So here we are, the first Lusted travel blog of the 2022 season – a “day out”. Just for a change the weather decided to be a bit kinder, so there was sun, but b****y cold.
The last time I was at the Prescott Speed Hill Climb track was when I was still competing in 1979 – a mere 43 years ago !!!!
Not a lot has changed, although there are more permanent buildings, including a nice Clubhouse. The course is still the same tricky sinuous bit of tarmac with one uphill hairpin and a nasty surprise (IMHO) at the end in the form of a bend called Semi Circle. Seemingly innocuous, it gets tighter and tighter as you get towards the finish. I’ve nearly come a cropper there, more than once……..
The track is owned by the Bugatti Owners Club and is officially described on their website as: “The track is 1127 yards long and rises over 200 feet on a technically challenging course incorporating short straights, fast and slow corners and a breathtaking hairpin. The fastest modern racing cars completing the course in under 36 seconds” Oh yes …….
Today was a test day for those who wished to remind themselves which way the track went and to try new/update machinery. Also, it was an opportunity for those looking to take up the sport to get an idea how it all worked, by using their road cars, ahead of possibly buying more specialist machinery – this is how I started, so familiar territory.
Speed hillclimbing is an extreme niche part of the whole motorsport world. It’s very much you, as an individual, versus the clock. You get to run against likeminded competitors in defined classes. In general, it’s a “friendly” sort of deal. If you have car issues, for example, it’s often your fellow class competitors who will help you get it all back together following an “incident”. I know this from experience………
Here’s a map of the course:
So below are a few snaps (with captions) of the course and a sample of some of the more gorgeous bits of machinery.
That’s my first travel blog effort for the year, partially done to remind myself about how to construct a post – seem to have succeeded…..
Next one will be the first round of the 2022 British Touring Car Championship at Donington Circuit, April 22/23/24/25. My first 2022 camping trip as well, which a lovely lady of my acquaint designated my “practice camping” before I embark on an epic 41 day adventure to Eskdale, Mull, Skye, the complete Outer Hebrides (bottom to top) and a few more places on the way home. That should be fun……. watch this space, as they say.