Matthew Ryder is the 2026 British Hillclimb champion as he wrapped up a hat-trick of titles in his Gould GR59 after one of the most fiercely contested seasons in the recent history of the championship.
Ryder took the title by a single point after archrival Wallace Menzies crashed out of the final top-12 run-off at Prescott last weekend, while Will Hall was only one point behind Menzies. It was an incredibly close finish after a season when these three drivers have battled at every one of the 26 championship run-offs.
“What an incredible year of competition,” said Ryder, still barely able to believe that he’d wrapped up the hat-trick under intense pressure from Menzies and Hall, with all three drivers armed with Gould GR59s.
It has been a roller-coaster of a season, with Ryder scoring strongly in the early part of the year before Menzies really came on form from mid-season, boosted by a switch back to Pirelli tyres. Meanwhile, Hall just got quicker and quicker as he found the sweet spot of his Gould and it all came to a head in the season finale at Prescott.
Menzies bagged the first run-off at the Gloucestershire venue with a sub-record climb of 34.22s and that result meant the destiny of the title would go down to a straight shoot-out in the final round between Menzies and Ryder.
Ryder struggled to believe he had landed the title again
Photo by: Paul Lawrence
However, there was a final twist in the plot of this compelling story as Menzies pushed harder still through the sweeping left-hander at Orchard. But the back end of the car just got away from him, and the Gould spun and clonked the barriers on the approach to Ettore’s hairpin.
Menzies’ no score meant that Ryder needed second place to seal the title and, with the last run of the season, Ryder finished second to Hall to score the one extra point he needed to go clear of Menzies.
“I just asked too much of the rear end,” admitted Menzies of the incident as he rushed to congratulate his rival. Typically, all of the leading drivers saluted Ryder as he returned to the paddock in a branch of the sport where camaraderie and sporting rivalry is a key feature.
Behind the top three, Dave Uren and Trevor Willis consolidated fourth and fifth in the final standings, while young Alex Coles was again a determined contender as he took his Force TA to fifth and sixth places in the final run-offs.
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– The Autosport.com Team
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