Spring and Summer Championship Hillclimb - Harewood
Report by Chris Bannister of JCB Photography
24 - 25 August 2024
Competitors of the Harewood Speed Hillclimb Championship were competing at Harewood Hill over the weekend of 24th and 25th August for the Spring and Summer Championship Hillclimb meeting along with two and three wheeled competitors joining in on the action on the Sunday.
Spring Championship Hillclimb
This event was postponed back in April due to the very wet spring, leavening the Paddock and car parking areas unusable around the famous Yorkshire hill.
The events were Round’s five and six of the 2024 Harewood Speed Hillclimb Championship, organised by the BARC Yorkshire Centre.
With two practice runs and a timed run completed before the lunch break, followed by two timed runs in the afternoon and a total start entry of 116 cars.
Saturday’s weather turned out to be the better of the two days even though it was overcast with a breeze, which resulted in perfect track conditions, for a number of competitors to set new class records:
Class 15B for MG Groups 3 & 4 Modified cars. Ian Howlett driving a MG F, car #32.
Class 39 Jaguar Drivers Club. Haydn Spedding driving a Jaguar E Type, car #136.
Class 1A Road cars up to and including 1400cc. Adam Riley driving the VW UP, car #62
Class 2A Road cars Specialist Production Kit cars. Henry Moorhouse driving the Honda powered Westfield, car #104.
Class 2F Road cars Non-ferrous chassis over 1800cc. Pete Vincent driving his VX220, car #117.
Class 3G Modified cars Specialist Production kit over 1700cc. Simon Green driving his Westfield Duratec, car #147.
Class 6B Sports Racing and Racing cars manufactured up to 1971. David Tatham driving the McLaren M12C car #163
Fastest Time of the Day was set by Mark Hemingway driving a Force TA car #168, with Harry Pick setting the second fastest, driving an OMS 28XD, car #170 and Jake Bellerby driving his OMS 2000M, car#162 setting the third fastest.
Full Results from the Spring Championship Hillclimb can be found here: Saturday 24 August 2024 Spring Championship
Summer Championship Hillclimb
On Sunday the Summer Championship Hillclimb had a total start entry of 105 cars and 21 motorbikes, including five sidecar entries.
Also joining in on the track side action were a large group of competitors from the road and race classes of the Paul Matty Lotus Championship.
Sunday morning was overcast and with a much stronger wind, than yesterday, keeping the temperatures down both on and off the track. Only One class record was broken, Class 3G. Which had only stood for less than twenty-four hours, again set by Simon Green driving his Westfield Duratec, car #147.
Competition got underway with the first practice run, which was completed in about 50 minutes. Second Practice run was completed in about an hour and a quarter. So the competitors got in a timed run before the lunch break.
A second timed run was fully completed after the lunch break. It was during the third timed run that a competitor left a large amount of oil on the track leading into The Esses all the way up to Farmhouse, covering nearly half of the track.
The Harewood Orange Army (Marshals) did spend a fair amount of time dressing the oil and a couple of cars did go up the hill but a tuff decision, was made to abandon the meeting on safety grounds, by the Clerk of the Course and officials.
The fastest bike up the Yorkshire hill was set by Paul Jarrett ridding a KTM bike #46 and the fastest sidecar was Aaron Hall and Garth Rawlings riding a Poole Trike #64.
In the Harewood Championship Adam Riley driving the VW UP car# 62 still leads the Championship from Simon Green driving his Westfield Duratec, car #147 and Henry Moorhouse driving the Honda powered Westfield, car #104 in third place.
Full Results from the Summer Championship Hillclimb can be found here:
Sunday 25 August 2024 — Summer Championship Hillclimb Event Results
Harewood Championship Standings:
Sunday 25 August 2024 — Summer Championship Hillclimb - Harewood Championship
Harewood FTD Award Series:
Sunday 25 August 2024 — Summer Championship Hillclimb - BARC Harewood FTD Award Series
Many thanks to BARC Yorkshire centre for the opportunity to be track side. Also not forgetting all the Marshals, Medical and the Extractor Rescue team, along with all the back office staff without which the events at Harewood Hill could not take place.
The final two rounds of the 2024 Harewood Hillclimb Championship is over the weekend of the 21st and 22nd September for the Greenwood Cup and Mike Wilson Hillclimb.
Harewood Speed Hillclimb course track details.
Harewood Speed Hillclimb is located between the villages of Harewood and Collingham just off the A659. SatNav postcode LS17 9LA. What Three Words. admit.uncle.piston
Harewood Hillclimb is the longest speed hillclimb in mainland UK with a track length of 1448 metres. The all tarmac track is set against the beautiful backdrop of the Wharfedale valley in the Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire.
The fastest cars can complete the course in under 50 seconds with top speeds in excess of 130 mph.
Harewood Hillclimb record is 46.39 secs. set by Matthew Ryder driving a Gould GR59J on 03/07/2022.
Ladies Hill record is 50.74 secs. set by Nicola Menzies driving a Gould GR55B on 03/07/2022.
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