HSA SPEED CHAMPIONSHIP REPORT ARCHIVE

FINE CURBOROUGH FINALE

Event 29 at Curborough on 13/10/2019

After an unpromisingly wet start to Curborough's HSA Championship finale, run this time on the Figure-8 course, the weather relented and Alex Summers, on a track that was still damp in places, repeated his previous day's success with a blisteringly fast, ultra-smooth 50.74sec FTD in the Firehawk that was just a 1/100th of a second shy of his own outright record. Next up, David Tatham's OMS Hornet was 3.3sec behind and a further six tenths adrift, Pete Goulding filled the final podium spot in his Mygale to consolidate fifth place overall on the HSA Championship table. The opening class of the day, with Standard Roadgoing Production (S1) cars combined with Roadgoing (A1) cars contained three of the top ten contenders on the series table. Andrew Till hung on to end the season in the series runner-up spot, despite missing the previous day's round in his MG ZR 105 and finishing third in class on the Sunday behind Leslie Wilson. Clio driver Wilson, who also attended only Sunday's event, remained ninth on the table. It was Rob Thomson that took the win, his second in two days aboard his Renault Clio 172 Cup, and as a result stormed up the order from tenth place to end the year in sixth place overall, level on points with class A2's Michael Thomson but taking the place on aggregate by virtue of taking one more class record during the year. Ray Worrall continued to rack up the points as the eventual winner of A2 to end a season in which he'd done too few events to be in contention. In a close duel for second place, his fellow Honda S2000 driver Thomson lost out on aggregate to the ever-determined Richard Brant, the Clio driver getting the verdict as his opening, slower run was quicker than his opponent's. Fourth in this eleven car class was Dave West, the press-on Peugeot 106 driver finally rounding off the Championship top ten.

A hotly contested Formula Ford class, also with eleven starters, was led by a newcomer to the formula, one Trevor Willis, until the very last run when the car's owner, Richard Summers, came through to snatch the win as he had the previous day. Two MX5 class wins saw Peter Taylor ending the season third overall in the Championship despite the best efforts of last year's series runner-up Andrew Webber, the Lotus 47/62 driver dropping to fourth place even after two class wins over a superb weekend of competitive end-of-season motorsport.

SUMMERS' RECORD CURBOROUGH

Event 28 at Curborough on 12/10/2019

A top class entry for the penultimate SBD/HSA Speed Championship round, the first leg of the weekend double-header being held for the first time on Curborough's 2-lap course, included three front-running British hillclimb contenders. This year''s BHC runner-up Alex Summers was on searing form, breaking John Bradburn's outright course record (set in his Gould-Cosworth HB) successive runs to leave it at 48.63sec and taking FTD in the family DJ Firehawk-Suzuki shared for the weekend with Dave Uren. With the fastest three drivers all from the 1100cc racing class, Stuart Bickley ran just over 2 seconds adrift in his Jedi with last year's Saturday winner David Tatham a close third in his OMS Hornet. 3-times BHC champion Trevor Willis was at Curborough too, having his first ever Formula Ford outing in Richard Summers' Van Diemen RF80. But after a rear suspension mounting, broken in practice, had been repaired by Willis and Ray Rowan, it was Summers Sr. that bounced back to snatch the win in a well-supported Formula Ford class from Russell Haynes' Zeus.

With the HSA Championship outcome already decided in favour of Nick Mugglestone, the MX5 driver did not enter the event, nevertheless competition was fierce all weekend for the series placings. Second overall before Curborough, Andrew Till was also absent on Saturday but was due to appear for the following day's championship finale. Intent on making inroads on the MG ZR's score, the third placed Andrew Webber was on top form in his Rover V8 powered Lotus Europa 47/62 and won not only his class, but the Alan Payne Memorial Trophy for the class winners' run-off with a substantial 2.63sec improvement over his class winning time. Peter Goulding, chasing SBD/HSA Sprint Leaders points in the Ecoboost engined Mygale in which he had already clinched second overall in the British Sprint championship, was second in the Alan Payne run-off with a 0.35sec improvement.

Just behind Webber in the standings, Peter Taylor made a good start to his final championship challenge with an A2.1 class win in his Mazda MX5 while Michael Thomson, next up on the table in his Honda S2000, was unable to keep A2 class winner Dean Cubitt's Mazda at bay and his overall placing would come under threat from Rob Thomson, the clear winner of the combined S1/A1 class in his Standard Roadgoing Clio 172 Cup. So several issues remained to be decided during the course of the final Championship round the following day.

Mugglestone seals the deal in Champion style

Event 27 at Shelsley Walsh on 21/09/2019
At Shelsley Walsh on Saturday 21st September Nick Mugglestone became the (provisional) 2019 SBD HSA Speed Champion for the second time and did it in fine style. With his Mazda MX5's engine on its last legs and with little oil pressure remaining he needed to break the existing HSA Class record and be the fastest Class A2.1 runner on the day to score his 9th maximum points score. After T1 he had broken the Class record - but so had Peter Taylor in his MX5, leaving Nick 0.7s down. Peter failed to improve on T2 so Nick went for it, having moments in both Bottom and Top Ess, to finish a scant 0.1s ahead. As things stand, even if another competitor achieves a full set of maximum scores Nick will be Champion having scored his total points first.

The other big talking point of the week-end was Peter Hubbard's attempt to get his V8 two stroke powered Maximus GT (ProSport LM3000) up the hill and qualify as a Shelsley Special. Saturday saw numerous problems appear, diagnosed and resolved - even making it to the start area for T2 but unable to restart. On the Sunday the car got off the line on T1 but failed half way up the hill while on T2 it finally completed a full, if smoky, run. When asked about the sound check the response was "well when the smoke cleared it looked like 106Db!".

