Shelsley Walsh 14th August 2004
7 Records in one day!
Fastest ever climb, Fastest ever lady, Fastest ever sportscar, Fastest ever bike
August
Shelsley was a classic. The sun shone. The anticipation of a sub 24 second
run and the massive crowd all made one of the best weekends ever at the hill.
Even a Spitfire attended for 10 minutes over our heads, filling the Teme Valley
full of Merlin V12 noises.
Adam Fleetwood showed exactly why he was recently crowned 2004 Nicholson McLaren British Hill Climb Champion by taking the Shelsley Walsh course record into new territory with the first ever 23 second runs in history. He served a warning in Saturday practice with a 24.03. This was followed by a record splintering and shattering 23.87 in Sunday morning qualifying and a 23.92 to win round 27. Despite the understandable excitement he made it look so smooth and easy. Truly the sign of a champion.
But
the excitement began in Sunday qualifying with a record destroying 26.22 from
Phil Cooke in the Force, taking nearly 1.1 seconds from his 27.31 of June
6th! Then it was recent ladies record snatcher Sue Young at it again in Deryk’s
Del-lara using all that massive methanol fuelled grunt to get into the 26’s
at 26.98 to win the (must be re-titled) man-of-the-meeting! 137 mph over the
line after big sideways moments off the line and out of top S proved she could
keep her toe in. Well Done Sue.
As the big cars ran through qualifying it was Willem Toet setting the pace on a 24.86. Not long ago that would brought cheers of congratulations for a hill record, but wait, here comes Adam Fleetwood for a game-over statement of 23.87 and the fastest drive ever at the most historic of all motor sport venues. No disrespect to all the other competitors but this was a performance of epic proportions delivered in an almost unhurried way. Is it your reporter’s ears or does the engine in this car sound as if it uses less RPM than any other? Is there even more in hand with this amazing car/driver combo?
Most
spectacular qualifier has to be Mr Sparks Rob Turnbull for his display of
Platinum-white visual effects out of the kink. With only 2.5 litres he can
sure carry that speed through from the crossing bend. Come to our house on
November the 5th please Rob!
Run-off time and it was dual driving Roger Fleetwood first up with a 26.90, but no points eleven cars later. Giant killer Trevor Willis squeezed all out of two litres for a 9th place. Phil Cooke a 26.86 and no points; in this company equalling his new record would still not have earned a championship point. What a shame given all his undisputed effort. Martin Groves and Willem Toet both in the 24 second bracket but here comes that man Fleetwood again a full second quicker. 23.92 for a maximum eleven points. What a morning!
Peter Voigt set a new classic record WITH 29.25. Nic Mann took the Sportscar record after Martin Bolsover (present both days) had held it for 20 years. 26.60 the new mark. Paul Jeffrey took a new outright bike record with 31.49. Dave Kimberley took the mod prod 2 litre record to 29.41 whilst Mark Budgett just failed to take a 600cc record by a smidge.
For
the single seaters, in the afternoon Phil Cooke was in the 26’s again
but no qualification this time. Career Shelsley best 26.01 for Paul Ranson
set the benchmark for run off qualification. Superb shot from Trevor Willis
just off his 2 litre record sat him mid pack in the run off. Spits and spots
from the sky as the last of the qualifiers took their class runs then some
proper rain and just what we didn’t want. All the top 12 runners on
full wets and away they went. Lots of effort but most around ten seconds slower
than the morning run off. This could have spoiled the day but with competition
this hot not many cared. Big power not so much of an advantage when this big
power hill is wet, so penultimate runner Haimes blitzed them. But wait, here
comes that man Fleetwood again to show them all the way home. What a worthy
champion! While Athens saw athletic competition we had witnessed the Olympics
of our chosen sport!
Preview
SHELSLEY WALSH HAS BIGGEST MEETING OF THE YEARLOTUS GRAND PRIX CARS STAR
Shelsley’s biggest meeting of the year is going to be over the weekend of August 14th and 15th with the British Hill Climb Championship cars attacking the 1000 yard hill similar to the June meeting when the outright hill record tumbled from 24.56 to 24.08 seconds. Hold onto your programmes as given dry weather we expect a sub-23 second run from Adam Fleetwood to take the overall record even lower as he’s en route to taking his second Hill Climb title on the bounce.
A Big Screen TV will be positioned in the paddock to ensure that you don’t miss a moments action up the 99 year old hill as not only the fastest accelerating cars in the UK battle amongst themselves (28 over 2 litre single seater cars entered in one class) but the Midland Hill Climb Championship that covers all cars from all classes competing to win their classes will be red hot. Ace historic racer Martin Stretton will be in modern mode when he drives a Pilbeam MP82 2 litre in an attempt to snatch the class record from Trevor Willis’ 2 litre OMS. Willis took the record in September last season and will be as rapid as ever to keep the time his.
Class records have been tumbling this season with no less than 5 having gone already plus the Outright, Ladies (Sue Young) and Pre-war (Mac Hulbert) records too, so with a spectacular Motorbike class too over the weekend, will that record go too?
One of the most amazing line ups of Lotus cars anywhere in recent years will be in the Worcestershire valley. Classic Team Lotus will be a major part of the day as no less than 18 Lotus’ are entered. Ranging from a Lotus 6 to an 87B from Nigel Mansell’s early F1 career. Elsewhere on show will be one of the rare ‘twin chassis’ cars from the early 80s, an ultra rare Fast-Back Elite, the very first production Lotus, a Mk 4, the actual JPS Team Lotus Motorhome that has been preserved from the late 70s. On the non mechanical side, on show for the very first time are photographs from the official team Lotus Photographer Peter Darley who followed every move the team made between 1962 and 1971.
The highlight for many though will be the Lotus 49B of Geoff Farmer that was the last privateer F1 car to win a Grand Prix at the 1968 British race at Brands Hatch. Having been driven by Jo Siffert and Graham Hill, under the guidance of Team Owner Rob Walker, the car did a total of 29 F1 GPs before reappearing in 1999 after a restoration. The car took an outright lap record for the Goodwood circuit later that year.
Shelsley Walsh is continuing to raise funds for the future of the world famous hill climb in advance of our 100th year next year. We currently have well over £530,000 after a year of fundraising and are closing in upon the completion of Shelsley Walsh PLC that will enable people to purchase shares.
Shelsley Walsh is 10 miles West of Worcester, just follow the yellow AA signs.
Practice Saturday, Racing Sunday 10.00
Practice £6, Sunday £15
The full list of Lotus entries (at the time of writing)
- Steve Cropley Lotus 6
- Richard Ashmead Lotus Mk IX
- June Matty Lotus 22
- Simon Braithwaite Lotus 11
- Peter Joy Lotus Elite
- Peter Horsman Lotus 17
- Chris Murphy Lotus 18 FJ
- Chris Smith Lotus 18
- Gillian Goldsmith Lotus 23B
- Martin Stretton Lotus 24
- Andrew Bradshaw Lotus 30
- Malcolm Ricketts Lotus 23B
- Paul Matty Lotus 35 F2
- Geoff Farmer Lotus 49B (Ex Siffert GP winner)
- Don Hands Lotus 58
- John Crook Lotus 69 F3
- James Denty Lotus 70 (F5000)
- David Coplowe Lotus 87B (Ex Mansell)