A postcard from Shelsley Walsh – it’s Harvest Festival time.

Report by David Harbey

12th - 13th September 2020

Having had to cancel trips to British Hillclimb Championship rounds at Harewood and Doune earlier in the year, it was great to hear that the Midland Automobile Club would be able to run an event that spectators could attend.

The Shelsley Walsh “Harvest Festival” meeting ran on the 12^th /13^th September with appropriate pandemic considerations – no paddock access, one way paths and restricted seating. It was good, nevertheless, to be back for the Saturday action !

With two, or possibly three, practice runs for each competitor in the morning and two timed runs and a top ten run off in the afternoon we were in for plenty of action. Even though the Vicar, Rev Johnson, had decreed there should be no singing at the Harvest Festival this year, the engines were allowed to be given full voice.

As I got to the terrace overlooking Kennel, Lindsay Summers was taking her first practice run up the hill in the DJ Firestorm with its 2.65l Cosworth engine.

There was a wide range of cars competing – from a classic Alfa Romeo GT Junior, a Frogeye Sprite, a Mallock Clubman and a 1920’s GN Spider – a cycle car with a Frazer Nash V-Twin engine.

I moved up to Crossing as the practice runs progressed through the morning. There’s a view back to Kennel, a front three quarter shot and a view up the hill towards Bottom S.

I wanted to be at this spot ready for the single seaters. As there is no British Hillclimb Championship this year, it was a bit of a lucky dip as far as entries was concerned. This Beetle ain’t a Beetle as you may remember it.

Nevertheless it was good to see some familiar names and cars – the afore-mentioned Summers, mother Lindsay and son Alex, in the DJ Firestorm #702/#2, Trevor Willis in his OMS #5 and Sean Gould in the superb looking Gould GR59 #7.

Threatening to nibble at their heels was Robert Kenrick in the extremely quick GWR Raptor #9 with its 1024cc BMW engine.

The run up to Bottom S includes a speed check; the quickest drivers are hitting over 130 mph on the approach to Bottom S. This is also where the some of the single seaters can reward photographers with a shower of sparks – Sean Gould obliges here.

With everyone behaving well in the morning and few red flags, there was time for a third practice run. I returned to Kennel but stood a little further up the hill to get a corner of the hedge in shot. It might be something of an acquired taste, but I think it does help frame the image. 

Last time I was here in 2019, the quickest cars were getting down to low 23 second runs and by the third run of the day, that’s where Sean Gould was heading with a 23.76 second run.

Sparks apart, there appeared to be little drama, just fast, controlled driving – where I was anyway ! Conditions were warm and sunny; well-nigh perfect for fast times.

Following the lunch break, it was time to re-acquaint myself with the Top S and Bottom S spectating areas. This requires the ascent of Mt Shelsley – which seemed to be no less steep than it was last year despite my pandemic driven exercise in the intervening period !

There’s an excellent shot as the cars exit Top S with just the finishing line to aim for. It’s generally more dramatic with slightly damp tarmac although the competitors might not agree with that view !

Waiting for the cars to exit the corner allowed me to shoot them in the full sunlight.

However, with the lovely sunshine, catching the cars nearer the corner gave some interesting shadows to play with. Fair to say that some of the shots had a little post production to lift the shadows despite adjusting the Exposure Value (EV) at the time.

The fastest cars fire out of Top S and drive for the line – Robert Kenrick in the bike engined Raptor was crossing the finishing line at 119mph; Sean Gould meanwhile crossed the line at 156mph on his fastest run !

The GN Spider was also good value here.

With Alex Summers, Willis and Gould all in the 23sec bracket and improving with every run, it was all to play for on the second timed run.

I moved to the terracing above Bottom S – often the spot for some bouncing over the kerbs or late braking moments. In the event, everyone was pretty well behaved apart from Harry Pick who decided to indulge in a little grass cutting !

The light provided some interest with the sun shining though the trees to the left of picture. I’d not seen it quite like this before as we are usually a month earlier in the year.

The top three had their final timed runs and got quicker again – closer to a sub 23 second run.

If you are really quick, you can swing round and get a shot of the cars heading into Top S. I had been shooting at 200mm for Bottom S and quickly zooming out to 70mm for Top S.

From this, you may have worked out that I was using the 70-200mm zoom – indeed, as I had been all day. There’s no need for the superzoom at Shelsley.

And so to the Top Ten run off. Again, little or no rattling of kerbs, just smooth, fast driving – to the spectator’s eyes at least. The promise of quick times was fulfilled – Trevor Willis, going next to last, set a 23.71 sec target for Sean Gould.

Gould took up the challenge with a 23.08 second run – for the  fourth fastest time ever up Shelsley Walsh’s 1000 yards of tarmac!

They were just warming up for Sunday ! Alex Summers first timed run was 22.99 seconds and then in the run-off he lowered that to 22.83 seconds. By then, however, Sean Gould had already stopped the clocks at 22.73 seconds in his second timed run.

The outright hill record of 22.58 seconds looks in jeopardy in 2021 ! Mind you, there is still the Autumn Speed Finale to come on the weekend of 19^th /20^th September .…

There are more photos from the day – click on the Flickr link below to see them.