Shelsley Walsh Newsletter
August 2020
Welcome to our monthly update of what’s been happening in and around the Midland Automobile Club and Shelsley Walsh. And what a month it’s been planning and organising six competitive weekends into the second half of a summer when we were originally planning to do seven in a year. Busy times!
Three meetings completed, the team at Shelsley Walsh have worked very hard to run the events Covid 19 safe for competitors and thanks to additional work carried out on the hill, MAC Members were able to return to watch all the action trackside at the August Championship Challenge meeting.
Fast hill climbing at Shelsley Walsh was also watched by many people all over the world thanks to our YouTube stream. Two meetings were broadcast and many positive comments received, proving we can innovate this part of motorsport just as the competitors have done over the 115 years of the hill climb.
We are not finished yet though as we have more weekends of hill climb action coming up, entries for which are open for any car you may have and wish to compete in. With a number of Top 10 Run Offs you may want to grab your chance to be in one with a Top 10 Tin Top on August 29th, Top 10 for MAC members on September 12th and a Top 10 for Sunrise Sprint drivers on September 13th. The regular Autumn Speed Finale has some spaces remaining for entries but we’re filling up fast…! Go to ‘COMPETITION’ at the top of the page here to enter.
For day to day information do keep in touch with our digital media pages on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as well as here on ShelsleyWalsh.com.
Members' Day
Our first event of 2020 was a Member’s Day on July 18th. 100 cars attended with all getting runs up the hill as part of a thank you from the MAC to members in this difficult year. Everyone enjoyed their allocated four runs up the hill but as the day ran smoothly, many were able to get extra runs in.
As this was a special Members Day, competition cars were able to take part. Sean Gould brought along his Gould Judd to bed it in after winter upgrades and although the hill had been swept beforehand, there was still a bit of dust on the surface but this was soon thrown high into the air in a huge rooster tail following the Gould up on its first ascent. For those watching up the hill and seeing road cars make their way up as fast as the dare, it was quite a shock to see a Gould shoot into view.
Our next Members Day at Shelsley is on September 25th so if you wish to book your place, click here: www.shelsleywalsh.com/members-day
90-year-old trophy found
We had a note from Hans-Joachim Stuck in July to say that he’d found a Shelsley Walsh trophy in a box of other old trophies his father had won. “I put these trophies together to take to my holiday home in France where I could then polish them up while sitting outside in the sun but I then saw it was from Shelsley.”
The trophy itself is a small replica of the main trophy we have in our archive but this smaller one was awarded to his father when he came over in July 1930 and smashed the hill record by a breath taking 2.8 seconds with the Austro-Daimler.
That same day saw Mercedes' Rudolf Carraciola, Mille Miglia winner that year already and a contemporary Grand Prix and Le Mans 24 hr winner, smash the sports car record with Alfred Neubauer sat alongside him in the Mercedes SSK, setting 46.8 seconds.
Summer Spree
Sean Gould blitzed the first competitive weekend of 2020 by winning the Summer Spree at the end of July. Devoid of a British Championship, he is using his Gould as much as possible in 2020 as a test bed with rear suspension tweaks, instantly getting into the 23 second bracket with a 23.61. Considering the track was still a little ‘green’ this was a mightily impressive time.
Vintage Shelsley
The Vintage meeting on August 8th was full of excitement with many drivers out and about for the first time driving against the clock in 2020. James Baxter had a huge moment through Crossing as his inside front tyre rode up the bank on his final run, but he held it together to win on the hot, sunny day.
Reg Phillips Trophy
David Warburton took the spoils the day after the VSCC meeting in the family Gould GR59 1600cc car getting close to the 24s with a 25.12. The motorcycle Run Off was as always spectacular and won by Tom Short in a mind blowing 30.78 second climb aboard his KTM 653; that’s quick for a car!