Wilson Memorial meeting. The favourite to win the championship is Bradford driver David Sturdy in his supercharged VW Polo, although a number of other drivers will be snapping at his heels. Special mention should be made of the strong entry of Lotus road cars and some fabulous Lotus race cars.

In addition to the special classes on each day there will be road cars from Peugeot, Mini, Skoda, Toyota, Honda, BMW, VW, Mercedes, Ford, Lotus, Mitsubishi, Caterham and Westfield to name a few. In the race car classes there will be single seater and sports cars from manufacturers including Van Diemen, Radical, OMS, Force, Brabham, Dallara and Pilbeam. Drivers from as far afield as Jersey will be competing on both days.

Harewood Speed Hillclimb can be found north of Leeds, just off the A659 between Harewood village and Collingham (SatNav Harewood Avenue Leeds, LS17 9LA).

There are fantastic viewing positions, both trackside and from the hillside. Access to the paddock is free to see the drivers and cars close up. There is catering, a bar, toilet facilities, bouncy castle for the kids (weather permitting), full commentary, timing displays and ample free car parking. Admission is £10 for adults and children under 14 are free. It’s a great day out for all the family.

The action starts with practice at 9am, followed by competitive runs from around 12.30 on each day.

For full details, including entry lists for each day, photos, videos and much more please visit www.harewoodhill.com

 

[Craig Senior]

Weekend reports:

Greenwood Cup 19th September, 2009
With the final meeting of the year fast approaching, the penultimate round at the Yorkshire-based Harewood Hillclimb was soon upon us. The Greenwood Cup saw Richard Spedding soar to yet another Fastest time of the Day, with a time of 53.71 seconds, achieving the feat on his third timed run � just heading Morgan Jenkins to the top spot. John Chacksfield rocketed to the third quickest time, just inches ahead of fourth placed Jason Mourant, while Colin Birkbeck completed the top five fastest competitors of the day. The remaining five spots in the ten fastest times of the day were filled by Harewood regular, Dave Banner, Piers Thynne, Drew Dawson, Len Amy and finally, Iain Davidson. The Saturday of this final weekend of the 2009 season also saw the arrival of the Ferrari Owners Club, bringing with them some spectacular machines. Christian Mineeff topped the times out of the twenty Ferrari competitors, being the only driver in the class to tear down the 65 second barrier, with a time of 65.79 seconds, which he secured on his second timed run. The MG Car Club was another feature of the Greenwood Cup meeting, with an impressive showing of various MG cars, from MGB GT models ZR machines, and everything in between. A popular addition to the programme was David Coulthard � not the F1 superstar, his namesake who, along with his Hillclimb outing is also an MG Trophy regular. Coulthard powered to the top of the times in the MG Cars Group 1 Class, just ahead of another MG trophy regular, Helen Waddington. Meanwhile, it was John Payne and David Morrison who stole honours in the Group 2 & 3 Class and Group 4 & 5 Class, respectively. Despite a few dramas during the sessions the Greenwood Cup was still as magnificent an event as ever, and a great way set-up to the final event of the year.

The year always seems to end with a bang....

Photographs: Tom Rhodes Photographic

Crossed the finish line on his roof and still won his class!

More photos

 

[Craig Senior]

Mike Wilson Memorial 20th September, 2009

For Sundays event, and keeping with what seemed to be the theme of the season, there were more familiarities at the top of the timing sheets. Saturdays quickest duo of Spedding and Jenkins gracefully traded places for Sunday, giving Jenkins the Fastest Time of the Day, with a 53.21 seconds. There was an array of well-known names just behind, with Jason Mourant stealing third, having progressed on his fourth fastest time the previous day, heading John Chacksfield and Piers Thynne. Not far behind, Dave Banner, Sandra Tomlin, Iain Davidson, Len Amy and George Bleasdale recorded the remaining fastest times within the top ten, which they each achieved within their three times runs. With the season now drawn to a close the championship scores are in, and, despite being provisional at the moment, Richard Spedding has risen to the forefront of the FTD Championship, while David Sturdy has provisionally secured the premium spot in the Harewood Championship. All in all it was another successful weekend at Harewood Hillclimb, and a superlative way to end what has been an exciting season. We are all very much looking forward to 2010 already and we look forward to seeing you all out and about at the Hill.

Photos

 

[m0rk]

You have to admire some people's sense of humour

 

[Craig Senior]

You have to admire some people's sense of humour

IIRC his race car wasn't ready so he used what was available! It looked suprisingly level throught the corners.