Shelsley season draws to a close

11:00am Thursday 18th September 2008

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AN exciting, record-breaking 2008 at Shelsley Walsh draws to a conclusion this weekend with two one-day meetings.

There will be an end-of-term celebration feel with competitors having one more blast before autumn sets in with a long winter ahead.

Saturday features a round of the Toyo Tires Midland Speed Championship plus the Ginetta Owner’s Club Speed and Westfield competitions.

The Reliant Scimitar and Sabre Speed and the Triumph TR Revington Speed championships are also running alongside.

An unusual entry is Leighton Hughes in a standard Vauxhall Vectra V6.

Hughes proves motor sport is possible on the tightest budget as the car cost only £900 and in 2007 he won his class championship in the Welsh Sprint and Hillclimb series.

There are also five classes of motorcycles competing in a thrilling section of the event.

Stourport’s Jon Beard is taking a weekend off from his regular role in the Midland Hillclimb Rescue unit to compete in his modern classic Peugeot 205 GTi on both days.

Shelsley Walsh watermill mastermind Martyn Herridge, of nearby Dunley, will be out in his locally-built Bewley Suzuki single-seater.

The latest Midland Hillclimb champion Peter Cox, of Abberley, will be driving his regular mount, the classic Chevron B42 formerly known as Old Bendy until he re-jigged the chassis.

Favourite for best time of the day on Saturday and Sunday must be Yarkhill’s Deryk Young, who is currently ninth in the MSA British Hillclimb Championship.

Young will be driving his Gould GR55, powered by an ex-F1 Judd V8. His wife Sue, the Shelsley Walsh women’s outright hill record holder, will be sharing the car.

Sunday brings a round of the Richard Egger Insurance/HSA Speed Championship plus the Morgan Sports Car Club Parc Ferme Speed competition.

The TVR Car Club Speed and Austin Healey Club HealeySport Speed championships will also be featuring.

Andy Platt takes a break from competing in the two-litre class of the MSA British Hillclimb Championship to share his wife Julie’s Lotus Exige. Romsley’s Will Hall, who recently took a third place in a MSA British Hillclimb Championship round, will be in a Force racing car of only 1,300cc capacity.

Shelsley Walsh is signposted around 10 miles north-west of Worcester and practice starts at 9.30am on both days.

Each event starts after lunch at 2pm and admission is £14 on both days with accompanied children under 16 getting in free.

The price includes parking, transfer to the paddock and seated trackside enclosures.

There are catering facilities available as well as a range of souvenirs.

Shelsley Walsh will be back next spring with the May Midlander on Sunday, May 3, and Monday, May 4, incorporating a Midland Hillclimb Championship round.