Shelsley Walsh Speed Hill Climb

The Shelsley Walsh Speed Hill Climb is a hillclimb in Shelsley Walsh, Worcestershire, England, organised by the Midland Automobile Club (MAC). It is one of the oldest motorsport events in the world, and is the oldest to have been staged continuously (wartime excepted) on its original course, first having been run in 1905. On that first occasion, the course was 992 yards (907 m) in length, but in 1907 it was standardised at 1000 yards (914 m), the length it remains today.

Shelsley Walsh is a notably steep course by the standards of today's hillclimbs held in the United Kingdom. It rises 328 feet (100 m) during its length, for an average gradient of 1 in 9.14 (10.9%), with the steepest section being as much as 1 in 6.24 (16%). This makes Shelsley a hill on which power is important, and on which the gap in times between the most powerful cars and the rest is greater than at many other venues. It is also narrow, being no more than 12 feet (3.66 m) wide at some points.

History

Early years

The winner of the first event, held on Saturday 12 August 1905, was Ernest Instone (35 hp Daimler), who established the hill record by recording a time of 77.6 seconds for an average speed of 26.15 mph (42.08 km/h). However, at that time hillclimbs were not strictly speed events at all, performances being rated in terms of a formula based on power and cars of 20 hp or more being required to be four-seaters and to carry passengers. All cars were required to carry full touring trim and a full load of passengers. The winner was calculated by multiplying the car's time in seconds by the horsepower, and then divided by the total weight (including the weight of the driver and passengers and any ballast). There was also the question of whether a particular car would make it up the hill at all. In these early years, drivers' times were not announced to spectators.

Shelsley Walsh winners from 1905 to 1912

First speed events

Restrictions on competing cars were dropped from 1913, meaning that specialised racing cars were now eligible to enter Shelsley. Unsurprisingly, climbs immediately became much faster, and on 7 June 1913, Joseph Higginson's Vauxhall 30-98 recorded the best time of the day: 55.2 seconds, more than eight seconds faster than H. C. Holder's mark of 63.4 seconds which had been set just two years before. The First World War intervened and hillclimbing did not resume until July 1920. The formula competition continued into the 1920s but focus quickly shifted towards earning fastest time of the day (FTD). Awards were also given for a cyclecar class in 1913, and a light car class from 1920–1922, and also recognised was the fastest amateur driver who was a member of the organising club, known as the ''closed'' winner.

Shelsley Walsh winners from 1913 to 1922

: Joseph Higginson set a time of 55.2 seconds on his third run but at the time only a driver's first run counted.

1920s

Times continued to come down, and during the 1920s the emphasis moved firmly away from reliability and onto speed. A new generation of competitors emerged with Count Zborowski of Chitty Bang Bang fame driving a Sunbeam in 1921 and Raymond Mays taking to the hill for the first time in a self tuned Hillman. Basil Davenport was perhaps Shelsley's first "superstar", breaking the hill record four times between 1926 and 1928 in his GN "Spider". Starting in 1923, numerous class awards were introduced, at first for different engine capacities but later also dividing cars into touring, sports and racing types as well. Starting in 1926, it was decided to hold two events per year, with the ''closed'' competition taking place at the earlier meeting, and the ''open'' event later in the year.

Shelsley Walsh winners from 1923 to 1929

: Raymond Mays improved his time to 51.9 seconds later in the day but this was not considered to be official.
: Due to rain the ''unlimited racing cars'' did not set times, with their runs postponed to the already scheduled September meeting. Davenport's time in the September meeting won both the Open meeting and the postponed ''Amateur unlimited racing'' class.

1930s

The 1930s were a golden era for Shelsley. The decade began with some notable changes. Most important of these was that the Open meeting for 1930 would count towards the first European Hill Climbing Championship. As a result, it was decided to move the Open date to July, with the Amateur meeting taking the September date. It was also decided that the track should be resurfaced, now sprayed with bitumen. The two most important international competitors at this meeting were Hans Stuck in an Austro Daimler and Rudolf Caracciola in a Mercedes SSK sports car of the type he raced to win the 1929 RAC Tourist Trophy. Stuck was able to significantly lower Raymond May's record time to 42.8 seconds, taking fastest time of the day, with Caracciola setting fastest time for a sports car but finding the running difficult in such a large car. Both Germans would go on to win their respective 1930 Hill Climbing Championships.

For 1931 the Open event was again a part of the European Championship but few international entries were received. In the end just two foreign cars were entered, both factory Nacional Pescaras. As drivers Zanelli and Tort understood little English and had never been before, they had difficulty finding the track and were late to arrive. Although they were unprepared, new to the track and had to make numerous changes to gear ratios, the Nacional Pescaras set times of 44.4 and 44.6 seconds respectively. Fastest time of the day went to R.G.J. Nash in a Frazer Nash "The Terror" with 43.3 seconds, with Mays a fifth of a second slower in his Vauxhall.

Prior to the June 1932 Open meeting, a large rain-storm caused significant damage to the track. However although it was initially feared the 1932 season would need to be cancelled, a large team of volunteers were able to have the track ready in time. The only international entry for 1932 attracted great interest as it was a four-wheel-drive Bugatti, entered by the factory and to be driven by Ettore Bugatti's son Jean. Unfortunately Jean crashed the car during a practice run and had to use a borrowed conventional Bugatti for the event itself. 1932 also saw the introduction of a live radio broadcast by the BBC
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