There was much excitement in the Multi Car Hillclimb Challenge lock-up at the prospect of competing at Wiscombe Park. It's a technically demanding track and a powerful hot hatch should go well there.
Our chosen car for Wiscombe was a SEAT Leon ST Cupra 280. Yup, the wagon and the first estate we've used so far. Which was very handy for transporting our kit. We were not so sure about it when we lined up at a rain-drenched Wiscombe on the Saturday to see our class competitors in a brace of Porsche 911 Turbos and local hotshoe Roy Bray in his rapid Ford Escort Cosworth.
Driving in the rain got a little hairy
Refamiliarising ourselves with the damp track showed there was more traction than we thought, so a more attacking second run posted a time of 54.94 seconds. Still some way off the dry time of 48.91 achieved later on Saturday in dry conditions, but encouraging. By this stage, we'd also worked out how to switch off the parking sensor warning that was going into overtime because of the timing strut being so close to one of the sensors.
Come Sunday, there was no way the 280hp, front-wheel drive Leon ST was going to get near a sub-50 second run as the rain had arrived in earnest. Just getting from the paddock to the start line was a nervy drive, while tyre warming turned into an exercise in ridding the treads of lingering mud.
Still, Saturday's times showed the Leon was surprisingly able at keeping up with the Porsche 911 Turbo shared by Andy Fraser and Tim Painter. There was no chance of staying in touch with Roy Bray and his Escort or Mark Spencer in his modified and superbly driven 996 Turbo.
A 55.77 second run on Sunday morning set the tempo and our second run was a 53.91 spoilt by running wide into the first bend in the Esses. You come into the Esses having pushed as hard as you dare up Wis Straight and over the seemingly innocuous Bunny's Leap, which is in fact a deceptively sharp bump right next to a large tree.
From here, it's into The Gate, which can be taken harder and faster than it first appears, but not in the wet conditions we were dealing with. Through Esses One and Two, which are very easy to get wrong by understeering off-line, and you come to Sawbench Hairpin. It leads on to Castle Straight, which is a very steep climb and where the Leon lost in outright power to the Porsches and Escort. Last corner is Martini Hairpin and then it's a scrabble for traction over the line. In all, Wiscombe Park is 915-metres long and the steepest gradient is a one-in-six at Martini.
For the last run, the conditions were marginally better and some short-shifting to minimise wheelspin helped us to 52.99 seconds. Unfortunately for us, Tim and the 911 Turbo stopped the clock at 52.02 seconds.
Within a second of an AWD Porsche
This meant last place, but there was some solace in staying within a second of an all-wheel drive Porsche 911 Turbo. We also thoroughly enjoyed the company at Wiscombe, so even the incessant rain couldn't dampen our weekend's fun, and we had the chance to tell plenty of people about
The Nationwide Association of Blood Bikes
Our next event is Shelsley Walsh. It couldn't be more different to Wiscombe and the car of choice there is also a very different beast to the Leon. Here's hoping the weather also makes a change for the better.
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Photos: Rich Danby/Zipp Photography