While Matthew Ryder had already sealed the 2025 British Hillclimb Championship, the final wins of a mighty season fell to Alex Summers and Wallace Menzies as the campaign finished at Loton Park in Shropshire.
The daunting schedule of 30 championship run-offs across 13 events came to a conclusion over the weekend, but in championship terms there was little to play for as all of the key places were already settled.
After missing the previous weekend’s trip to Doune in Scotland, following the recent arrival of a baby, Ryder was back in the car he shares with Sean Gould but it was past champions Summers and Menzies who took the big wins.
The first of the two top 12 run-offs was interrupted by a high speed off for Dave Uren in his Gould GR55. The tricky sweeping Cedar Straight caught the West Midlander and he speared off to the right into the undergrowth. Though the car took significant damage, Uren was thankfully unharmed, much to the relief of the close- knit hillclimb paddock.
After the delay, Summers delivered a mighty run of 43.14s to eclipse Menzies and Ryder by more than a third of a second. Though Summers has only contested a part season this year, it was a reminder that Summers and the DJ Firestorm remain a fiercely competitive package.
Will Hall continued his excellent recent form to put his Gould GR59 into fourth, 17 hundredths behind Ryder, as this quartet all dipped into the 43-second bracket. A little way back, Trevor Willis was fifth in his OMS and another giant killing performance from Alex Coles got his 1300cc turbocharged Force into sixth.
Alex Summers
Photo by: Paul Lawrence
At the end of the long afternoon, the second run-off ran as the sun lowered in the sky and the ambient temperature slipped away. Summers just went too hot into Fallow corner and locked a wheel, which cost him a little bit of time and his 43.92s climb was vulnerable with the big guns still to come.
Hall dipped to a 43.85s but then Menzies reset the bar with a mighty 43.23s. Ryder, taking the last competitive run of the BHC season, attacked and a 43.32s took him close to Menzies but not close enough. Behind them, Gould edged Willis for fifth and Coles was once again very close in seventh.
For Menzies it was the perfect end to the season and sets him up for another full on title bid in 2026. “Once Matt won the title at Prescott, the last two rounds at Doune and Loton Park have been the start of the 2026 season for us,” said Menzies as his team worked to get his Gould GR59 where they wanted it before the winter break. “I’m really pleased to be back on the pace,” said the flying Scot.
“Everything went right in the first one,” said Summers of a fine performance to wrap up his part season. It remains to be seen whether he will be back on the title trail full time in 2026, but it is already shaping up to be another epic season on the hills.
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