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Well, the weather looked as if it was going to get a little better, the forecast had been improving all week and we might even be able to get away with just a jumper, of course from the new range of 2012 hillclimb designer clothing (available in various sizes, colours and a polo). Most were travelling up country to our favourite north of England weekend venue at Harewood for our first double header of the year. We had a good turn out of 20 booked, although one non runner was Richard Preece in his newly acquired 355, purchased on an ‘ask no questions for cash’ basis without an MOT. The subsequent problems with emissions, from the lack of catalytic components, meant he had to scratch his entry until he can find for some new ones. This was a pity as Richard would now miss the Saturday night accommodation and evening meal he had been so busy organising.... We had two newbies joining us, well nearly new, Keith Anderson in his manual 360, already out at North Weald and showing a useful turn of speed. Here a bit of arm twisting got him to admit to having some experience a few years ago in Westfields so it was generally agreed we needed to keep an eye on him. Caroline Cooper had also entered North Weald but dropped out following clutch problems in the 360 she shares with husband Jeff. Caroline, a motor sport maiden, usually competes with horses of the jumping variety rather than prancing. But she was very keen to get her share of the Harewood adrenalin. The school she had booked here had been cancelled due to the weather, so we were all keen to see how she would manage the transition, as surely this hill would be daunting for anyone as a first event. We also saw the return of Richard Prior's old 348. Newly polished and clearly better pampered and loved by its new owner, James Spicer, Mike's eldest son. He had also had a problem that prevented him from getting out at NW but luckily it turned out to be just the usual 348 cable linkage adjustment issue, narrow escape considering the (Arthur) Daleyesque qualities of the vendor. Another welcome sight in the paddock was the return of Philip Whitehead in a shiny new 355, needed after his little excursion off track last summer at MIRA. The Darkhorse is always capable of putting in a good time here so again we were keen to see how he would manage getting back into the saddle. Still missing at the start was Richard Allen, booked in his 355. Telephone updates from the side of the A14 confirmed his austerity servicing schedule had let him down with a slow down light finally saying enough is enough after several months of warnings. All, however, was not lost as race support from East Anglian Ian Button once again turned up trumps when he offered to open his garage and swap his exhaust sensors which successfully corrected the problem. Hillclimb organiser supremo Prior used his usual charm to sweet talk the Clerk of the Course and allow RA a late start. All he needed to do was get there in time to take a practice run before the competitive runs started after lunch and he would still be in. Time however was against him. At Harewood the organisers, BARC, put us out first, so immediately following scutineering we were donning helmets to drive down the slip road and line up before the tyre burnout area at the start. And, despite a chill to the wind, it was even sunny! The track, however, was green and generally felt to be slippery. Caroline had been getting psyched up to go, only to be told the order for shared car runs had been reversed and she would have to wait until the end of our group to get going. Despite the obvious disappointment this did offer the advantage of watching others go up first from the wonderful spectator advantage point we have here. Nothing else of particular note happened until new Shaun in his 328 clocked a 76 second run, just pipped by new bloke Anderson and also old hand John Marshall in the GT4. Pauline Goddwin (328) excelled herself with a 72 that was only bettered by MD Holman's 355, Brian Jackson's similarly shaded yellow 308 and Chris Hitchman showing a turn of speed in the 355 shared with Dad. Such good 308 and GT4 times immediately reminded us of the need to get the calculators fired up to work out the PEP adjusted time. We were having North Weald deja vu following their dominance at the season's start. The older tipos clearly remain in contention for the points and anyone who says the PEP is biased towards modern cars will need to take into account this years stunning performances. The other runs worth mentioning were Spicer junior who hadn’t heeded advice about not getting the 348's power down too early out of corners and spun at Chippy’s, although he did manage to stay on the black stuff and get a time that still beat Caroline's cautious 96 second first run by a few seconds. P2 saw times tumble for most, apart from a spin by New Shaun and an excursion into the infield by James, again forgetting the walk talk of where to brake for the blind corner that is Country. Caroline knocked an amazing 14 seconds off her first run; we advised her that doing that again would have her winning. Spike senior joined Jackson and Chris Hitchman in the 70's, Prior got his act together with a 69 but MD was getting over his dislike of Harewood and was a second ahead with a 68! Time for an early lunch in the posh (well by hillclimbing standards anyway) catering tent, new for this year. This gave time for a few clouds to gather and the rain started as we finished our jacket potatoes. Anxious faces turned skywards as we went to get the cars warmed up, but it slowed to light drops that seemed not to wet the track surface too much. The general consensus seemed to be that grip wouldn’t be much affected. And then, at last, we had RA turn up in the paddock, just in time to get scrutineered, dash to sign on, visit the amenities and whip out for a practice run that would take the place of his first official, where he immediately popped in a very competent 70 sec run given the rushed circumstances. Wendy's runs had been getting slower since her first practice, using excuse number 36b from the book (and I would have been able to remember what this was if I hadn’t lost my notes somewhere, so excuse anything I make up!) and this continued with the first official. The third member of the Hitchman family present, Lorraine, put in a cracking 73 sec run in her 328. Others to go quicker were young James, mainly by managing to stay on the black stuff, Darkhorse Whitehead drove an assured 70 sec run and Jeff Cooper was determinedly showing his wife the way with a high 71. The sub 70's were now Chris Hitchman, MD and Prior, in reverse order. What was interesting, well to us anyway, were the split times between the later two. MD made the fastest start, RP got ahead by first split before the Esses, MD was faster through them and took it back before Country, RP had Willow sorted and was ahead at the 3rd split before Orchard, MD overtook again around Farmhouse to the timing beam just before the last corner at Quarry where his Harewood caution returned and allowed RP to get over the line 0.25 sec quicker! Oh how we laughed…. Run 2 saw the track in a drier condition and enabled first out Wendy to confidently drive to her fastest time of the day with a 79, but she was to be outdone at the post by the continued improvement from Mrs Cooper. Peter Rogerson (360) clocked his fastest with a 76, James Spicer got down to 72 whilst Lorraine was chuffed to just squeeze ahead. Others doing best runs on 2 were Darkhorse with a superb comeback time just under the 70, John Marshall wound up the GT4 and got under 72, a time that would give him the 13 points for 4th PEP place when adjusted. PG was just behind, Brian Jackson got down to 70.16 that would surely make him a contender for the 20 points unless either Chris, RP or MD could put in personal bests and then some! A stonking run by Richard Prior gave him a 67.15, and a lead of 1.8 seconds over a flagging MD. After PEPs it was the 308 of Brian Jackson that got the 20, followed by Prior and Mike Spicer. Next up: Harewood: 13 May. Click here for (unofficial) Championship positions.
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