British Hillclimb Championship – Round 1

Prescott – Images and Report by David Harbey

29 April 2022

Spring is in the air – the bluebells and new growth on the trees say so – but the brisk breeze from the North East made it clear that it was not yet summer. However, out of the wind in the paddock it was beautifully sunny and warmer as the first round of the 2022 British Hillclimb Championship got underway at Prescott.

The 2021 Championship had concluded at Loton Park last September; hill records had been falling like ninepins all season as the competition heated up in the top class with Wallace Menzies (#1), Alex Summers (#2) and Sean Gould (#7) taking first, second and third respectively in the final points table.

For 2022. there have been changes in the top class. Sean Gould is taking a year out to get an injury sorted and his multiple hill record setting car is being shared this year by Will Hall and Matt Ryder. Will has taken the decision to move on from his Force and is using this car pending a new Gould for 2023.

Meanwhile, rising star Matt Ryder has moved up from the 1.6 Empire shared with mother Caroline, to the 4.0 litre Judd powered Gould.

The Gould has roughly 2.5x the power of the Empire with only a 30% increase in weight, but it hasn’t seemed to phase him, as we shall see. Elsewhere, Alex Summers has forsaken the bare carbon look on his DJ Firestorm and added some white, blue and grey whilst Dave Uren’s red car has gone the other way to a mainly black livery.

The action on Saturday was somewhat blighted with red flags on the “green” track; I was surprised when I caught the end of the day’s action on the excellent YouTube channel - Hillclimb TV - late in the day.

Sunday promised better as more and more rubber was laid on the track and after a short stop near the start, I set myself up for the timed runs below Pardon - near D on our spectator snapper’s guide – Prescott Hillclimb Track Guide

The spring meeting has the advantage of few leaves on the trees, giving a good shot of the cars as they blast out of Pardon and towards the Esses and I like the view from below framed by spectators and trees.

For this report, I’ll be concentrating on the competitors who made it to the Top 12 Runoffs plus the occasional interloper ! This is Damien Bradley’s very non-standard and very quick Subaru Legacy.

Here's a selection of the drivers who made it into the morning Runoff …

Once the Top 12 were confirmed, I moved up the hill to look back at Pardon (E on the guide), a very tight uphill hairpin as we saw from the previous position.

Hot hatches tend to dangle inside rear wheels here and there is the constant danger of mis-judging the braking point and ending up in the gravel trap (none while I was shooting there !).

The tyre wall which lines the exit at Pardon has caught out the unwary before now, including Trevor Willis in the OMS28 he has been campaigning for a number of years. This time, just a small correction was required on his way to 3^rd equal in the Runoff.

Meanwhile, Matt Ryder was acquitting himself very well – he was other driver who was 3^rd equal and only 0.06 second behind Scott Moran who was first. Splitting the two was Alex Summers, just 0.02 seconds behind Moran. Menzies was a mere 0.1 second behind in 5^th – what a start to the season !

With the biggest crowd at Prescott in living memory, attributed in part to the YouTube coverage over the last couple of years attracting new interest in hillclimbing, it was back to car in the overflow parking – where the field was full !

Despite the numbers there is plenty of room to view at Prescott and wandering round the paddock to get a close up look at the cars is easy.

For the afternoon, the plan was to walk up to the Esses (F and G on the guide) - that afforded the chance to get some shots of other competitors on the way – who can resist a classic Alfa or Porsche !

Caroline Ryder is, this year, sharing a Van Diemen RF86 Formula Ford with 16 year old Alex Coles. Quite different to the Empire Wraith from last year – no aero and half the power - but no less challenging to getting that good time.

I had been using my newly acquired 1.7x teleconverter for most of the shots you see in this report. Having talked with PistonClick founder, Tony, about the need for greater reach at some venues without having to use the 200-500mm superzoom.

He suggested a teleconverter which sits between camera body and lens and increases focal length. Nikon seems to have stopped selling their 1.7x teleconverter but I found a mint second hand one which, with the 70-200mm zoom, gives a range of 120-340mm and only a small reduction in maximum aperture.

It is a heavy combination with the 70-200mm but, without the need for the monopod I use with the superzoom, I found it easier to handle - especially panning.

It also gives me broadly the same range I found so useful at Donington recently when using Mrs H’s Sigma 100-400mm. If you are looking at teleconverters make sure you check carefully for compatibility with your current lenses.

Standing at the exit (G on the guide) allows for the shot back through the Esses …

The close up approaching the last left hander …

The car heading up the hill to Semi-Circle – including the occasional spot of opposite lock from Dave Uren and – if you look closely - you see can which gear Will Hall is in …

With the afternoon Top 12 Runoff order settled, there was a chance for a few classics to take their runs up the hill including a road registered CanAm McLaren (which used to be driven to events on the public roads) and a Bugatti – Prescott is the home of the Bugatti Owners Club.

The fast and furious action continued with the afternoon Runoff; Matt Ryder had only just made the top 12 but put in a superb run to get 5^th overall. Menzies went two places better than the morning and Scott Moran improved on his morning time to get 2^nd.

Star turn of the afternoon runs was Alex Summers who stormed to fastest time of the day and a mere 0.31 seconds off the outright hill record on what was a coolish day early in the season.

Even better was Alex’s reactions in the middle of the Esses as he applied some quick opposite lock. I thought he had had a bit of a moment as I took the shots and when I looked back it became clear.

I watched the YouTube coverage when I got home and you don’t pick it up at all. His GoPro footage must be interesting …

So, how did Matt feel at the end of the day ?

“What a fantastic time we had at Prescott last weekend. The car was great and, after playing with the setup a bit on Saturday, I was feeling more and more confident heading into Sunday morning. When I qualified 3rd for the first of the two Championship runoffs, I couldn’t believe it at my first British round of the year !  To follow that, when I took nearly half a second more off my time in the runoff, I was really happy to get my highest finish to date.

With an issue during the first part of the second class run I was sure I would not have made the cut to qualify for the second runoff, but I was in luck and scraped in with 11th place.

I knew I had to make the most of this and was able to bring the car back in a time good enough to secure 5th. For a first British Championship event in the new car, I was thrilled to score total of 14 points, just one point shy of my previous best entire season in the smaller 1600cc class.”

Caroline was equally pleased with her debut in the Formula Ford class.



“The newly acquired FF1600 Van Diemen RF86 (#131) is enormous fun and I’m starting to get to grips with the lack of adhesion that comes from not having wings and slick tyres. I was pleased to take 2/10ths off my best test day time bringing me to 5th in a class of 11. My young co driver Alex Coles (#831), had a fantastic day winning the class in his first ever British Championship event which, with the competition on the day, was no mean feat. I think I’d better get my act together !

All in all, a fantastic weekend for Ryder Motorsport !”