Saturday was an almost perfect day for the full entry including 27 HSA Speed Championship competitors -  warm, still and dry in the Autumn sun. Despite the superb conditions the only other drivers to set new HSA Class records were Rob Thompson and Leslie Wilson in their Standard Class Clios and a flying Stuart Bickley in his Jedi who took a fine FTD on 26.81s.

Michael Thomson (Honda S2000) won the enormous 2 litre Series Production class from Dave West (Peugeot 106GTi) and Raymond Worrall (Honda S2000) but was already thinking ahead to 2020 and his plans for the Sylva Phoenix that he has already collected from France. Chris Jones was making his first appearance in a Caterham and won the Roadgoing Specialist production class while John Bradshaw (Westfield) won the Modified Specialist production class - both cars running Cougar tuned engines. James Robertson (RAW Striker) having his first event of the year was a close third to Bradshaw and Ray Lohr (Caterham).

Finally, in the something different category, Jim Henshaw was running his 5 litre Ford Hot Rod pick up in the 'commercial vehicle' class and the enthusiastically driven car(?) seemed able to spin its wheels at almost any point on the hill on its way to a sub 40s time!

Hillam takes FTD at MIRA as Till closes the gap

Event 26 at MIRA on 14/09/2019
Matt Hillam (SBD Dallara) took FTD with a 39.91s at MIRA on September 14th and was the only sub 40s run of the day. He was closely followed by Pete Goulding (Mygale M13) on 40.19s and Steve Broughton (SBD Dallara) on 41.83s.

In the race for the 2019 HSA Speed Championship Andrew Till (MG ZR105) kept the pressure on the (absent) series leader, Nick Mugglestone, with a new HSA Class record and a maximum score to close within 4 points.

Some 25 HSA Speed Championship competitors took part with many setting new HSA Class records including Dave West (Peugeot 106GTi), Justin Andrews (Impreza), Andrew Webber (back in the glorious V8 Lotus Europa 47/62), Philip Stader (Alfa Berlina) and Pete Goulding. Notable class wins included John Bradshaw (Westfield), Clive Wooster (Radical), Ivan Russell (Anglia) and Stuart Bickley (Jedi).

The two large Paul Matty Lotus classes were won by reigning HSA Champion, Geoff Stallard (Elan) and Tony Wallen in his familiar Formula Three 69.

Note: All photos are by Kim Broughton and have been approved for publication by the venue

 

Sunshine & showers at Three Sisters

Event 25 at Three Sisters on 01/09/2019
Repeated showers at Three Sisters on September 1st had a big impact on the results of the event and the current standings at the top of the SBD HSA Speed Championship table as David Tatham took FTD in his 1100cc OMS Hornet with a 67.48s from Jim Macdiarmid's 68.57s in the ex Gary Thomas Force PC.

The race for the 2019 HSA Speed Championship title had come down to three competitors - Nick Mugglestone (MX5), Andrew Till (MG ZR105) and Andrew Webber (Lotus Elan +2) but with the latter giving 3 Sisters a miss it was left to Mugglestone and Till to try and deliver a decisive result.

Nick Mugglestone made a good start by breaking the exisitng HSA Class record on T1 but, worryingly, he was only three tenths ahead of fellow MX5 runner, Peter Taylor, so needed another good run to secure the 17 points - or for rain to intervene. Fortune shone and the sun didn't with T2 and T3 turning out wet or damp meant that his maximum score wasn't threatened. Ken Morris joined Peter Taylor  and Nick Mugglestone in breaking the A2.1 Clas record. Another MX5 runner, James French, was enjoying his first season of competition until he understeered off at the first hairpin and sideswiped the barrier. Fortunately the damage was confined largely to the front wing and was quickly hammered out allowing James to take T2 and T3. And drive home!

Andrew Till made a good start in practice with a time just outside the Class record and he lined up for T1 hopeful of a good time with a dry track ahead of him. But as the lights went green one of the short, sharp showers drenched the track, lasting for about 93 seconds - exactly the time it took for his run! Andrew was so annoyed at his misfortune that he went for it despite the soaking track and endured a wild and messy, kerb hopping run. T2 was also damp so Andrew's hopes of a good score to keep his title hopes alive were thwarted. Nonetheless, Andrew is still aiming for a very commendable top three finish in the Championship in his 100,000 mile plus car that he drives to every event and runs on List 1A tyres.

The rapidly changing conditions favoured some competitors who had a dry run including Luke Trotman (a very early start driving all the way up from Bristol on the morning of the event) in his Mallock MK18B and Nigel Fox (Van Diemen RF89) who both broke their existing Class records and scored well.

MUGGLESTONE MAINTAINS HIS LEAD

Event 24 at Gurston Down on 25/08/2019

27 HSA contenders turned out on a hot Bank Holiday weekend at Gurston Down, where class records fell across the board at the Wiltshire hill's second British Championship meeting of the year.Five new HSA records were finally established, with seven drivers inside the original records at the start of the day, and there were changes at the sharp end of the championship table. In the dedicated HSA classes Nick Mugglestone, who had won the HSA championship as far back as 2011, took the A2.1 record in the MX5 to consolidate his place at the head of the championship table. In the absence of Andrew Webber's Elan Plus 2, Andrew Till in his much campaigned MG ZR105 - still running its original engine, clutch and gearbox after over 100,000 miles of road and competition use - stepped in with another HSA record to take over second overall. Unfortunately other commitments will prevent Andrew completing the season so his placing is vulnerable. With Peter Taylor not bringing his MX5 to Gurston, Alan Mugglestone took over his fourth place on the table but although running inside the old HSA record, the 2013/2015 champion was not the fastest A2 runner. That was Dean Cubitt, who ran in Gurston's 2-litre Roadgoing class and took the win in his own MX5, with yet another new HSA record.

