Barbon Sprint Hill Climb Report from the 15th May 2004

I always look forward to this event in the motorsport calendar as it is a relatively local event, easy to get to and very enjoyable and exciting.

I arrived at the little village of Barbon at around 9.30 in the morning to be in plenty of time to see the practice runs and have a good look around the paddock to get a close look at the machinery which would be challenging the 890 yard uphill sprint

This year was no different to any other by way of excitement, but the way program was organized was slightly different to last years in as much as they had a couple of 12 car runs for an extra championship point.

The entries were plenty for a total of 16 classes ranging from historic sports cars prior to 1953 to racing cars over 2000cc.

The weather was again, very good to us spectators and the racers alike with warm temperatures and regularly, the sun would come out from behind thin clouds to give us its` full heat which in turn meant that the track was slowly warming up as well to aid the grip of the cars.

Speaking to a Marshall at the track gave a bit more insight into the championship contenders and when asked if there was any possibility of the track record being beaten today, he gave me not one but two names to watch out for; Adam Fleetwood and Graham Wright Junior.

The practice sessions went with little problems apart from Martin Silcox who on his second practice, had a terminal problem with his gearbox to put him out of the racing.

I made my way to the top of the hill by the notorious hairpin which can catch even the more experienced racers out to watch the action form there.

This year, that position was even better served for the spectators as there was now a big digital screen on the bend so you could see the action on the start line upto the first corner and then very soon, the action was in eyesight.

The racing was very competitive with a couple of class records falling by the wayside and a couple of others being very hotly challenged, like Robert Kenrick missing out on his class record of 25.74 seconds by .04 of a second in his Caterham.

Edward Hollier was one such challenger to watch and his first run saw him coming round Richmond bend at some speed and having to hold on to the car with all his might and experience to keep it on the track and again was pushing very hard through the speed trap and up to the Lafone hairpin which he appeared to leave the braking a little too late which unsettled the car and put him in a spin and out of that round.

It remained to be seen if he could forget that little incident and put everything together for a good sprint on his second attempt, he did! And won the class with a time of 23.92 seconds, only .67 of a second off the record pace.

The main attraction for the day though had to be the battle between the above mentioned Fleetwood and Wright in their single seater race cars.

The class record was 21.03 seconds and when Adam Fleetwood came round the hairpin, the crowd could sense that it was a very quick time and could tell that the angle of exit from the hairpin was just right to enable him to get the power down earlier and catapult himself towards the finish line in a new record time of 20.99 seconds.

We then saw Graeme Wright Jnr attack the hill in a controlled and smooth manner to put in a very respectable time of 21.02 which would previously have seen him take the record.

These two were battling it out with each other all afternoon as they were both in the championship 12 car runs as well, consistently posting times of very low 21 and sub 21 seconds, with the piece de la resistance coming from Adam Fleetwood again with a new COURSE RECORD of 20.51 seconds.

So lets get this straight, 890 yards, uphill, round 2 left handers and a right hand hairpin, going through the speedtrap at speeds of up to 131mph and all in less than 21 seconds? – these guys are quick!

The next event at Barbon is National B championship on the 19th June, practice starts at 10am with the timed runs at 2pm.

Well worth a day out.