YOUNG driver Alex Summers, from Tenbury Wells, took Shelsley Walsh Hill Climb by storm when he won his first British Championship run-off against some of the fastest in the sport.

It had long been predicted that small racing car manufacturer DJ Racecars, from the Peak District, would have a customer win a British round, but nobody expected it to from a relative novice driver.

Twenty-year-old Bath University student Summers claimed the debut win in his supercharged DJ Firehawk after what had been a rain-affected qualifying that helped him into the run-off.

However, the young man still had to put it all together when his turn for a points-scoring shot came.

He did it with remarkable aplomb with a ferocious run to stun the onlookers and better the times of many more experienced campaigners, including twice former British champion Scott Moran (Ludlow), who is the 2011 current Championship leader.

Summers, whose parents Richard and Lindsey both compete at Shelsley and whose paternal great-grandfather competed there as long ago as 1923, paid tribute to the dedication of the DJ team.

He said: “This has still not sunk in. The guys at DJ spent all week rebuilding the engine after a recent failure, yet they’re always available to talk to, no matter how busy they are.”

In a damp second set of qualification runs, Summers again claimed third, but could only finish sixth overall. This time, another DJ driver, Wallace Menzies, set a time that current championship one-two Moran and Trevor Willis could not better to take his first win and stake a claim for a place near the top of the chart come the seasons end.

Fastest qualifier in the wet for the first run-off was David Uren (Redditch) in his tiny 1,100cc Force HC. He even managed to score a point against the big boys and his car carries wing sections manufactured by DJ to complete their day of joy.

Meanwhile, as our dramatic picture shows, Worcester’s Stuart Baylis was lucky to walk away uninjured after the throttle stuck open on his 499cc Jedi Mk 4/88 car and he speared straight into the bank at Top Ess at Shelsley.

Nicholson McLaren MSA British Hillclimb Championship round nine: 1 Summers (1.4s DJ-Suzuki) 29.20 seconds; 2 Moran (3.5 Gould-NME GR61X) 29.30; 3 Roger Moran (3.5 Gould-NME GR61X) 29.77; 4 Menzies (3.2 DJ-Cosworth Firestorm) 29.98; 5 Lee Adams (1.6 GWR-Suzuki Raptor) 29.99; 6= Will Hall (1.6 Force-Suzuki PC) & Willis (3.2 OMS-Powertec) 30.27; 8 Chris Merrick (3.5 Gould-Judd GR55) 30.80; 9 Turnbull (3.5 Gould-Cosworth HB GR55) 30.93; 10 Uren (1.1 Force-Suzuki HC) 31.32; 11 Richard Spedding (1.6 Force-Suzuki PC) 32.11; 12 Lee Griffiths (1.6 OMS-Suzuki 25) 35.13.

Nicholson McLaren MSA British Hillclimb Championship round 10: 1 Menzies 27.67 (best time of the day); 2 Willis 27.79; 3 S Moran 27.86; 4 Hall 27.94; 5 Merrick 28.20; 6 Summers 28.35; 7 Turnbull 28.37; 8 Eynon Price (1.6 Force-Suzuki PC) 28.38; 9 Adams 28.82; 10 R Moran 29.03; 11 Spedding 29.39; John Chalmers (2.0 Ralt-Cosworth F302 BDG) 29.47.

Championship positions after round 10: 1 S Moran 90 points; 2 Willis 72; 3 R Moran 62; 4 Adams 52; 5 Merrick 45; 6 Menzies 39; 7 Hall 33; 8 Tom New 29; 9 Price 26; 10 Richard Spedding 25.

Class Winners: Phil Oram (2.0t Nissan Pulsar GTiR) 37.47; Allan Warburton (1.8 Caterham-Vauxhall) 35.30; Steve Mogg (5.0 TVR Griffith) 38.89; Phillip Dallow (1.6 Peugeot 106) 37.34; Martyn Silcox (2.0t Subaru Impreza) 36.05; Mick Harriman (2.1t Audi Quattro Sport) 35.56; Les Mutch (2.5 Dax Rush) 33.08; George Emmerson (1.7 Mallock Mk21) 35.99; Mark Dempster (2.0 Imagination-Vauxhall PH1) 32.15; Mike Manning (2.0t Ford Puma 4WD) 31.67; Brodie Branch (0.6 Marengo 3) 32.72; Uren 29.35; Hall 29.19; Summers 28.89; S Moran 28.65.