Over two hundred race cars were entered for this Midland Automobile Club organised MSA British Hill Climb Championship event, of which twelve were Historic Formula 3 500's. It was sunshine and showers during practice on Saturday and competition on Sunday but the runs for the 500 drivers were mostly dry, with a little dampness (described by Mark Riley as 'gloopy') on Saturday to 'fine tune' the drivers! As for last year, the 500's were allocated the grass adjacent to gate 'A' and this is ideal for push starting the cars in number order down the slope to the start line; it is also just behind the bar!

"Middle" Dent trying

The 500 OA hill climb 'family' was increased by new drivers Tracey Cameron and Oliver Dent who are very welcome and both drove quickly. There were three generations of the Dent family competing and grandfather John and grandson Oliver celebrated their close birthdays by treating all of us to a piece of the wonderful cake made by John's granddaughter. As you can see, the cake was a work of art and very much admired.

The gremlin's decided to have fun with some of the 500's during Saturday's practice; although the drivers were not amused they mostly won the battle with these gremlins! On Ted Sharpe's first run the engine sprocket came off, never to be seen again, but the circlip was found! Ted calmly worked on the RGR and soon had it serviceable. The Hornet of Alistair and Oliver Dent had a rear axle that looked broken to me but after the attention of Alistair and Ewen Cameron it was soon running again. The nice Arnott of Dennis Williams stopped part way up the hill and after a lot of work the engine would still not run reliably under load and Dennis had to withdraw from the competition. Steve Lawrence found a problem with the engine and gearbox alignment on his Cooper and took the car home to work on it; next morning he and father Mike were back with the car serviceable. Mike Wood's nice IOTA seemed to be going slower on each practice run so he stripped the carburettor and found the main jet loose in the bottom of the float chamber; it went much faster after being put back together! The eleven cars that had qualified in practice were tucked-up for the night, including one that looked as if a major modification had been carried out! Several drivers were seen relaxing at the bar, probably drinking lemonade, and some members of the hill climb family enjoyed a good supper in the Stratstone Restaurant.

On Sunday the gremlins decided to leave the 500's alone for their competitive runs but one must have sneaked back to cause the chains of the Hornet to come off on Oliver Dent's first run. Mike Wood was going well in his IOTA but decided to lower his gearing for his second run and shaved nearly 4 seconds off his first run to record a good time. Tracey Cameron, driving the Cooper Mark V owned by Dennis Williams, did two quick runs and was pleased with her times. Mark Riley seems to go faster at every meeting and was class winner with a blistering pace and time of 37.72. Steve Lawrence and Alistair Dent were also very fast and posted times below 40 seconds, to gain second and third places in class. Best quote was from Ted Sharpe on behalf of the Tim and Ted team, who are having more success with the two cars now, when he said "We have plumbed the depths but are now soaring like eagles"; long may it continue. All of the 500 drivers enjoyed their day and the commitment they put into speed hill climbing can be seen in the excellent pictures taken by professional photographer Derek Hibbert who kindly gives them to us for the website report free of charge.

Our thanks to the Midland Automobile Club, to the Officials, to the Shelsley staff and helpers, and especially to the long suffering Marshalls, and to Derek Hibbert for the photographs.