Visors down and a green light on the BARC Yorkshire Centre 2025 season, which got underway on Sunday 23^rd March, with the Harewood Hillclimb Practice Day meeting. The event was only open to BARC Yorkshire Members and invited Motor Clubs. This event last year was cancelled due to waterlogged paddock and parking areas.

With a full entry list of eighty Competitors, a number of new drivers and cars. The event is used by some competitors as a chance to check out the cars and dust off the winter cobwebs before the Harewood Speed Hillclimb Championship gets underway with the Spring National on Sunday 13^th April 2025.

The organisers have been busy during the closed season with new Armco installed on the on both sides of the straight, from Clark’s all the way down to the Esses. This will be a Save Pull off Place, which can be used to store a broken-down car prior to be recovered at a later time in the proceedings.

Harewood Speed Hillclimb

Harewood Hill is the longest speed hillclimb venue in the UK, with a truly spectacular setting looking over the valley of the Wharfedale valley.

The Competitors paddock is at the top of the hill from which most of the track can be seen. Instead of a return road, there is a feed road know as “the Shute” to allow the cars to reach the start line. This layout means that cars are able to run continually on the course without the delays of cars having completed the course waiting to return to the paddock.

Should a competitor be red flagged, due to catching a slower competitor, if the driver has gone off or had a technical issue, on the lower half of the track, the red flagged competitor can take the shortcut in-between the Farmhouse and its buildings back to join the cars waiting to start there run.

The course itself heads across to Clarks, then down hill to the Esses before, climbing up to Country, then across to Willow before heading up to Orchard. From Orchard it is across through the Farmhouse and builds, then round Farmhouse bend before climbing up to Quarry, possibly the most fearsome bend on the course, providing the competitor does not drift wide out into the gravel trap on the outside and over the finish line.

Harewood Speed Hillclimb Practice Day 2025

The event got underway at 9:00, with a couple of puddles in the lower half of the track but was damp throughout the entire length of the track after rain on Saturday afternoon and overnight. It did start raining again during the early morning runs, so competitors would have some slippy conditions until the rain stopped and it would be up to this breeze to dry the track out, as the sun didn’t really come out. In the distant it always looked misty. So it took until the afternoon runs before the single seaters fitted slick tyres from the mornings wets.

Though Adam Riley the 2021, 2022, 2023 & 2024 champion was not at the Harewood Hillclimb Practice Day event he will be at Harewood Hill in 2025 to defend his Championship in the VW Up which he shares with Doug Mitchell both of who are on the Spring National draft entry list. 

Also missing from this event was David Tatham the 2025 Fastest Time of the Day Awards Champion. David is not on the draft entry list for the Spring National. So lets hope we see him later in the season.

Mark Hemingway driving his Force TA set the Fastest Time of the Day on his sixth timed run. Also driving a Force TA was Simon Jenks who set the second fastest time and John Prickett driving his Radical set the third. These three were the only drivers to get under sixty seconds during the day.

A couple of drivers managed ten or eleven runs but a number of competitors had mechanical issues during the day.

Practice Day Run Times can be found here: Sunday 23 March 2025 — Practice Day

The 2025 BARC Yorkshire Centre Harewood Speed Hillclimb dates:

Other Hillclimb Events at Harewood Hill organized by the BARC Yorkshire Centre:

11^th May British Championship Hillclimb. Part of the British Hillclimb Championship. 

7^th June. Classic and Vintage Hillclimb. (Not part of the Harewood Speed Hillclimb Championship)

5^th & 6^th July. July British Championship Hillclimb. Part of the British Hillclimb Championship.

Many thanks to BARC Yorkshire centre for the opportunity to be track-side and not forgetting all the Marshals, Medical and Rescue teams including Darlington Motor Club Rescue without which the event could not take place.

Harewood Speed Hillclimb course track details.

Harewood Speed Hillclimb is located between the villages of Harewood and Collingham just off the A659. 

SatNav postcode LS17 9LA. What Three Words. admit.uncle.piston

The track is 1448 metres long, which makes it the longest speed hillclimb venue in the UK.

The fastest cars can complete the course in under 50 seconds and top speeds in excess of 130 mph.

Harewood Hillclimb record is 46.39 secs. set by Matthew Ryder driving a Gould GR59J on 03/07/2022.

Ladies Hill record is 50.74 secs. set by Nicola Menzies driving a Gould GR55B on 03/07/2022.

Useful websites for the event:

Yorkshire Regional Centre:  https://www.harewoodhill.com

Live Timing:  www.hwtiming.co.uk

You can contact JCB Photography via his social media, website or email him directly.