The Castle Combe Climax to the Revington/TR Register Sprint & Hill Climb Championship, featuring The Bristol Pegasus Motor Club Regency Laundry Pegasus Sprint

Roger McEwen

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This event was something special. A large turn-out of TRs, an extended course, fabulous weather, a Championship decider, and thousands of spectators the majority of whom had come to Castle Combe for the Classic Car and Automobilia Auction but were more entertained by the action on the circuit.

The Championship was on a knife edge. Jonathon Weedon, driving the immaculate red TR5 shared with his father John, would be crowned Champion if he could pick up at least 9.93 points regardless of what anyone else did, but David Hardcastle, venturing South with his and Simon Allaby’s Gulf liveried TR7 V8, could drag the cup away if he scored the maximum 10 and Jonathon failed to score 9.93. The rest of the competitors were there just to enjoy the day and watch how things developed. There was John Weedon sharing his TR5 with Jonathon, Dale Huxford out only for the second time this year in his Triumph Spitfire, Tony Browne out for the first time in his very smart TR4, Graham Ramsey with his TR7, Neil Revington with his TR5 just back from Barbados, Nick Smith with his TR6 rapidly improving in his first year of competition, and Roger McEwen with The Witch.

The format of the event was different this year, and I have to say much better for the competitors, well done Bristol Pegasus. The start was moved to before Camp corner, meaning that Avon Rise was approached at considerably higher speeds than previously, which made Quarry interesting to say the least. There were also two separate practice laps instead of the convoy and two lap practice which gave the drivers a chance to really get to know the circuit at competitive speeds.

Scruntineering passed without trauma including the infamous noise test, and after a decent breakfast in the Tavern practice commenced. David Hardcastle put in a really good first time considering it was his first visit to Combe, but unfortunately Simon Allaby returned to the paddock going very slowly indeed and it was soon clear that all was not well with the Gulf TR7. With the clutch pushed in the car sounded fine, but let the clutch out and it sounded like a hammer and anvil, beating each other up. The general consensus was that something was seriously wrong in the bellhousing area, possibly a loose flywheel. Neil, inevitably, was in favour of removing the gearbox there and then, but David and Simon decided that was not practical and loaded the car back onto the trailer with very dispirited demeanours.

And so it was that Jonathon became Champion for 2011. Not to be outdone he still put in two storming timed laps to take the 10 points, beating his Target time despite the lengthened course, and thus consigning everyone else to abnormally low scores, with Dale next closest with 9.74. Everyone else had a very enjoyable day of competition without any further upsets.

The full results are:

Name	Car	1st Run	Champ. Points
Jonathon Weedon	TR5	97.69 secs	10.00
Dale Huxford	Spitfire	108.38 secs	9.74
Nick Smith	TR6	106.59 secs	9.50
Neil Revington	TR5	102.07 secs	9.48
Roger McEwen	TR6	106.67 secs	9.32
Graham Ramsey	TR7	120.84 secs	9.11
John Weedon	TR5	96.03 secs	9.10
Tony Browne	TR4	121.11 secs	9.08

And for the Championship:

Champion - Jonathon Weedon

2nd overall - David Hardcastle

3rd overall - Simon Allaby

It has really been a great year of Sprinting and Hillclimbing to a new set of Regulations with Personal Target Times. It is hoped that the format gains more support next year particularly with the non-TR Triumph cars.

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