The 2021 British Hillclimb Championship presented by Avon Tyres is the 74th running of the series, which began in 1947. In normal circumstances it would have been the 75th, but the 2020 season was cancelled due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.2020 BHC Season Cancelled
The 2021 Championship was won by 2019 (and reigning) title holder Wallace Menzies, driving a Gould GR59M with a 3.3-litre V8 engine derived from the Cosworth XD.
Format
According to the Championship regulations,British Hillclimb Championship Regulations points are awarded according to a driver's positions in each of two Run-Offs held at every event. The Run-Offs are contested by the registered drivers who achieve the twelve best times in the preliminary class runs. The scoring system is as follows:
Points1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th8th9th10th11th12th1098765432100
In addition, an extra point is awarded to any driver whose time is under the outright course record at the start of the event. To clarify, the extra point is awarded if that record is beaten in the second Run-Off even if a new record has been set in the first Run-Off, or in any of the class runs. Assuming the planned 28 rounds are held, a driver's best 22 scores will count towards their total, though this number will be reduced if any rounds are cancelled.British Hillclimb Championship regulation 1.6
The cancellation of Round 16 at Harewood due to adverse weather conditions reduced the number of rounds to 27 and the number of counting scores to 21 (see Round 15 below).
The Championship is open to drivers of many types of car, including completely unmodified production road vehicles.British Hillclimb Championship regulation 3.22021 Motorsport UK Yearbook, p.354, regulation 10.1 In practice, however, it is overwhelmingly likely that the Champion will drive a single-seat race car either designed and built specially for hillclimbing or converted from a design suitable for circuit racing.
Name
The terms 'hillclimb' and 'hill climb' are used interchangeably. 'Hillclimb' is used on this page because it is the form chosen by the Championship organisers, who also refer to the BHC (British Hillclimb Championship) rather than BHCC (British Hill Climb Championship).British Hillclimb Championship website
Calendar changes
The Championship was originally scheduled to start at Prescott on April 24/25.British Hillclimb Championship 2021 Calendar The meeting went ahead as planned,Event results but not as a Championship round, "following concerns over some competitors likely to experience travel difficulties due to COVID restrictions within their home countries".Opening Rounds At Prescott Postponed The Championship therefore started three weeks later than intended, at Loton Park on May 15/16. The rounds at Craigantlet, originally to be held on May 1, were postponed to September 11, "to avoid any uncertainty surrounding potential travel restrictions due to the current pandemic".Craigantlet - New Dates For 2021
On February 19, the Championship organisers announced that the rounds due to be held in July at the Channel Islands venues, Bouley Bay and Val des Terres, had been abandoned completely after consultation with the organising clubs, "due to the uncertainties regarding travel restrictions throughout the summer".Channel Islands Rounds Cancelled
Event results Round 1, Loton Park, May 16 Organiser: Hagley & District Light Car ClubHagley & District Light Car Club website
Track/weather conditions: mixed Official resultsBritish Hillclimb Championship Round 1 results Position Driver Car Time 1 Wallace Menzies 3.3 Gould GR59M-Cosworth XD 44.11 seconds 2 Alex Summers 2.65 DJDJ Race Cars Firestorm-Cosworth XD 44.45 seconds 3 Scott Moran 4.0 Gould GR59-Judd 45.17 seconds 4 Will Hall 2.0 turbocharged ForceForce Racing Cars WH-XTEC 45.41 seconds 5 Trevor Willis 3.2 OMSOMS Racing 28-RPE 45.62 seconds 6 David Uren 3.5 Gould GR55-Cosworth 45.95 seconds 7 Eynon Price 1.6 Force TA-Suzuki 46.57 seconds 8 Graham Wynn 4.0 Gould GR59-Judd 48.75 seconds 9 Andrew Coley 2.5 Gould GR55-Opel Cosworth 49.81 seconds 10 Adam Greenen 1.1 EmpireEmpire Racing Cars Evo 2-Suzuki 49.83 seconds 11 Steve Owen 2.7 OMS 28-RPE 50.25 seconds 12 Matthew Ryder 1.6 Empire Wraith-Suzuki Did not finish Sean Gould, considered a Championship contender,British Hillclimb Championship competitors did not qualify for this Run-Off due to failing to complete his class run.Sean Gould run times
Wallace Menzies scored his 39th BHC Run-Off win in this round.Wallace Menzies statistics at hillclimb.uk
This event was livestreamed on YouTube. Footage of the first Run-Off starts at 4:09:00.