Steve Holland also ran his Caterham-Hayabusa in the main class structure and after a lurid first run spin at Hollow Bend, bounced back to take the third HSA record of the day. But the Gurston regular was up against stiffer opposition than usual as Simon Jenks blitzed not only the Class D HSA record but Mike Rudge's 10-year-old Gurston record on successive runs to take the 17 HSA points and finally reset the record. His 30.44s run was almost a second and a half inside Matt Hillam's 2011 mark. The final record-breaker was Lee Griffiths, whose fourth place time in the British championship 2-litre normally aspirated class with the OMS-Suzuki broke Bill Morris's age-old Class K Pilbeam record from 2006.

Other winners in the dedicated HSA classes included Charles White (Lotus Elise S2), Simon Price (Westfield SEiW), and Paul Batey (Rawlson Stiletto), while Robin Lee got the better of fellow Clio driver Paul Meadows in the Class C division.

Records galore at Hethel

Event 23 at Hethel on 04/08/2019
Many new HSA Class records were set at Borough 19's Hethel Sprint on August 4th which could have a major bearting on the outcome of the 2019 SBD HSA Speed Championship.

Nick Mugglestone (MX5) maintained his grip on the top of the leaderboard with a new record and maximum points score while second place competitor, Andrew Webber, lost ground by just missing out on a new Class record in his Elan+2. Andrew Till moved up to third overall in his MG ZR105 with a maximum score and Alan Mugglestone did the same to improve to fifth.

The battle for FTD was fought out between five (!) Jedis and an OMS with the verdict going to Mark Chaplin's Jedi MK6 with a 117.79s run, well ahead of the rest of the field.

More records fall at Wiscombe

Event 22 at Wiscombe Park on 28/07/2019

Three more HSA records were broken on Sunday by the three British and Leaders contenders. First to rewrite the list was Chris Berrisford, who took over a second off 2017 HSA champion Justin Andrews' A3 record, set the year his fellow Impreza driver took the title. Experienced National campaigner Simon Jenks' Caterham-Hayabusa promptly demolished the Class D record set the previous day by Turner's Vortex, running over eight tenths clear. These two drivers easily won their respective classes, each somewhat disappointingly supported by just two entrants. At least Lee Griffiths had one more runner in his class, but as a British Championship contender he had his sights set on making the cut for the top 12 run-offs, which he managed to do in the afternoon with a new HSA record - 1.69sec inside Andrew Dinner's Pilbeam MP82 time from 2014. Unfortunately that was to be his best run of the day as his OMS-Suzuki 25 slowed with a gearbox problem during the run-off itself.

With none of the front runners for the 2019 SBD HSA Speed championship present the position at the top of the leaderboard remained unchanged with Nick Mugglestone enjoying a narrow lead over Andrew Webber.

RECORD-BREAKING WISCOMBE

Event 21 at Wiscombe Park on 27/07/2019

After so many wet meetings at the picturesque Devon hill, summer sunshine greeted HSA and British Championship contenders for the BHC's annual visit and brought out a big crowd of spectators, especially for Sunday's instalment of this two-day meeting. Not only did the superb weather produce a spate of outright hill records for hillclimbing's top exponents, recounted elsewhere on the website, but also prompted four HSA class records over the two days. All but two of Saturday's 12 HSA runners, running together in a dedicated B-licence class, remained to do it all again the following day and were joined by three more that, as British and Hillclimb Leaders contenders, ran in Sunday's A-licence classes.

Top scorer in Saturday's event was Martyn Turner, who won the 12-car HSA class with a new Class D record in his MNR Vortex carving just over a second off Chris Howard-Harris's year-old record in the Caterham Superlight. This of course raised the bar for Sunday's event and although he won the class again, he couldn't quite match his new record time. So there was no maximum points score this time for Martyn, but he was still top scorer in the class ahead of Andrew Meek's Impreza from A3, which ran second each time and closed the gap considerably to the much lighter machine on Sunday. The next highest scorer was Julian Harber, with 9 points each day. In the class order on scratch, the Class C1 Mini Clubman driver had to settle for sixth place on Saturday behind the third placed Paul Meadows' Clio 172, Robin Maryon's 1-litre Jedi-Honda, the first single-seater home, and Oliver Beale's Audi TT, which Harber demoted to sixth place the following day.

Lee Griffiths takes FTD as Mugglestone goes top

Event 20 at Loton Park on 21/07/2019
Lee Griffiths took FTD at Loton Park on Sunday July 21st in his OMS 25 with a 48.50s run from Saturday's fastest man, Mark Dalton who was runner up in his Empire Evo.

Lee also took a maximum points score with a new HSA class record in his quest for the Peter Stephens memorial trophy for the best points score in 4 rounds. Also on a quest, this time for the overall HSA championship was Nick Mugglestone (MX5) who leapt to the top of the table with another new record and maximum score. And he laid his Loton 'bogey' to rest at the same time!

With Andrew Webber and Petert Taylor absent on the Sunday the only other top 4 HSA contender present was Andrew Till but a disappointing pair of runs saw him post his lowest score of the season although it was enough to keep him in third place overall.

