As the British Hillclimb season tipped through the halfway point, Will Hall and Matthew Ryder continued their fierce battle for this year’s title on last weekend’s second visit of the campaign to Harewood.
While Hall took a win and a third place, Ryder bagged two seconds to send the pair towards the Channel Islands double-header level on points. However, Wallace Menzies reminded everyone that he’s not out of this contest yet by winning the first run-off before suffering an engine failure later in the afternoon.
Two weeks earlier, the contenders had paid their only 2026 visit to Doune in Scotland where Hall had the best pace. He duly headed Ryder in the first contest but was going even quicker in the second class runs when the car just got away from him and spun. That handed victory to Ryder from Menzies and the flying David Warburton.
The return trip to Yorkshire marked the start of a critical month in the BHC with eight run-offs within three weeks. Ryder has been the master of Harewood in recent times, but this weekend it didn’t quite gel for the reigning champion, who was losing some time with a launch issue and also had worries about the diff in his Gould GR59. In fact, it was a bit of a day for diffs as Dave Uren was sidelined early on Sunday with a suspected diff failure in his Gould GR55B.
With a switch back to Pirelli tyres, Menzies was bang on the money in the opening run-off and pipped Ryder by five hundredths of a second. However, for Hall it was a case of what might have been when big understeer hit his GR59 into the first right-hander. He ran very wide before recovering and clawing some time back, but the six tenths he dropped at the first corner cost him a shot at victory, as his 47.98s climb was only good enough for third.
Menzies was looking rapid before engine woes ground him to a halt
Photo by: Ben Lawrence
Menzies then ground to a halt on the second class runs as his GR59 suffered a rare mechanical failure. “It looks like it’s the top end of the engine,” said the Scot as team boss Tom New prepared to install the spare motor before the Channel Islands trip.
This time Hall hooked it up and got his Gould turned in neatly to the opening corner to post 47.68s and edge Ryder by 0.13s. “I think that could have been a double win,” admitted Hall, who clearly had the pace to complete the clean sweep.
One of the other stars of the day was Jack Cottrill who pushed his Dallara-Cosworth into fourth and then third to match his best-ever result, as well as taking a personal best for the Yorkshire hill.
After a suspension issue in practice, Trevor Willis bounced back to take two fifth places while Paul Haimes shot to fourth in the late afternoon after dropping time in the opening run-off when a turbo pipe became detached.
It was another enthralling instalment in a battle that is going to run and run, and with four contests coming next week in the Channel Islands, the balance of power could shift yet again.
Cottrill starred with third place in the second run-off, matching his best-ever result
Photo by: Ben Lawrence
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– The Autosport.com Team
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