2026 British Hillclimb Championship – the season so far
Report by David Harbey
24th August 2026
Reports on British hillclimbing have long been a core element in the PistonClick portfolio. It is highly accessible and spectacular, earning comparisons to “Formula 1 up a country lane” — a compelling proposition for the spectator photographer.
What is different about British hillclimbing?
Unlike circuit racing, there’s no-one else to take you out. Any mistake is down to the man or woman behind the steering wheel – the clock is your primary opponent. Unusually for motorsport, every competitor, regardless of class competes over the same course on the same day.
It’s as simple as finding a narrow ribbon of a tarmac up a hill and then asking drivers to set their fastest time in everything from a road going MX5 to a hugely powerful, be-winged, fire breathing single seater.
Add into that the spectator experience – the paddock is open, competitors will talk to you and for the photographer there’s nary a fence to have to shoot though, round or over.
It may be British motorsport’s best kept secret, although the advent of regular free to view streaming of British hillclimbing now attracts viewers from around the world. There also seems to be a rise in popularity of hillclimbing among motorsport photographers with some fine images posted on social media from each event.
Hillclimbing in the UK
The British hillclimbing Championship is the top of the pyramid, operating alongside regional championships. The former has events in the West Midlands, Northern Ireland, Yorkshire, the South West and Scotland. In addition, there are back-to-back events in Guernsey and Jersey. To accommodate the practicalities and budgets of competitors the scoring system does allow the dropping of some scores across the 26 rounds.
The fastest cars and drivers
For this review, we will concentrate on Class L for racing cars over 2,000 cc – the fastest and, generally, most spectacular cars. With few rules, but a clear emphasis on safety, a top-class car like the front running Gould GR59 will have somewhere near 700bhp in a car weighing around 420kg. That means 0-100 in less than 4 seconds at Shelsley Walsh where they can cross the finish line at over 150mph.
Unusually for a modern racing car, whilst the essential aerodynamics are clearly there, there is less of the bits and pieces of aerodynamic trickery that seem to appear all over an F1 car. The front wing on the Gould GR59 really is a thing of beauty – and effective!
There’s great article about the Gould written by Toby Moody for Evo magazine here – If Formula one had no rules
Over the last couple of years, three front runners have emerged for the overall title. Wallace Menzies (champion in 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023), Matt Ryder (champion in 2024, 2025) and Will Hall a perennial front runner and since 2025 driving a similar Gould GR59 to Menzies and Ryder.
This year is already turning into a memorable season with fierce competition between what we will call the Top Three. Matt Ryder (#1), Wallace Menzies (#2) and Will Hall (#3) have won Run Offs by hundredths of a second. Even more impressive is the 14 runs so far this season below existing hill records.
The start of the season
Each event has two Top 12 Run Offs. The first round at Prescott saw honours shared between Ryder and Hall. Their domination continued at Craigantlet in NI with Ryder taking both wins, but hill records were set by all of the Top Three.
Harewood in Yorkshire saw Ryder go from zero in the first Run Off (engine issues on the start line) to hero – winning the second Run Off.
He then won both Run Offs at Gurston Down.
The records start to fall
Shelsley Walsh was next. The entire 1,000 yards of Shelsley Walsh had been resurfaced over the winter, but few expected Hall to lower the hill record at the June meeting. It was probably a little early in the season for the track to be rubbered in to benefit from the new tarmac. Hall disagreed taking 0.04 seconds off the record to take it to 22.33 seconds.
The Championship then headed north to Doune near Stirling. After winning the first Run Off, Hall rather blotted his copy book by spinning in the second Run Off leaving Ryder to pick up top points. Following this, it was back to Harewood where Hall and Menzies shared top points – Menzies however had his first non-score of the year when his engine failed in the second Run Off.
The annual trip to the Channel Islands was all Menzies – winning all four run offs and taking two hill records for the extra point that achievement rewards. Wiscombe in Devon was next – the drama just keeps on coming – Ryder broke a driveshaft in the first Run Off but set fastest time with a hill record in the second.
British hillclimbing six hill record runs in one day
The most recent event – rounds 21 and 22 returned to Shelsley Walsh. There had been no rain for months and it was a hot day. There had been a number of events over the summer and the new tarmac is now rubbering in nicely.
The competition for the championship was hotting up like the weather. The omens were good but few would have predicted the way the day would unfold. Practice times for the Top Three were an early indication – well under the 23 second mark and not far off Hall’s June record of 22.33 seconds.
Sunday followed the usual pattern – a final practice run for all the competitors followed by the first Event run to count for the points scoring Top 12 Run Off. Ryder made the first move with a 22.29 second run.
Come the Run Off itself, Menzies upped the ante with a 22.27 second run. Hang on, Hall has just equalled that time to the hundredth of a second. Joint leaders and hill record holders! Ryder could only (only!) equal his previous time to finish third in the Run Off.
Delays following a Subaru attacking the armco and sleepers (no injuries except to the driver’s wallet), meant that the second Event run was late in the afternoon.
The Top Three were all comfortably below 23 seconds, but not the new record. Ryder was first away for the Top 12 Run Off, with a mid-22 second run. Hall responded with a 22.28 beating the hill record at start of play and putting himself in pole position. Menzies had other ideas though with a stunning 22.20 second run and another new hill record.
The art of the possible
Interestingly, Hillclimb UK has calculated a perfect time taking Hall’s start, Menzies first sector and Ryder for the rest of the run. That’s 21.77 seconds – some 0.43 seconds faster. If Ryder could get off the line quicker by just fractions of a second.
In 2021, I witnessed three hill records in a day at Shelsley – this time we had six! Not content with this, David Warburton in his 1600 cc Gould GR59 dipped below the class record twice in the day – his Run Off time was the first time under 24 seconds.
The final two rounds
With just meetings at Loton Park (29/30 August) and Prescott (19/20 September) to go, there is all to play for. On a net of dropped scores basis, there are just three points between the Top Three.
Loton Park, near Shrewsbury, is a challenging 1,475 yard climb through a deer park. You can find our guide here – Loton Park
Prescott, near Cheltenham, is a demanding course of 1,127 yards of hairpins, esses and fast straights. Our guide can be found here – Prescott Hillclimb
Look out for our reports on the conclusion to the season.