No-one expected to see Martin Rutter appear in a Fiat X1/9 following his accident on Saturday. But, after 'phoning a friend, he duly appeared in a pristine 1988 example. Unfortunately as a roadgoing version it wasn't eligible for Martin's usual mod prod class so was unable to score points. 

Michael Thomson found more time in the Honda S2000 for another new HSA record and a class win and ANdrew Meek repeated his Saturday performance to take second in the large Roadgoing series production class.

Nev Rollason won the well supported Formula Ford class in his ex Alan Terry Jamun M90 while Graham Cherry and Nick Arnold were very evenly matched in their shared Royale RP24 but hindered by using 'circuit' ratios, something they hope to rectify next year.

Dalton takes FTD and HSA title race hots up

Event 19 at Loton Park on 20/07/2019
Mark Dalton took FTD at Loton Park on July 20th with a time of 50.62s in his 1600cc Empire Evo. The expected battle with Clive Austin's Empire Wraith didn't materialise as Clive was a non starter. Mark's competiton for FTD came from the driver he was sharing the car with - multiple British Hillclimb champion, Scott Moran. Scott was having a run in the car to provide some friendly feedback but his priority was to "bring it back in one piece". He duly took second FTD just a few tenths shy of Mark's time.

Overnight rain and early morning drizzle left the track damp for P1 but the sun came out and the attending wind soon dried things up for the rest of the day.

It is getting to the time of the season when the race for the HSA Speed Championships is reaching its critical stages. The four drivers at the top of the table were present over the course of the week-end (but Andrew Webber and Andrew Till only got entries for one day) and on the Saturday all three, Nick Mugglestone (MX5), Peter Taylor (MX5) and Andrew Webber (Elan +2) all broke their existing HSA Class records to score well.

Stewart Duncan was having only his third event in the OMS PR (the previous two being at Harewood) which he had rebuilt over the winter. It had been previously destroyed in France and was acquired by Stewart as a collection of parts in boxes. Still getting to grips with a single seater, the ten year old slicks weren't seen as a major issue!

Adam Pemble had suffere a small coolant leak in the Celica GT4 on the drive up from the West Country and was hoping the application of some heavy duty sealing tape would keep him going for the week-end. It did.  Richard and Jamie Yapp were having their forst outing of the year in their shared Nova SR but practivce quickly revealed a problem. Initially though to be a dropped valve it turned out to be a fuelling issue so their week-end was over after T1, before it really started.

Despite a few no shows the 2000cc Roadgoing series production class had a fine entry and was very well won by Michael Thomson in his near standard, 125,000 miles on the clock, Honda S2000 from Ian Butcher's Honda Integra and Nick Mugglestone. The over 2000cc class was similarly well contested and was won by Rick Leddy's Audi TT from Andrew Meek (Impreza) and Gordon Hick (Golf RC10).

Simon Price won the 1700cc Roadgoing kit car class in his Westfield from his 'car share, Paul Evans while Simon Jenks had a loose throttle cable in practice but this was quickly fixed and he went on to win the mod prod kit car class and take third FTD.

Martin Rutter was going well in his Fiat X1/9 until he had a moment at Fallow on T2 and kept his foot in. The car went off on the outside into the rough stuff and damaged both his suspension and a hydraulic line. It looked as if he would have to miss Sunday but perhaps not......

Finally, the Lotus 7 Club championship was present with a good turn out of Caterhams and mention should be made of Meteor Motorsport's Simon Rogers, who was well ahead of all the other Caterham class competitors with a 53.89s run and very close to Simon Jenks' time.

Brown takes FTD as MX5s take the points

Event 18 at Blyton Park on 14/07/2019
On the second day of the WSCC's Blyton Sprint week-end the expected battle for FTD between Steve Brown's JKS and Glyn Sketchley's Force PT (and FTD from the previous day) failed to materialise when the Force failed on T1 and didn't reappear. The JKS duly took FTD with a 58.65s.

In the 2000cc Roadgoing sports car class there were MX5s aplenty with Alan Mugglestine taking the win but Nick Mugglestone (running in HSA class A2.1) set a new new record for a maximum score to advance his title hopes. Further back were Dean Cubitt, Peter Taylor, James French and John Wadsworth all in MX5s and scoring points.

Julian Harber (mini Clubman) was all alone in the small mod prod class and Ivan Russell (Anglia) lost out by a narrow margin in the 2000cc class while Robin Lee won the battle of the Clios with Geoff Lancaster in the large mod prod class.

The Hoyle, Hodder and Bunn Roadgoing Westfield battle from the day before was re-joined with John Hoyle taking three timed runs and leading after T3. However, with up to 6 runs on offer, Hodder and Bunn set their best times on T6 with Hodder taking the win by about a second and Bunn third just a dundredth behind Hoyle.

Adam Phelps was again comfortably the fastest of the mod prod kit cars and Nigel Fox (Van Diemen RF89) had his work cut out keeping up with Geoff Ward's always quick Swift in the Formula Ford class.

 

Sketchley takes FTD & close racing at Blyton

Event 17 at Blyton Park on 13/07/2019
On the first day of the WSCC print week-end at Blyton Glyn Sketchley (Force PT) took a comfortable FTD with a 61.12s run ahead of a horde of Westfields led by Adam Phelps' mod prod car on 66.28s.

Nick Mugglestone's late charge for another HSA Championship in his Mazda MX5 received a minor setback as there wasn't an HSA A2.1 Class record to beat so 15 points was his reward.However father, Alan ,running in HSA Class A2 was able to break the existing record for a maximum 17 point score along with Leslie Wilson (Clio), Dean Cubitt (MX5) and Ivan Russell (mod prod Anglia). On the day Alan, Nick and Dean finished 1,2,3 in their large Class so were well awarded.

