We were blessed to have a dry track, sunshine and temperatures at around fifteen degrees at this most picturesque hillclimb. And, despite two other events clashing, it was still a one hundred and ten car field!
Wiscombe Park generally runs big classes, so success here is hard won. Here’s how the BARC SBD Speed Championship contenders fared.
In Class A1 – Road Going Series Production up to 1400cc, Mike Edwards in the British Mini ‘only’ had a ten-car class and promptly bagged third place with a very respectable 50.17 seconds. More was to come!
Class A3 – Road Going Series Production up 1800cc – 2600cc, had eighteen contenders. Wynne Morgan in the Renault Williams Clio grabbed a midfield spot on 50.99 seconds, but Steve Riddle in his Renault Clio 172 Cup did one better for a 49.99 seconds.
Class C3 – Modified Limited Production Cars 1800cc – 2600cc, had seven contenders, many hill regulars, and Will Hunt managed forth in class with a quick 44.17 seconds.
Finally, Class D1 – Sports Libre up to 1800cc, had but two contenders, but it was nip and tuck all day between Clive Wooster’s Radical SR4 with Suzuki power and Stuart Lillington’s Kawasaki powered version. In the end Clive had to settle for second, but re-wrote his class record with 40.83 seconds to Stuart’s 39.96 seconds.
A little less warm, but by now most people had their eye in.
Perhaps the most astounding of them all was Mike Edwards, who managed to set a 48.48 seconds for second place, stunning spectators and probably himself a little in the process. All of this was achieved whilst being Torchy the Battery Boy for Clive’s Radical too!
Wynne Morgan improved to 50.37 seconds, but so did classmate Steve Riddle with 50.12 seconds, keeping his nose ahead in that battle.
Will Hunt dropped slightly from Saturday on a 45.00 seconds, but slick shod cars were suffering a little as the temperature fell.
Clive Wooster suffered from the same phenomena. Getting a sub-class record run, 41.28 seconds, in the bag on T1 assured him of some good points, but the planned banzai run in T2 was thwarted by a rapidly declining track temperature.
It’s another hillclimb next, this time at Shelsley Walsh on 6th May.
