Gurston Down Hillclimb

[jwhillracer]

So how does a down hill climb work?
_________________
David

Not so far off beam as you may think! Gurston Down Hillclimb is held on Gurston Farm in the Wiltshire Downs outside Salisbury. Saturday was a round of the Porsche Speed Championship there, with everything from classice 69 and early 70's 911's , through 924's, 968's and 993's up to a Cayman S..........

It DOES start with a flat out blast DOWNHILL into a sharp left hand kink.............




It then sweeps fast left (90mph plus in my car) to the VERY steep uphill right-hand bends at Karousel



Out of the top of Karousel - Bob Mortimer playing to the gallery as he makes his way up to Deer Leap....



and into Ashes, a tight left-hander which opens out into Burkes Rise, the sweeping run to the finish.



These are my times for the day -



I finished second in Class to Colin Belton in his 450bhp 993 RSR, so I was well pleased on such a power hill.

We are timed to 0.01 sec, and there are various other split times along the course, to judge where we are gaining or losing time against the others. The start is timed over the first 64 ft - if you can do this in 2 secs or less, then you are pulling 1g from the standing start.........
The track is about 10 - 12 ft wide most of the way, so there's not much room to drift off line, which concentrates the mind. The F1 engined single seaters are pulling 140mph plus before Hollow Bend, and over the finish line, and the current outright record holder is Martin Groves, with a mind-blowing 25.42 second run.

Come and see an event soon, but be careful - it can prove highly addictive....................

Cheers

JW

PS - for all the information on Gurston Down, visit www.gurstondown.org

[Bob_Salmon]

Interesting stuff JW (Sorry, forgot your name but we met the other day at the SW PCGB Spit & Shine - mine was the Gulf Blue sort of rep).

So, Hillclimbing? Could be something to try when I get a bit older

Bob

[jwhillracer]

Hi Bob,

Yes, definitely you need to be hillclimbing! Get your licence and an entry in to Wiscombe Park as soon as possible. It's only round the back of Oak Tree Garage...............

Cheers

Jonathan

[Bob_Salmon]

Thanks Jonathan it's one to think about because everything else is getting so expensive.

Kind regards,

Bob

[912uk]

great to see all this still going on.. great stuff.. I remember reading about stuff like this in PCGB Post mag

[jwhillracer]

Yes, there's still a merry band of loonies throwing their cars at the hills somewhere most week-ends, whether at Porsche rounds, National championships, or local clubby events.

The real beauty about the sport (apart from the company of so many like-minded wind-up merchants ) is that the ultimate competition is between you and the clock, so it doesn't really matter what car you have, the real challenge is to be faster than you were before. Everything else is a bonus!

Cheers

JW

[jwhillracer]

If anyone's interested, in the next few weeks I will hopefully be competing at -

Longleat - 5th and 6th July (Porsche round on 5th)
Castle (Lostwithiel) 12th and 13th July
Shelsley Walsh 19th and 20th July
Wiscombe Park 26th and 27th July (National Meeting - practice Sat, event Sun)
Loton Park (nr Shrewsbury) 9th and 10th August (Porsche round - practice Sat, event Sun)
Shelsley Walsh 16th and 17th August (National Meeting - as Wiscombe)
Wiscombe Park (nr Honiton) 6th & 7th September
Wiscombe Park (nr Honiton) 13th September (MGCC meeting)
Shelsley Walsh 20th & 21st September
Prescott (nr Cheltenham) 27th September (Final Porsche round)

Come along, have a good day and a chat, and get itchy feet..........

Cheers

JW

[Ian Donkin]

It DOES start with a flat out blast DOWNHILL into a sharp left hand kink.............

Harewood in Yorkshire's like that too - downhill section first!

Quite fancy doing something like this but don't want to feel like a total ar$e when I'm so bloody slow!

[jwhillracer]

It DOES start with a flat out blast DOWNHILL into a sharp left hand kink.............

Harewood in Yorkshire's like that too - downhill section first!

Quite fancy doing something like this but don't want to feel like a total ar$e when I'm so bloody slow!

It really isn't a problem, as long as you finish with a smile on your face! Best plan is to do one of the Hillclimb School days at Gurston Down, Harewood, Prescott, or the Sprint course at Curborough, near Lichfield. Really good instruction, great fun, and no times. Line and technique are what they are looking for.
My eldest two have done Prescott School in their 1.4 Golfs, so you won't be that slow!



Cheers

JW