In the car engined Roadgoing kit car class the usual Westfield battle between the Hoyle, Hodder and Bunn cars had an unusual outcome. John Hoyle only took one run but it was a quick one on 68.39s. Derek Hodder got close on T3 with a 68.79s and looked to have second wrapped up until Gary Bunn posted a 68.78s on T5!

Andrew & Laing in the points at Lydden

Event 16 at Lydden Hill on 13/07/2019
There were plenty of new HSA Class records set at Borough 19's Lydden Sprint with Justin Andrews (in his Class winning Subaru Impreza) and Stephen Laing (Caterham R500) joined by British Sprint runners Simon Bainbridge (SBR Chrono), Terry Holmes (Lola Tegra) and Pete Goulding (Mygale M13).

Andrew Webber (Elan +2) continued his strong run at the top of the HSA Championship table and scored well despite missing out on a new records by a couple of seconds.

Zoe Kingham was on her own this week-end in the SBD Westfield and her 79.33s run on T4 was the fastest of the 'kit cars' present.

TILL CASHES IN AT BARBON

Event 15 at Barbon Manor on 06/07/2019

Unlike the June club event at Barbon Manor, the weather gods smiled on the rolling Cumbrian slopes as British Championship contenders gathered for their annual visit to this short, but fast, hillclimb. Eight HSA Championship contenders made the trip to contest the SBD/HSA rounds held alongside the BHC event.

Establishing a new record for HSA class A1, Andrew Till brought his MG ZR 105 home third in this opening Barbon class behind the Mugglestones' MX5. The result moved him up to second place on the overall championship table although series leader Andrew Webber, despite not running at Barbon, still holds a ten point advantage.

No less than half of the HSA runners were from Class A2 and three of those ran inside Nigel Trundle's 2018 HSA record. Nigel, however, was not one of them as although winning his 2-car class in the meeting's substantial B licence section, the relatively local Scirocco driver from Preston had to be content with fourth place among the HSA A2 runners. Earning eighth equal place on the championship table and third in the A2 rankings in the process, Michael Thomson was top scorer with a new HSA record of 28.43s. Almost a second and a half inside the old mark, the Honda S2000 driver won the 3-car Barbon B class from the similar S2000 of Raymond Worrall, who also ran inside the old record.

Third on the list of A2 scorers was twice HSA champion Alan Mugglestone, his MX5 winning the first Nat A class of the day ahead of son Nick, the 2011 champ. Running the car in A2.1, Nick carved half a second off Ken Morris's 2018 record and became the third HSA runner to score a maximum 17 points.

The final maximum points scorer, Chris Berrisford, was the only A3 runner at Barbon. Nonetheless he won the Barbon class by some margin from Speedscene contributor Peter Herbert's Porsche 911, consolidating his substantial margin as championship class A3 leader with a 26.88, over a second inside 2017 champion Justin Andrews' record set last year.

The final HSA points scorer, and the first this year to register on the class K scoresheets, was Lee Griffiths. However the highlight of the day for the OMS-Suzuki driver, running normally aspirated with a bigger engine this year, was more likely to be eighth place in the second BHC run-off and his first British Championship points of the season!

Sweeney's FTD

Event 14 at Shelsley Walsh on 06/07/2019
Derek Sweeney (OMS 2000M) took FTD with a 27.53s run just a tenth ahead of Michael Tregoning (Pilbeam MP88) at Shellsey on July 6.

On a day when most of the HSA Speed Championship competitors were struggling to approach the class record times on their first, dry runs, only Leslie Wilson in his 'standard class' Clio set a new mark to take maximum points.

HSA competitors were to the fore in the up to 2000cc Roadgoing class with Nick West (Peugeot 106GTi), Dean Cubitt (MX5) and Dave West (106GTi) took the honours covered by just over a second. John Bradshaw (Westfield) ran out an easy winner in the Mod Prod kit cars with very few of the later, faster runners taking their second run.

In the Paul Matty Lotus classes the Sports car class was won on handicap by Sarah Bosworth (Elise) with a 32.29s ahead of Jonathan Bibby (elise) and reigning HSA Champion, Geoff Stallard in his Elan. The Paul Matty Racing Class was narrowly won by Paul himself in his Lotus 35 from Malcolm Thorne's similar car.

Webber and Till move up at Aintree

Event 13 at Aintree on 29/06/2019
With a pair of strong results at Aintree on June 29, Andrew Webber (Elan +2) and Andrew Till (MG ZR105) moved up to first and third in the 2019 SBD HSA Speed Championship. On a hot and humid day both drivers set new HSA class records as did Leslie Wilson (Clio) and Simon Bainbridge (SBR Chrono).

Dave and Nick West won the up to 2000cc Roadgoing Production class in their shared Peugeot 106GTi with identical times of 52.64s but Dave took the verdict as he set the time on his first timed run compared with Nick's third.

The up to 2000cc Roadgoing 'Sports car' class was made up of four MX5s and five Honda S2000s with, not surprisingly, the Hondas taking the honours led by Roger Fish (52.07s) followed by Raymond Worrall (52.12s) and Michael Thomson (52.47s) - all times set on their fourth timed run of the day.

The Mod Prod 'Westfield' class again saw some impressive times with John Hoyle's car taking the win by a couple of tenths from Chris Griffiths' example ahead of the Bunn/Hodder car while the both SBD  and Phelps cars were absent on this occasion.

The Lotus 7 Club championship were present and in force with some close battles in their better supported classes. One notable absence was Speedscene editor, Michael Calvert, who suffered head gasket problems in practice and was unable to continue.

