Menzies masterful during British Hillclimb’s Channel Islands visit

The British Hillclimb Championship’s Channel Islands trip was a successful one for Wallace Menzies as he scored three wins from four.

A storming week in Jersey and Guernsey moved Menzies closer to defending champion Matthew Ryder and suggests that their battle could go all the way to the end of the season.

Menzies has always been strong on the two summer away events but at Bouley Bay on Jersey it was honours shared between current points leader Ryder and Menzies as they each took a win and a second place last Tuesday.

However, four days later at Val des Terres on Guernsey, Menzies took control on a hill that Ryder has yet to fully master and the Scot claimed both run-offs. Will Hall turned in two fine performances to be second both times as Ryder was edged back to third despite it being his best day so far at the Guernsey hill.

The Channel Islands sojourn started at a dusty and slippery Bouley Bay. In the first run-off, Ryder posted a strong 37.55s climb to edge Menzies by four tenths of a second with Hall and Trevor Willis closely matched for third as Andy Bougourd was the best of the local drivers in fifth.

Menzies then took command at the end of the afternoon, and his 37.85s eclipsed everyone by nearly three quarters of a second as Ryder and Hall took the next places. Dave Uren had a strong run to fourth, ahead of Willis while Darren Gumbley had one of his best results to date with sixth in his Force.

The action resumed at Val des Terres on Saturday, and this time Menzies was in control on a hill where Ryder has never enjoyed particularly strong form. In the opener, Menzies eclipsed his challengers by half a second as Hall pushed Ryder back to third, with local star Nick Saunders bagging an impressive fourth in his self-developed Reynick.

Menzies did it again later, but Hall ran him desperately close to finish just 0.04s adrift. Ryder again claimed third only a tenth ahead of the impressive Saunders but, crucially, three quarters of a second away from the leading pair.