British Hill Climb Champs - Gurston

[fourstardan]

Took the PH family to Gurston again for the British Hill Climb championships.

That sound of Bob Penrose's Pillbeam V8 with 736HP was what I needed to kick the long weekend off with.

Little man lasted a bit longer than the April meet that was rather cold.

Definitely worth a visit and a great day out!

Edited by fourstardan on Sunday 28th May 07:34

[realjv]

I made my first ever trip to Gurston on Sunday. Lovely venue with some brilliant viewing opportunities thanks to the topography, I will definitely be back. The top level british championship cars are bonkers quick which I knew before getting there but seeing them doing 140mph along a narrow single track lane is something else.

[df76]

Great day yesterday, I was there helping a friend with his Nova rather than driving... made an interesting change. Really good event, even with a few incidents to deal with. Varley was lucky that his car didn't dig in when losing it at The Hollow.

[entropy]

Interesting. Gurston doesn't exactly scream excitement on paper nor on YT. Not twisty enough and if I wanted to see cars thundering in a straight line I'd go to Santa Pod. I will give it a try when I move back down South.

[kimducati]

It's generally regarded to be a 'power' hill, but it's much trickier to get right than you might think, looking at the layout.
Even in a road car, you need a brave pill to nail Hollow, then carry as much speed into Karousel as you dare, bleed it away on the steep ramp between in & out, get a good exit up towards Ashes, which is key to getting a good run up Burkes Rise towards the finish.
And that's only on an experience day. The top BHC guys are on a different planet. I'm a few years out of date (not been since 2016) but it was Scott Moran who impressed me most - he always seemed to be (literally) out for a Sunday drive, completely smooth and consistent.
I actually wanted to come up there this weekend, but have got family staying, so no weekend pass for me this time!!
Kim

[fourstardan]

entropy said:

Interesting. Gurston doesn't exactly scream excitement on paper nor on YT. Not twisty enough and if I wanted to see cars thundering in a straight line I'd go to Santa Pod. I will give it a try when I move back down South.

It's an ok day out for me thats luckily on 30 mins up the road. It's nice to see the cars close up and for my son to get some excitement.

They have a nice cafe/bar as well.

I only stumbled across the venue when looking on google maps for something to do that other month.

[coppice]

entropy said:

Interesting. Gurston doesn't exactly scream excitement on paper nor on YT. Not twisty enough and if I wanted to see cars thundering in a straight line I'd go to Santa Pod. I will give it a try when I move back down South.

But no motorsport really works on TV anyway . I fall asleep during most of what I watch . I remember being at Harewood a yea or so ago , standing next to some likely lads (whom I unfairly assumed spent their Saturday nights messing about in multiplex car parks)- jaws were agape at the pace of a decent Clio . oohs and ahs at a (not very fast at all) Nissan GTR. I mentioned that if they thought that was fast wait till they saw a big power single seater .

It was worth the ticket price to see their faces as a Gould bulleted round Farmhouse before reaching 40mph faster on the speed trap.

[ettore]

I went on Sunday for the first time in about 20 years. I used to live nearby, so it was my local hill and it was lovely to see it unchanged in the beautiful chalk downland:

What has changed though, is the pace of the top national cars. Nearly 150mph into hollow (and still accelerating) and 160 mph over the finish line, which is a corner.

Gurston is tricky and anything but straightforward, nor indeed straight. It’s genuinely spectacular motorsport to see full downforce single seaters demolish the essentially farmtrack course. Apparently the latest Goulds are doing 0-160 in just over 6 seconds..

[fourstardan]

ettore said:

I went on Sunday for the first time in about 20 years. I used to live nearby, so it was my local hill and it was lovely to see it unchanged in the beautiful chalk downland:

What has changed though, is the pace of the top national cars. Nearly 150mph into hollow (and still accelerating) and 160 mph over the finish line, which is a corner.

Gurston is tricky and anything but straightforward, nor indeed straight. It’s genuinely spectacular motorsport to see full downforce single seaters demolish the essentially farmtrack course. Apparently the latest Goulds are doing 0-160 in just over 6 seconds..

Do you know who won at the weekend?

Some of the Single seaters were pretty nifty tbf, I dread to think how much money they put into this sport.