Round 2, Loton Park, May 16 Organiser: Hagley & District Light Car Club
Track/weather conditions: mixed
Official resultsBritish Hillclimb Championship Round 2 results Position Driver Car Time 1 Wallace Menzies 3.3 Gould GR59M-Cosworth XD 43.55 seconds 2 Sean Gould 4.0 Gould GR59JB-Judd 44.27 seconds 3 Alex Summers 2.65 DJ Firestorm-Cosworth XD 44.32 seconds 4 Will Hall 2.0 turbocharged Force WH-XTEC 44.54 seconds 5 Scott Moran 4.0 Gould GR59-Judd 45.09 seconds 6 Trevor Willis 3.2 OMS 28-RPE 45.49 seconds 7 David Uren 3.5 Gould GR55-Cosworth 45.64 seconds 8 Eynon Price 1.6 Force TA-Suzuki 47.13 seconds 9 Ben Stephenson 1.3 supercharged Empire Evo 2-Suzuki 48.58 seconds 10 Andrew Coley 2.5 Gould GR55-Opel Cosworth 49.22 seconds 11 Adam Greenen 1.1 Empire Evo 2-Suzuki 49.60 seconds 12 Paul Haimes 1.3 turbocharged Gould GR59-Suzuki Did not start
Wallace Menzies scored his 40th BHC Run-Off win in this round.
This event was livestreamed on YouTube. Footage of the second Run-Off starts at 8:48:35.
Round 3, Gurston Down, May 29 Organiser: BARC South West CentreGurston Down website
Track/weather conditions: warm and dry
Official resultsBritish Hillclimb Championship Round 3 results Position Driver Car Time 1 Wallace Menzies 3.3 Gould GR59M-Cosworth XD 25.55 seconds 2 Alex Summers 2.65 DJ Firestorm-Cosworth XD 25.88 seconds 3 Will Hall 2.0 turbocharged Force WH-XTEC 25.97 seconds 4 Sean Gould 4.0 Gould GR59JB-Judd 26.05 seconds 5 Trevor Willis 3.2 OMS 28-RPE 26.60 seconds 6 Scott Moran 4.0 Gould GR59-Judd 26.67 seconds 7 Paul Haimes 1.3 turbocharged Gould GR59-Suzuki 27.37 seconds 8 Graham Wynn 4.0 Gould GR59-Judd 28.13 seconds 9 David Warburton 1.6 Gould GR59-Suzuki 28.26 seconds 10 Eynon Price 1.6 Force TA-Suzuki 28.66 seconds 11 Andy Greenen 1.1 Empire Evo 2-Suzuki 29.15 seconds 12 Simon Moyse 1.3 supercharged Gould GR59-Suzuki 39.87 seconds
Wallace Menzies scored his 41st BHC Run-Off win in this round.
Trevor Willis set a new Championship record by qualifying for his 549th Run-Off in this round.Trevor Willis statistics at hillclimb.uk
This event was livestreamed on YouTube. Footage of the first Run-Off starts at 2:07:00.
Round 4, Gurston Down, May 29 Organiser: BARC South West Centre
Track/weather conditions: dry, becoming cloudy
Official resultsBritish Hillclimb Championship Round 4 results Position Driver Car Time 1 Will Hall 2.0 turbocharged Force WH-XTEC 26.00 seconds 2 Alex Summers 2.65 DJ Firestorm-Cosworth XD 26.02 seconds 3 Wallace Menzies 3.3 Gould GR59M-Cosworth XD 26.20 seconds 4 Scott Moran 4.0 Gould GR59-Judd 26.48 seconds 5 Sean Gould 4.0 Gould GR59JB-Judd 26.58 seconds 6 Trevor Willis 3.2 OMS 28-RPE 26.79 seconds 7 Paul Haimes 1.3 turbocharged Gould GR59-Suzuki 27.65 seconds 8 Graham Wynn 4.0 Gould GR59-Judd 27.87 seconds 9 Eynon Price 1.6 Force TA-Suzuki 28.73 seconds 10 David Warburton 1.6 Gould GR59-Suzuki 28.92 seconds 11 Andy Greenen 1.1 Empire Evo 2-Suzuki 29.01 seconds 12 Steve Owen 2.7 OMS 28-RPE 29.27 seconds
Will Hall scored his 25th BHC Run-Off win in this round.Will Hall statistics at hillclimb.uk
This event was livestreamed on YouTube. Footage of the second Run-Off starts at 4:20:00.