TAYLOR EXTENDS HIS LEAD

Event 12 at Prescott on 22/06/2019

With even the overflow car park filled to bursting, a large crowd of spectators turned out for the 'Porsche at Prescott' meeting on June 22, which also attracted over 30 HSA Championship contenders, including many of the series front-runners.

Prescott's 21-strong 2-litre Roadgoing division carried a number of HSA contenders from our S1, A1, A2 and A2.1 classes. Heading the pack, and the class as a whole, was top A2 scorer David West, who collected 16 HSA points in his Peugeot 106 GTi. A run within seven hundredths of Martin Ellis's record, set just a year ago with his Escort Mk2, moved the vastly experienced driver up a place to fifth overall on the series table. But still just one place ahead of West in the HSA standings, Andrew Till scored 13 points in the same Prescott class aboard his A1 MG ZR, as did S1 runner Leslie Wilson in his Renault Clio. Second overall in the Prescott class was the Honda S2000 of Michael Thompson, who collected 14 HSA points, although this was no challenge to the series leaders, being only his third scoring event of the season.

Dean Cubitt, having recently switched his MX5 from the A2.1 Mazda class to the Roadgoing class, was third highest scorer of the 10-strong HSA A2 contingent. However MX5 driver Peter Taylor, the overall series leader, stretched his lead to five points with the first of two HSA records on the day, his 53.61 on the tortuous Prescott slopes just a hundredth of a second inside Tony Thomas's 5-years-old A2.1 mark. The other HSA class record-breaker was Simon Jenks, who bounced back from a first run glitch to snatch the Modified Specialist class win aboard his Caterham-Suzuki from the grasp of 2007 HSA champion John Bradshaw's Westfield-Vauxhall SEiW. On his first scoring round of the year, Jenks' 43.64 was five hundredths inside Andy Dunbar's Class D record set back in 2011, but Bradshaw's 14 points for second place kept him well in charge of the Class D standings.

Other scorers into double figures included Mark Schlanker, whose maiden score of the season, 11 points, was not enough to catch Class J leader Steven Brown, although by not entering the event the JKS driver slipped from fourth to sixth overall on the championship table. For the same reason, Mygale driver Peter Goulding conceded his championship second place to last year's series runner-up Andrew Webber, who scored 13 points in the Lotus Elan Plus 2 that he's owned for over 40 years.

Goulding joins the leaders at Curborough

Event 11 at Curborough on 09/06/2019
At the Owen Motoring Club organised Graham Hill Sprint on the Fig 8 Curborough course on June 9th Pete Goulding (Mygale M13) scored maximum points (and FTD at 52.74s) with a new HSA class record to join Andrew Webber on 92 points to move up to second place in the 2019 SBD HSA Speed Championship standings. The pair are just one point behind series leader, Peter Taylor.

Also setting new records and taking maximum scores were the Mugglestones in their MX5 -  Father Alan (in class A2) and Son Nick (running on List 1A tyres in class A2.1). They were joined by Ivan Russell in his familiar red Anglia and Simon Price in his Westfield, both winning their respective classes.

Michael Thomson and Raymond Worrall were out in their Honda S2000s with Michael winning Class 1E on the day.

The Henney/Barney/Stader 'flying circus' of Class U2 cars saw Mike Henney out in his Lotus Cortina for Curborough and take the class win with a cracking second run after trailing Callum Barney's Cortina GT after T1. Philip Stader had chosen the Austin A35 for Curborough and, despite being outpaced by the Cortinas, did well to be only a couple of seconds adrift.

Webber inches closer at Pembrey

Event 10 at Pembrey on 02/06/2019
Round 10 of the 2019 SBD HSA Speed Championship was held on a wet, but drying track at Pembrey on June 2nd. The track being used was the 'new' one which keeps right at Paddock leading to a tigh left hander before re-joining the normal layout at the Esses.

The single practice and first timed run were held and a track that damp or streaming wet depending on how lucky each competitor was. By the time T2 came around the track was drier but still with some wet patches so new records were not really the order of the day.

Andrew Webber (Elan +2) played safe and was able to close to within a point of Peter Taylor at the top of the Championship standings.

After being out of the cockpit for over a year and struggling to re-find his form on his return at Blyton, former Champion, Nick Mugglestone, really got to grips with car and track at Pembrey. He was delighted to take the Class win and beat Father, Alan, by a couple of seconds. Just behind was Dave West, on his own in the Peugeot this week-end, picking up useful HSA and Sprint Leaders points.

Former MG ZR 160 drivers, Graham Arnold and Nick Cherry are still learing their very smart ex race school/Alan Cornock Royale RP24 Formula Ford and enjoying the competition with Carole Nicholls in the family Nike MK24

Chris Bennett was disappointed with a huge spin at Spitfires on T2 but with no existing HSA Class record his points were safe.

A full house at Pembrey

Event 9 at Pembrey on 01/06/2019
Twenty six HSA competitors enjoyed a warm and sunny competition on the first day of BARC Wales Sprint week-end at Pembrey on June 1st. Despite this many competitors (7 of them) were in HSA classes of one and only a record to aim at.

Rob Thomson in his Standard Class Clio aimed at the record and broke it gaining a maximum points score along with British Sprint Run Off winner Terry Holmes who was the only other competitor to break an HSA record.

Dean Cubbitt really wasn't getting on with his List 1A Michelin Pilots on his MX5 and vowed to switch classes and List 1B Exxtremes the following day. The Mugglestones were running a development engine in their MX5 and, despite more power, the lack of torque wasn't delivering better times. Back to the drawing board!

