SUMMERS AND UREN BEAT THE CONDITIONS
Alex Summers and Dave Uren were the latest winners in the British Hillclimb Championship after a thrilling day of action at Shelsley Walsh.
On a day when the track under the trees at the Esses never fully dried out, Uren stormed to victory in the opening run-off before Summers clinched victory in round 12. In both runoffs, the winning margin was seven hundredths of a second.
In the opening run-off it was Uren who lit up his Gould perfectly for a storming 25.22 seconds climb to take his first win at this level for several seasons. Reigning champion Wallace Menzies was right there in second, while Summers was consigned to third after losing time at the slippery Esses. “It’s just so easy to overcook it,” said Summers of the track conditions. “You get to the Esses and it’s like a skating rink.”
Scott Moran, Trevor Willis and Matthew Ryder battled over the next places, while Paul Haimes turned in a storming 26.73s climb to be the best of the smaller-engined cars in his
Gould GR59.
Uren was the star of the first run-off as he marked his 23rd wedding anniversary to wife Nicki with victory in round 11. However, it all went wrong later in the afternoon as a battery problem struck as he lined up for his second qualifying run.
As low cloud rolled back in the air got damper as the top guns went for their qualifying runs to earn a place in the second runoff. Menzies should have been last to go and earn another runoff place but Uren, having quickly replaced the battery, came to the line behind Menzies but only got as far as Kennel before it all went wrong.
“It left the line quite nicely and actually turned in at Kennel but then it went. I just needed a bit more space,” said Uren. The Gould’s front-right corner was damaged and his day was over.
Instead, Summers hooked it up very nicely to beat Menzies by seven hundredths of a second as Ryder and Moran tied for third ahead of Willis and the flying Haimes.
“It’s another weekend where we scored the same points as Wallace,” said Summers. “But I’m absolutely gutted for Dave. To be honest, he was the best driver all weekend.”
Menzies was also quick to applaud Uren for his pace. “I’m delighted for David getting the win. He thoroughly deserved it.
In the conditions he pushed mega hard and I take my hat off to him for that. It’s been a really challenging day for everybody and it’s been a bit all over the place. But I think the run-offs have been more or less fair,” said Menzies.
Results
Round 11: 1 David Uren (3500cc GouldNME GR55B) 25.22s; 2 Wallace Menzies (3300cc Gould-Cosworth GR59M) 25.29s; 3 Alex Summers (2650cc DJ-Cosworth Firestorm) 25.37s; 4 Scott Moran (4000cc Gould-Judd GR59J) 25.54s; 5 Trevor Willis (3200cc OMS 28-RTE) 25.58s; 6 Matthew Ryder (4000cc Gould-Judd GR59JB) 25.63s; 7 Paul Haimes (1300t GouldSuzuki GR59) 26.73s; 8 Richard Spedding (1600cc GWR-Hayabusa Raptor 2) 26.85s; 9 Jack Cottrill (2650cc DJ-Cosworth Dallara) 27.37s; 10 Lee Griffiths (1660cc OMS 25-Suzuki) 27.64s;
Round 12: 1 Summers 24.23s; 2 Menzies 24.30s; 3= Ryder and Moran 24.60s; 5 Willis 25.04s; 6 Haimes 26.06s; 7 Spedding 26.21s; 8 Graham Wynn (4000cc Gould-Judd GR59J) 26.80s; 9 Cottrill 26.95s; 10 Griffiths 27.26s.
Points (after 12/24 rounds): 1 Summers 113; 2 Menzies 111; 3 Moran 103; 4 Ryder 80; 5 Willis 75; 6 Uren 59; etc.