Werrington Park Hillclimb - 2-3rd May 2009

I was running late on Sunday but still manage to make the Werrington Park Speed Hill Climb just north of Launceston in the border country between Cornwall and Devon. In dry and sunny conditions but with a surprisingly chill breeze there were many fast runs and class records were being matched, if not actually broken.

And the surroundings were just magnificent - the artist in me revelled in the colours and the light conditions.

The course at Werrington is 1200m long and one of the longest hill climbs in the UK and there were almost 100 cars present, many of them featuring double drives with friends and family competing against each other in the same car. Held over two days, the event attracted competitors from as far afield as Birmingham and constituted a round of the 2009 Cornish Speed Championship, the 2009 Bridge Tires and Wheels Motor Sport ASWMC Hillclimb Championship and the 2009 ACSMC Hamilton classic hillclimb championship.

I spent a very pleasant afternoon watching the sport and chatting to the competitors in the paddock. Hillclimbing is just as friendly as sport as trialling and the two are often confused by the general public. Often those of us in the know have to add the word speed to the description of hillclimbing. To add to the confusion, a lot of people who do trialling also try their hand of hillclimbing.


Having had a go trialling and found the sections to rough for my precious old cars, I think that my next foray into motorsport will be on one of the local hills.

This event was very well organised and I came away surprised that more people don't participate in speed hillclimbs. It's a relatively cheap way of answering the perennial question "What’ll she do, Mister?” and because you are the only person on the hill the only mistakes you can suffer from are your own.

Take this Jag for example. Few people would seriously compete on the race tracks in such a car but on a day like this in surroundings like these it seemed entirely appropriate to stick some numbers on and have a go. This car, like so many others there, was not trailered to the event but driven there. No fancy tyres were fitted and there was no appreciable tuning - just an enthusiast turning up in a nice car to have a go.


That's close to my own attitude. I probably wouldn't be competitive in any class that I entered but I would be competing against myself and the clock.

In Class A1, Series Production Cars up to 1400cc, there was an 1117cc Mk1 Fiesta on entered as a double drive with Kevin Moyses and Simon Heywood - not everyone's first thought as a competition car but stripped out I bet these two had an absolute blast with it!


There were certainly some very nice cars present, not all of them competing. Often the car park contains some interesting machines. It's a pleasure to keep your eyes open at these events and I begin to wonder what car I would like to take home with me it's very difficult not to say all of them.

There was one significant dampener to my enjoyment of the day and this was the unfortunate fate that befell one of the chief contenders for the car at Werrington that I would most like to see in my own garage. Alex Clark in this lovely mid-engined Renault Five Turbo had the misfortune to roll it on the twisty bits beyond the house. The word around the paddock was that he escaped with just a good shaking and a few cuts and bruises and that he was lucky that his Renault Five Turbo was left hand drive. I don't know the details of his mishap that looks like it came down on an iron post or maybe a granite wall.

I've always had a soft spot for these cars and was hoping to have a closer look it but if there was any doubt in my mind before, this crash convinced me that this was the most desirable car present that day I wish Alex a speedy recovery and a straightforward rebuild of this wonderful motorcar.