Adam Pemble was having his first outing of the year and disconnected gear linkage caused a spin on T1. Mike Smith was having to work on his brakes while John Bradshaw and Zoe Kingham were close in their (very different) Westfields.
 

Sims wins as Miles spins

Event 8 at Llandow on 11/05/2019
Dave Sims (RALT RT34) took a hotly contested FTD at the BMC/BPMC Llandow Sprint on May 11th after front runner, Steve Miles (Van Diemen RF96) suffered an unusual accident under braking for the Bus Stop and hit the barrier on the inside. Steve had actually set a time faster than the FTD in practice and was disappointed not to be able to compete for the win.  Simon Clemow and Glyn Sketchley (both driving Force PTs) were also in the running for FTD but came up a little short by less than a second apeice to finish second and third.

In the SBD HSA Speed Championship no new class records were set but Rob Thomson (Clio), Andrew Webber (Elan +2), Peter Taylor (MX5) and Philip Stader (in his Mallock on this occasion) all scored well. The result moved Andrew Webber up to second in the championship - a good performance having already switched cars and classes.

The Modified Kit car class saw a very close battle between the Caterham of Chris Howard-Harris and John Bradshaw's Westfield separated by 0.07s on the only timed run they were able to complete.

The well supported BMC MX5 challenge class was won by Pekka Tulokas with the top three separated by less than a second.

Forsyth again at Werrington as Webber sets new HSA record

Event 7 at Werrington on 05/05/2019
The second day of Plymouth Motor Club's May Werrington event saw a repeat of the previous day with Andrew Forsyth's OMS CF04 taking FTD (34.03s) ahead of Ben Bonfield's Jedi MK4 (35.19s) with Andrew Dinner just behind in his Pilbeam MP82 (35.27s).

Andrew Webber was the best scoring HSA Speed championship competitor in his Elan +2 setting a new championship record and taking maximum  points. Martin Ellis was another high scorer but just unable to better the new record he set the day before in his MK2 Escort.

Andrew Meek and Chris Berrisofrd again had their work cut out in a very competitive class which was won by the Impreza of Jack Ellis with a stunning 37.79s run - the fiffth fastest time of the day.

Finally, it was good to see long time HSA members John Burton and John Opie back out in their shared RALT RT3.


 

Forsyth's FTD and new HSA record for Ellis

Event 6 at Werrington on 04/05/2019
At Werrington on May 4th Andrew Forsyth, OMS CF04 took FTD (35.40s) in a close fight with Ben Bonfield's rapid Jedi MK4 (35.70s) and Speedscene columnist, Andrew Dinner's Pilbeam MP82 just a hundredth of a second behind.

In the HSA Speed Championship Martin Ellis' splendid MK2 Escort set a new championship record and took maximum points. Also scoring well were Nick Tearle's MR2 and Andrew Webber's Elan +2.

In the 1800cc Series Production class Rodney Eyles' Alfa 4C was a welcome and interesting addition to the entry. It was quick too, taking the Class win with a 41.57s run.

Chris Berrisford and Andrew Meek were out in their Imprezas (over 2600cc Series Production) but up against a strong field including a very quick, shared EVO 4, an Exige and an RX7. Chri did well to take a close third place.


 

Goulding moves up

Event 5 at Goodwood on 20/04/2019
Pete Goulding (Mygale) moved into the joint lead (with Peter Taylor) in the SBD HSA Speed Championship at Goodwood on April 20. Pete's best time on his third timed run of the day of 75.40s was also good enough to take FTD ahead of regular FTD challenger, Glyn Sketchley (Force PT), on 77.37s.

Andrew Till (MG), Justin Andrews (Impreza) and Philip Stader (Alfa) all continued their strong starts to the 2019 season with maximum points scores to keep them well placed on the leaderboard.

Andrew Webber, back in his Elan +2 following engine problems with the Lotus 62, scored well while Richard Worth made his first Championship appearance of the year in his Gulf liveried Puma.

All photos by Mick Briggs

Roadgoing records fall as Spedding takes Harewood FTD

Event 4 at Harewood on 14/04/2019
 Harewood hillclimb hosted round 4 of the SBD HSA Speed championship and Richard Spedding took FTD  in his GWR Raptor 2 with a new hill class record of 50.71s. In fact all three of Richard's timed runs were under the record.

Of the HSA competitors there was a very close battle among the 2 litre roadgoing production runners with all four covered by seven tenths in the final reckoning.  Michael Thompson came out on top in his Honda S2000 ahead of the Wests (son Nick leading father Dave) and Nigel Trundle (Scirocco).

Peter Taylor went well to set a new HSA MX5 class record (and take the lead in the Championship) ahead of aKen Morris and Rhys Jones in their similar cars.



 

A Great Day at Anglesey International Circuit

Event 3 at Anglesey on 07/04/2019

Round three of the SBD HSA Speed Championship took place on 7 April on one lap of the Anglesey International circuit. There was another good entry of HSA championship contenders, but fewer records were broken on day two, perhaps because there is more “history” at the International circuit than on the one lap National circuit. In the following description, the HSA classes, rather than the event classes are referred to. The organisers allowed only one practice run, and so as with the day before, the first two runs to count for the championship were the second and third taken.

Weather conditions were excellent, with a dry track, a light breeze, and sunshine all day. John Wadwsorth (MX5) set a new S1 class record at 118.79 seconds. There were 5 HSA registered class A2 entrants, with the first four beating the old record of 114.31seconds. Nick West came out on top in 104.02 just ahead of Dave West (104.86) and Nigel Trundle (104.93). Justin Andrews set a new A3 record in 102.81, coming second in his over 2000cc roadgoing saloon class.

