ROUND 6 : Shelsley Walsh : 5/6 June 2010
by Mike Spicer

You might say our intrepid hillclimbers are somewhat spoilt. Last weekend Prescott, Crystal Palace (for some) the next day and then on to magnificent Shelsley the following week. There was a bit of apprehension amongst our top three drivers, Taylor (348GTC) here on 1B tyres for the first time (would Crossing be flat?), Prior here in a 355 at long last (for the first time) and Butler (355), unbelievably, never been here before. Would any of them keep up with Tomlin (355)? It was anticipated Marshall (430 Scud) would be out in front on his own.

Practice brought few surprises but proved it’s worthwhile getting there early enough for a third run. The drivers rose on Sunday’s race day to a beautiful summer morning in this superb rural area, creeping out of their various hotels, B&Bs etc. most after a full English.

Pauline Goodwin (328) was mystified at being unable to match her practice pace, but Colin Campbell (246GT) matched his to the hundredth although the actual time did motivate the top ‘S’ commentator to remark “Well, it’s academic, really”, however you have to bear in mind that Colin is an octogenerian. Sean Doyle (GT4) did go quicker beating his handicap time, Wendy-Ann Marshall (328) was consistent recording her fastest time of the weekend at 45.08, whilst husband John was just shy of his record here with 33.08 which, of course, was our FTD with 105 mph over the line. Lucky for John that he knows how well those mighty brakes work.

Nick Taylor put in a handy banker of 34.58 maybe hoping to go quicker on his List 1Bs. Our Chairman (355) wasn’t quite hitting recent form with a slightly untidy 35.49. Andrew Duncan (348GTC) nearly always does a 37 on his annual hillclimb outing and this he did it with 37.90, while the never to be underestimated Phil Whitehead (355) scored a fine personal best with a 34.98. Much was expected from our Series' Organizer, Richard Prior, with his new car and he didn’t disappoint. From my vantage point between the esses he looked quickest of all our cars beating his old PB by nearly a second.

John Swift (355) had been slightly off his usual pace during practice but improved to a more respectable 36.46 when it mattered. Andrew Holman (355) who had gone so well at Crystal Palace, was short of power or cojones. It was just not working for this sometimes ultra-rapid driver (I won’t mention his time – it will annoy him).

Shelsley was made for Tomlin – it’s just his sort of hill. Not too technical but requiring perfect judgement and commitment. I wondered if anyone would ever be able to go as quick as David here in a 355. I should have known who might be able to get close to it. Our top drivers have been coming here for fifteen years in 355s and over that time have slowly whittled the times down to an incredible 34.40 (Jon Goodwin). Butler comes here once and does 34.04 on his fourth ever run – enough said! I know, of course, David’s 355 record is a tenth quicker but he lives here. Peter Rogerson’s 360 looked great and sounded even better; he improved his practice time to 38.71.

I had trudged up to bottom ‘Ess’ in the, by now, p---ing rain and was soaked through but it didn’t matter as bottom ‘Ess’ is only surpassed by the Shelsley paddock as the best place in the entire world! Actually the rain had killed off the much heralded anticipation of the second runs i.e. Would Marshall get into the 32’s? Would any one of the next four get into the 33’s? Well, of course, the rain put paid to that. Pauline, Doyle, Allen and Taylor put in spirited drives but it was Richard Prior who really pressed on with wipers on fast to record an excellent 40.47. So Tomlin deservedly took the 20 points followed by Shelsley newby Butler with Prior not far behind for the 15.

Only a short while ago it was only one or two drivers who could get into the 34s with Jon Goodwin holding his record of 34.40 for some six years. It seems incredible that this time is now only good enough for fifth place at Shelsley. I suppose it’s all down to the evolution of our drivers’ skills.