Hillclimb spectating

[coppice]

Barbon is a lovely venue as long as it doesn't rain. It is very laid back , access all areas stuff but beware sheep sh** and bumps in the 'car park' - a sloping field . It is not actually a great hill but it has two good places to watch - the start line (noise, smoke, drama ) and the top hairpin. Bit of a hike uphill but a very good place to watch . You see the cars reach high speed on the straight then brake very hard for the tight hairpin , which has zero room for error , and then full power to the finish line a few yards later . Yup, yards - it is not a metre sort of place !

It's amateur motor sport at its very best . Get there reasonably early and walk the paddock . You will find everyone more than happy to chat.
If I wasn't at VSCC Cadwell I'd be at Barbon myself . Nice pub in the village BTW .


Enjoy .

[Drumroll]

Echo, what Coppice has said about Barbon, love the venue.

[pissonheads]

coppice said:

Barbon is a lovely venue as long as it doesn't rain. It is very laid back , access all areas stuff but beware sheep sh** and bumps in the 'car park' - a sloping field . It is not actually a great hill but it has two good places to watch - the start line (noise, smoke, drama ) and the top hairpin. Bit of a hike uphill but a very good place to watch . You see the cars reach high speed on the straight then brake very hard for the tight hairpin , which has zero room for error , and then full power to the finish line a few yards later . Yup, yards - it is not a metre sort of place !

It's amateur motor sport at its very best . Get there reasonably early and walk the paddock . You will find everyone more than happy to chat.
If I wasn't at VSCC Cadwell I'd be at Barbon myself . Nice pub in the village BTW .


Enjoy .

Thanks for the info, very much appreciated. Be nice to go see some more ‘grassroots’ motorsports. Been watching some onboards and seems like a short course but a good outing, with the hairpin appearing to catch a few out. We are nearby so understand the weather is a challenge.

Car park info noted - might be a day for the truck.

[Mr-B]

Not sure if this is the best place to post this but Prescott is live streaming a round of the British Hillclimb today, might also be of interest to those who did the PHSS hillclimb run earlier this year.

[n3il123]

I was watching it yesterday, not skyf1 but still a decent distraction and nice to see it available to "the masses"

[df76]

Mr-B said:

Not sure if this is the best place to post this but Prescott is live streaming a round of the British Hillclimb today, might also be of interest to those who did the PHSS hillclimb run earlier this year.

Had a great weekend there in the civic for the first time.. commentary “interesting”, but as a spectator venue it doesn’t get much better.

https://youtu.be/nsy3BjYbIOA?si=ejV4jki785aAY7EP

Edited by df76 on Monday 19th August 07:50

[n3il123]

df76 said:

Had a great weekend there in the civic for the first time.. commentary “interesting”

Edited by df76 on Monday 19th August 07:50

Haha my Mrs made me watch it on mute in the end as she couldn't deal with the commentator!

[Truckosaurus]

df76 said:

Had a great weekend there in the civic for the first time.. commentary “interesting”, but as a spectator venue it doesn’t get much better.

https://youtu.be/nsy3BjYbIOA?si=ejV4jki785aAY7EP

Whenever I go to a hillclimb to watch I think "that looks fun, I should get into that", then I see some onboard footage and think 'F-that' there always seems to be big trees and blind corners.

[coppice]

Try Harewood. One blind corner - the last one - and no trees to hit unless you make an enormous effort to do so . A lovely hill to drive and the longest active hill in the UK .

[super7]

Wiscombe..... lots of tree's to hit and big hills to fall down

[I Like Tea]

coppice said:

Try Harewood. One blind corner - the last one - and no trees to hit unless you make an enormous effort to do so . A lovely hill to drive and the longest active hill in the UK .

I would also consider Country corner to be blind as it's just over a brow, although maybe that's because I'm not very tall . Agree about the trees, I've visited a number of landmarks around the course over the years and none of them have been trees, or anything close to one.

[5s Alive]

Every corner feels blind at Doune, especially if you're Alex Summers.

[df76]

Truckosaurus said:

df76 said:

Had a great weekend there in the civic for the first time.. commentary “interesting”, but as a spectator venue it doesn’t get much better.

https://youtu.be/nsy3BjYbIOA?si=ejV4jki785aAY7EP

Whenever I go to a hillclimb to watch I think "that looks fun, I should get into that", then I see some onboard footage and think 'F-that' there always seems to be big trees and blind corners.

Think I’d be very disappointed if I managed to hit a tree at Prescott or gurston. But more than possible at wiscombe, and doune just looks terrifying.. so many barriers.

[bergclimber34]

As a newcomer and a recent convert to speed events, I can heartily recommend Doune.

I was told in 22/23 that if you do spread your wings from the normal venues Doune is the place, it is truly amazing. Utterly stunning countryside all around, I stayed in the middle of the motorway in a Travelodge that was standard, close to Stirling, people lovely, friendly and kind.

The venue is odd, attached to an antique shop that you sort of walk through to get up the hill, it is not that steep but is very, very fast initially, lined with wooden barriers, then it opens up into a tighter section at the end. You are over the top of the cars most of the time.

Facilities very basic, but enough, weather was hit and miss when I went, first day started wet then dried, second day was awful all day. But still OK, plenty of tree cover, but mainly it was the people, chatted to a few, had a great natter and really enjoyed it.

It is a bloody long way, but make a weekend of it.

Buy the way, by all accounts Forrestburn is even more beautiful but right in the middle of nowhere!!

[CKY]

coppice said:

A lovely hill to drive and the longest active hill in the UK .

Is this longest in terms of distance from start-to-finish? Surprising if so - I thought places like Doune felt longer, perhaps because you can't see the whole course from the paddock; I do enjoy going to Harewood, got a soft spot for Shelsley Walsh also from attending for 50+ years.

[coppice]

It is- but of course it is minuscule compared to the great European climbs, or Pike's Peak. Or , indeed some of the longer UK climbs used in the pre WW2 era

[blueg33]

Love Prescott and fortunate enough to live about 6 miles from it.

Its a very technical hill to drive, surprisingly late apex on Ettores, the first big bend, tricky through Esses under the trees where to be fast you have to just brush the dragons teeth, but go onto them and a world of pain follows. Plus it can be very slippery under the trees. Then Semi Circle the final bend at the top, blind with a steep drop and a camber that doesn't encourage confidence. (a few years ago I was there when a guy went off and hit the scaffold with the timing screen on it. he was badly hurt, I helped hole the screen whilst the medics worked on him to stabilise him enough for the air ambulance which landed on the track)

[BoomerPride]

I remember that. I was competing on the day and think that there was a really long delay (understandably). Maybe two hours. It was quite an unpleasant "off" for the competitor and those who helped at the scene.

[blueg33]

BoomerPride said:

I remember that. I was competing on the day and think that there was a really long delay (understandably). Maybe two hours. It was quite an unpleasant "off" for the competitor and those who helped at the scene.

Yes, it was nasty

[bergclimber34]

Prescott for me is the nicest "place" to visit, it is stunning, the clubhouse is lovely, the paddock is nice and as a hill it is easy to get everywhere and not to steep.

But I prefer the power hills like Shelsley, Gurston and Doune, where you can really see the speed and the commitment in some ways. Both styles of track have their challenges, and I can tell if you if you never been to Loton it sort of bridges the gap between the two!!