THOUGHTS ON PRESCOTT (A DREAM COME TRUE)

I first heard of Prescott Hillclimb in Duncan Hamilton’s book “Touchwood” many years ago.  The hill is near Cheltenham, which seemed to be miles and miles away and all the reports of the event wrote of “chaps” in Bugattis or Bentleys racing up the drive of an old stately home and then adjourning to the nearest hostelry for supper and their elegant ladies.
It all seemed so far away and exclusive that I dismissed my chances of competing, as the sort of thing that is only possible with a pools win, or a rich aunt leaving a fortune and a garage full of exotic old racing cars.  Over the years I read articles by “Jenkins” and Bill Boddy in Motorsport about the event and decided that one day I would do it somehow.  I then discovered that once a year there is a class for MG’s so I got in touch with the organiser of the MG Car Club Speed Championships and asked how I could have a go. “Join the championship, only £25, and I will see what I can do” he said.  I sent off my cheque and application for the event, as did James Bilsland and Dave Shannon.  What a surprise when eventually we all received confirmation that our MGs had been accepted.
I rang a friend of mine who had competed there and picked his brains about the course.  He told me that there are blind corners and places where there are drops of 20 feet from the edge of the road with no Armco!  It sounded a bit daunting but I was not giving up now I had got this far.
I prepared my MG Midget racer by fitting the lowest axle ratio I could find - actually the deferential from a Morris Minor Post Office van – and the softest slicks I had.  My slicks are racing tyres, not the special hillclimb slicks which are so soft and grippy that they would be destroyed after two laps of Brands Hatch, (but at about £500 a set I’ll leave them until the lottery win).
Having got the car ready, including rebuilding the gearbox, which hurt itself at Lydden, and fitting a new oil pump and cooling fan for the radiator, I loaded it onto the trailer and set off for Prescott.
About four hours later, we arrived at Prescott, (so it wasn’t that far away after all), to be met by some very friendly officials including our own Gordon Franks who is a steward there, who let us park and camp where we chose. Once the tents were up and the cars unloaded we all walked the course.  By the time we reached the top we realised it would be very easy to lose a lot of time by misjudging a corner, and not difficult to drop off the edge or end up in the “kitty litter”!
After a peaceful night’s sleep, we were up bright and early on Saturday, starting the day with a civilised breakfast in the restaurant which overlooked the course.  Scrutineering was relaxed but thorough and then it was time for some serious motoring.  The track had not been used since last year so even though it had been well swept, it was a bit dirty and my tyre treads were still covered with old rubber that I had picked up at my last race at Lydden.  As I didn’t have much grip I did not cover myself in glory on my first run.  My second time was better as I learned a bit more about the course. As I lined up for my third practice run, the heavens opened, and that run turned out a bit slow!
Sunday dawned cloudy and breezy but cleared up later.  After my practice runs, I changed the car by lowering the tyre pressures to get more heat into them, adjusted the shock absorbers and fitted some soft brake pads.  As a result, my first run was a fraction quicker and I felt more comfortable with the car, but I felt I had driven untidily and was not happy with my start.
Come the last run, the sun had been shining and had warmed the track. Just before my run I set my tyres exactly, re-adjusted the rear shock absorbers by a couple of clicks and then I was ready.  Once on the start I waited for the green light, set my rev counter at 5000 revs, dropped the clutch and hoped!  The half shafts stayed in one piece and suddenly the first corner was rushing towards me at 80 mph as everything was nice and warm.  The tyres gripped so I didn’t lift off until the next corner, “Ettores”, which is very slow, then flat out and up the gears before the sharp rising corner called “Pardon”.  After “Pardon” is a short straight and the blind curve before the “Esses” all under trees and a bit dark.  I gritted my teeth and took the whole lot flat in third before braking hard for another sharp left hander at the bottom of a steep rise to the “Semi-Circle”; hard of the brakes again (if they don’t work this is where you fall off!) down into second, take a late entry into the corner snatch third at the apex of a corner and come out with the tail trying to step out and then it’s flat out to the finish line.  As I came back down through Turn Road, I thought I had wasted some time at “Ettores” bend and might have been a bit quicker.
When I got back to the paddock my crew seemed a bit excited and as I got out of the car I was told that I had won the class by 300ths of second, a dream come true!  All those hours spent rebuilding the car had been worth it.
Altogether a lovely event and a satisfactory weekend.

Paul Bernal-Ryan

The Acorn : July Edition