Shelsley Walsh 28th July 2012

It felt like the MGF's were a bit out of place as Shelsley as it was the classic weekend but there we were tucked out of the way under the smallest roof and the tightest paddock places ever, however it did provide good shelter from the sun, which was a blessing.

Having arrived on Friday night and pitched up the tent, it was time to walk the course.
Wow that is a hill, it just doesn't stop climbing all the way, this was definitely going to be a power hill. Luckily for me on the way back down we were fortunate to bump into Stuart Gilbert, who was on his way up, even luckier it was just as the start of the bottom 'S' bend, which is probably the most trickiest part of the hill. I couldn't resist asking for his advice, and he was very willing to talk me through this tricky corner, pointing out elements to it that I hadn't even noticed when I walked it, just goes to show what experience can do.

First practice run was OK for a sighting session, second practice was much better and I got to within 400th of a second to the record time set by Marc Hanson in an MGF back in 2007.

First timed run and despite my best efforts it was slower than my practice time, after much head scratching and looking at the data of all my runs so far, I knew I just had to go for it and be braver.
Second timed run certainly felt quick and I did scare myself by nearly losing the back of the car coming out of the top 'S', but as I went over the line a quick glance of the score board showed a 39.58, much to my delight, beating the previous record of 40.09 by Marc in 2007.

So it was a good day, probably highlight of the championship this year for me so far, looking forward to Curborough next weekend.

Chequers Motoring School MGF about to tackle Shelsley Walsh Hillclimb for the first time

What goes up the hill, has to come back down!

It's a good job I don't teach my pupils to start their driving lessons like this!