There was another tight battle in the MX5 (A2.1) class, with Peter Taylor (106.04) again taking the win, ahead of Dean Cubitt, Rhys Jones and James French. Jeff Wiltshire ran solo in his class F Zeus Challenger Evo 11, setting a time of 85.73 seconds. John Louden (Force HC, 85.53) ran alone in class I, as did Steven Brown ( JKSJR01, 82.41 ) although this reduced the class J record by over 11 seconds!

Just two HSA-registered Formula Fords were entered, with Nigel Fox (Van Diemen RF89) leading the way in 103.82, followed by Carole Nichols (Nike Mark 4) in 116.26. Fastest again of all FFs on this second day, however, was non-registered Phil Nelson in a Hawke DL28, in a rapid 97.38 seconds.

Peter Goulding again took the class L honours, setting a new record time of 78.95, ahead of fellow Mygale runner, Graham Blackwell. Finally in class U2, the classic contenders were headed by Philip Stader (Alfa Romeo Berlina), although he was some 2 seconds outside the existing class record. Mike Henney was second in his Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV, although he was unlucky to have a head gasket failure on his final run of the day. Yvette Stader was third, pipping fourth placed Callum Barney by just 0.01 seconds.

Finally, a special mention goes to James French who was the last competitor standing (or running) for the eighth timed run!

Many New Records Set at Anglesey National Event

Event 2 at Anglesey on 06/04/2019

Round two of the SBD HSA Speed Championship took place on 6 April on one lap of the Anglesey National circuit. There was a strong entry of HSA championship contenders, and the event formed a round of no less than 12 other series or championships! Therefore, in the following description, the HSA classes, rather than the event classes are referred to. The organisers allowed only one practice run, and so the first two runs to count for the championship were the second and third taken.

With good, dry, but chilly weather conditions, several old HSA class records were beaten and in most classes, new ones were set. John Wadwsorth (MX5) set the tone with a new S1 class record at 71.05 seconds. There were 6 HSA registered class A2 entrants, all beating the old record of 71.50, with Nick West coming out on top in 63.80 seconds ahead of Nigel Trundle (VW Scirroco) and Dave West. Justin Andrews set a new A3 record in 60.24, winning his over 2000cc roadgoing saloon class in the process.

There was a tight battle in the MX5 (A2.1) class, with Peter Taylor (66.95, new record) taking the win, just ahead of Dean Cubitt, Rhys Jones and James French.

Jeff Wiltshire ran solo in his class F Zeus Challenger Evo 11, setting a new record in 54.32 seconds. John Louden (Force HC, 51.42) and Steven Brown ( JKSJR01, 49.81 ) did the same in classes I and J respectively.

Four HSA-registered Formula Fords were entered, with Nigel Fox (Van Diemen RF89) setting a new J1 record in 63.52, followed closely by Graham Cherry and Nick Arnold in their shared Royale RP24. Carole Nichols was also entered, running with the Bugatti Owners’ Club/Henney’s Cider Classic Championship brigade. Fastest of all FFs on the day, however, was non-registered Phil Nelson in a Hawke DL28, in an impressive 59.67 seconds.

Peter Goulding took the class L honours in a new record time of 48.16, just edging out fellow Mygale runner, Graham Blackwell, by just 0.23 seconds.Finally in class U2, the classic contenders (all running under the BOC/Henney’s Cider banner) were headed by Philip Stader in his rapid Alfa Romeo Berlina, taking almost 8 seconds off the old HSA record with a time of 65.11. Mike Henney was second in his Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV, and Callum Barney was third in the same car after his Cortina GT suffered clutch failure at the start of the event, with Yvette Stader fourth in the shared Alfa Berlina.

A good start at Castle Combe

Event 1 at Castle Combe on 23/03/2019

Nineteen SBD HSA Speed Championship competitors turned up for the opening event of the season at Castle Combe on March 23rd and were met with ''better than forecast'' conditions which led to some excellent competition and a few new records.

Leading off was Andrew Till in his familiar, yellow MG who, although on his own in Class, managed to set a new HSA record and score maximum points. With no Standard Class on offer on the day second year competitor, Rob Thompson was up against a large field of 2600cc Production cars in his Clio but still managed a new HSA Class record. In fact there were plenty of HSA competitors in this Class including Oliver Beale (Audi TT), Peter Taylor (MX5), Tim Richardson (Elise 250), Nick Mugglestone (MX-5) and Philip James (BMW Mini) with the last three all scoring well.

Chris Bennett (Caterham) and Mike Smith (Striker) battled it out in the smaller kit car class with Smith coming out on top by 9 hundredths on the last run. Elise regular, Elen Worthington was guesting in the Smith Striker and finding no windscreen and a sequential shift creating a quite unfamiliar experience.

Chris Jones and Zoe Kingham were sharing the SBD Westfield and doing their best to tame its epic performance (350bhp!) and finished one two in Mod Prod with Zoe getting faster all day and turning the boost up for her final run. 2018 Championship runner up, Andrew Webber, was out in his glorious, Gold Leaf liveried, Lotus 62R but a a very smoky T1 ended in retirement.

Keith Murray (Audi R8) and Jeff Wiltshire (ZEUS Challenger) were set for a battle in Libre but a bent rear push rod ended the Challenger''s challenge(!). Carole Nicholls was the only Formula Ford present with her Nike and of the other single seaters, Steve Brown (new HSA record with his JKS) and Terry Holmes (Lola Tegra T90) both scored well.