Round 5, Gurston Down, May 30 Organiser: BARC South West Centre
Track/weather conditions: warm and dry
Official resultsBritish Hillclimb Championship Round 5 results Position Driver Car Time 1 Wallace Menzies 3.3 Gould GR59M-Cosworth XD 25.34 seconds R 2 Alex Summers 2.65 DJ Firestorm-Cosworth XD 25.44 seconds 3 Sean Gould 4.0 Gould GR59JB-Judd 25.54 seconds 4 Will Hall 2.0 turbocharged Force WH-XTEC 26.18 seconds 5 Scott Moran 4.0 Gould GR59-Judd 26.28 seconds 6 Trevor Willis 3.2 OMS 28-RPE 26.34 seconds 7 Simon Moyse 1.3 supercharged Gould GR59-Suzuki 28.07 seconds 8 Graham Wynn 4.0 Gould GR59-Judd 28.09 seconds 9 Eynon Price 1.6 Force TA-Suzuki 28.40 seconds 10 Steve Owen 2.7 OMS 28-RPE 28.42 seconds 11 David Warburton 1.6 Gould GR59-Suzuki 28.49 seconds 12 Paul Haimes 1.3 turbocharged Gould GR59-Suzuki Did not start
R = new outright course record
Wallace Menzies scored his 42nd BHC Run-Off win in this round.
This event was livestreamed on YouTube. Footage of the first Run-Off starts at 1:46:00. An interview with Wallace Menzies, celebrating his new course record, starts at 2:42:15.
Round 6, Gurston Down, May 30 Organiser: BARC South West Centre
Track/weather conditions: warm and dry
Official resultsBritish Hillclimb Championship Round 6 results Position Driver Car Time 1 Wallace Menzies 3.3 Gould GR59M-Cosworth XD 25.61 seconds 2 Sean Gould 4.0 Gould GR59JB-Judd 25.67 seconds 3 Alex Summers 2.65 DJ Firestorm-Cosworth XD 25.82 seconds 4 Trevor Willis 3.2 OMS 28-RPE 26.42 seconds 5 Simon Moyse 1.3 supercharged Gould GR59-Suzuki 28.08 seconds 6 David Warburton 1.6 Gould GR59-Suzuki 28.13 seconds 7 Eynon Price 1.6 Force TA-Suzuki 28.41 seconds 8 Allan Warburton 1.6 Gould GR59-Suzuki 29.18 seconds 9 Lee Griffiths 1.7 OMS 28-Suzuki 29.30 seconds Adam Greenen 1.1 Empire Evo 2-Suzuki Did not finish Will Hall 2.0 turbocharged Force WH-XTEC Did not finish Graham Wynn 4.0 Gould GR59-Judd Did not start
Wallace Menzies scored his 43rd BHC Run-Off win in this round.
Will Hall left the course near the top of the hill, causing a long delay while the car was recovered.
Adam Greenen's Empire Evo 2 coasted to a halt during its run.
Scott Moran, who is sharing Graham Wynn's Gould GR59 this season, was unable to start the car's engine immediately before the second class run. This could not be fixed during the meeting, so Moran was unable to qualify for the second Run-Off. Wynn did qualify, but was unable to take part due to the starting issue.
Simon Moyse achieved his best BHC Run-Off result to date in this round.
This event was livestreamed on YouTube. Scott Moran's starting problem is shown at 3:17:00. Footage of the second Run-Off starts at 3:43:00. Adam Greenen's retirement can be seen at 3:48:00. The livestream was temporarily halted to avoid showing Will Hall's accident, but messages explaining that he was OK were displayed.
Round 7, Shelsley Walsh, June 6 Organiser: Midland Automobile ClubMidland Automobile Club website
Track/weather conditions: cloudy, drying
Official resultsBritish Hillclimb Championship Round 7 results Position Driver Car Time 1 Alex Summers 2.65 DJ Firestorm-Cosworth XD 24.07 seconds 2 Sean Gould 4.0 Gould GR59JB-Judd 24.51 seconds 3 Wallace Menzies 3.3 Gould GR59M-Cosworth XD 24.57 seconds 4 Scott Moran 4.0 Gould GR59-Judd 24.74 seconds 5 Trevor Willis 3.2 OMS 28-RPE 24.93 seconds 6 David Uren 3.5 Gould GR55-Cosworth 25.09 seconds 7 Paul Haimes 1.3 turbocharged Gould GR59-Suzuki 25.56 seconds 8 David Warburton 1.6 Gould GR59-Suzuki 25.91 seconds 9 Eynon Price 1.6 Force TA-Suzuki 26.77 seconds 10 Graham Wynn 4.0 Gould GR59-Judd 26.90 seconds 11 Adam Greenen 1.1 Empire Evo 2-Suzuki 26.91 seconds 12 Matthew Ryder 1.6 Empire Wraith-Suzuki 27.15 seconds
Alex Summers scored his 16th BHC Run-Off win in this round.Alex Summers statistics at hillclimb.uk
This event was livestreamed on YouTube. Footage of the first Run-Off starts at 2:56:00.
Round 8, Shelsley Walsh, June 6 Organiser: Midland Automobile Club
Track/weather conditions: cloudy, dry