[df76]

fourstardan said:

ettore said:

I went on Sunday for the first time in about 20 years. I used to live nearby, so it was my local hill and it was lovely to see it unchanged in the beautiful chalk downland:

What has changed though, is the pace of the top national cars. Nearly 150mph into hollow (and still accelerating) and 160 mph over the finish line, which is a corner.

Gurston is tricky and anything but straightforward, nor indeed straight. It’s genuinely spectacular motorsport to see full downforce single seaters demolish the essentially farmtrack course. Apparently the latest Goulds are doing 0-160 in just over 6 seconds..

Do you know who won at the weekend?

Some of the Single seaters were pretty nifty tbf, I dread to think how much money they put into this sport.

Full results are here.

https://www.tsl-timing.com/event/232184

https://www.tsl-timing.com/event/232284

A lot of money being spent... like a really serious amount.

[Truckosaurus]

I suspect the front runners still get good value compared to the funds needed to run in anything other than the most basic of circuit racing, let alone any other 'British' national championship.

Although only drag racing gets you less track time

Not managed to get to Gurston yet this season. As with all hillclimb venues it is a much more pleasant place to spend the day than many of the windswept airfields that circuit racing takes place on.

[coppice]

Agreed - like drag racing, hillclimbing remains the province of the comfortably off amateur and is free of the sponsorship bullst and corporate hospitality which infects so much of modern circuit racing , along with corresponding levels of self importance . Even the top hillclimb teams are essentially a couple of blokes with a trailer and a motorhome and, mercifully, big buck sponsorship and factory teams are unknown .

I'm at Harewood this Saturday for the endearingly eccentric VSCC meeting - the essence of amateur motorsport .

[ettore]

Truckosaurus said:

I suspect the front runners still get good value compared to the funds needed to run in anything other than the most basic of circuit racing, let alone any other 'British' national championship.

Although only drag racing gets you less track time

Not managed to get to Gurston yet this season. As with all hillclimb venues it is a much more pleasant place to spend the day than many of the windswept airfields that circuit racing takes place on.

Your latter point is spot on. Hillclimb venues are all in beautiful bits of the countryside and are genuinely pleasant places to spend time. I like the atmosphere too, friendly and enthusiastic.

The main thing though is the sheer variety of interesting cars and technical solutions that a much more open rulebook breeds. The latest Gould's are also beautiful looking things, with mind-bending pace.

Edited by ettore on Tuesday 30th May 13:36

[bumskins]

entropy said:

Interesting. Gurston doesn't exactly scream excitement on paper nor on YT. Not twisty enough and if I wanted to see cars thundering in a straight line I'd go to Santa Pod. I will give it a try when I move back down South.

Only been once, can appreciate the sentiment and it's not one of my favourite hills (Shelsley Walsh and Doune would probably get that accolade) but it's a decent hill to go and spectate at for sure.

[_Bozzy]

It looks a bit bland to me with just the one heavy braking zone.

[Mark A S]

I have competed at virtually all the main UK Hillclimb’s, IMO Gurston is my least favourite to drive, pity as its also the most local.
No disrespect to the event meant at all as its always well run and spectating is pretty good. As mentioned, watching the big boys at 150 + is amazing, but then they are at any venue they go to.

Last time I competed there was in a 550 bhp 996 turbo, now that was definitely more interesting as it would pull 105 mph over the line, which again as mentioned is in fact on a bend.
The crop field on the outside there has seen a few cars in it over the years

[sly fox]

I attended both Shelsey Walsh and Gurston this weekend.

Hill climbing appears to be a bit one dimensional from a spectators perspective, but partly due to great weather, i still had a great time watching various classes of car go zooming past.

Very different crowds at both, but quite a small club/community spirit evident. Would'nt say i'd rush back but it was a good way to inject some motorsport into the weekend.

[rlw]

Having seen this, I shall be going to Harewood on Sunday as it's, now, local to me. Haven't seen a car on track for far too long so it will be a nice change form the normal Sunday crap.

[bumskins]

rlw said:

Having seen this, I shall be going to Harewood on Sunday as it's, now, local to me. Haven't seen a car on track for far too long so it will be a nice change form the normal Sunday crap.

Was blissfully unaware of Harewood being on this weekend! Thanks for the notice, will have to go along as just spotted a friend's name on the entry list I haven't seen for a few years

[rlw]

bumskins said:

Was blissfully unaware of Harewood being on this weekend! Thanks for the notice, will have to go along as just spotted a friend's name on the entry list I haven't seen for a few years

And Saturday too...