Shelsley Walsh Newsletter
July 2021
We’ve a lot going on here at Shelsley Walsh as we build up to our big weekend with Classic Nostalgia this Saturday and Sunday. You’ll be glad to know that access will be for spectators on the hill and the paddock for the first time since September 2019 as the garden party atmosphere will spread from the top to the bottom of the hill again so we look forward to seeing you again, especially as the weather looks good too!
The Shelsley Walsh Team
Classic Nostalgia
Classic Nostalgia is just days away this weekend as our big event of 2021 is back after a year’s break with the very best garden party atmosphere with spectators welcome to a weekend of Shelsley Walsh where access is available on the hill and all through the paddock.
40+ Group B, A and WRC rally cars will be present to celebrate Richard Burns’ WRC victory from 2001 with his very Safari winning Subaru WRC from 2000 being brought by Prodrive. A Sebastien Loeb Citroen WRC is there too thanks to Girardo & Co coming along with a flurry of very nice kit that you usually see only on Instagram or YouTube. Colin McRae’s Metro 6R4 that he thrashed on the Donegal Rally will be here for the first time so get your cameras ready to record the bark of that V6..! The Hepworth 4WD returns to Shelsley Walsh 50 years after it broke 30 seconds for the very first time up the hallowed tarmac plus a Shadow F1 car with full DFV noise and also The Stovebolt Special, a Porsche RSR and a huge squadron of Lotuses thanks to Paul Matty’s sports and racing car championship. Sir Stirling Moss’ Ferrari SWB will give charity rides up the hill to lucky bidders and winners, a plaque to Murray Walker will be unveiled on Saturday lunch time, the Battle of Britain fly overhead on both days plus live music, trade stands, car club displays and a Concours D’Elegance will all be part of what promises to be a great weekend.
For the full in depth run down of what is in store over the Classic Nostalgia weekend head over to classicnostalgia.co.uk and remember that 2021 MAC Members can get in for free while tickets are online in advance and are discounted over the gate price on the day. Please do remember to register online so we know what numbers are coming along even if you are an MAC Member by using your membership number on the ticket page.
The truly outrageous Beast of Turin will also be coming to Shelsley with the quite incredible 28.1 litre 4 cylinder engine meaning it has over 7 litres per cylinder…!
Hill Climbers at Goodwood
2015 British Hill Climb Champion Alex Summers was driving at Goodwood Festival of Speed, not in his usual back DJ Firestorm but the all new McMurtry Spierling that has huge electric power, downforce and presence. Sharing the car with five-time Le Mans 24 winner Derek Bell the car is rear wheel drive, got 1000bhp per ton and a projected top speed of over 200mph but the key is the patented fan that sticks the car to the road a la Brabham fan car.
“You can decide how much power the fan has at any given setting but the power in a straight line is absolutely astronomical. I soon hit a big speed in front of the house here (at Goodwood) and also in a straight line testing and it’s a real…well, wow factor. It’s probably a bit slower than the Firestorm to a 100mph but then because it hasn’t got the drag it just takes off; it doesn’t stop accelerating.”
"Our drag coefficient with the DJ is over 1 but with this its about 0.3 so it’s very slippery. The principle of running the fans means it has a lower energy penalty to run the fans than to run the wings out in the air. 80kw of power is needed to run the fans than there is to having wings but to push a wing through at 130mph is much more of an energy need and we have essentially 800-1000bhp with the electric motor in the McMurtry.”
Variety is the spice of life Alex - it’s great to see you in the limelight.
Robin Mynett, 75 years at Shelsley Walsh
One attendee at June Shelsley was 93 year old Robin Mynett who has been to Shelsley Walsh every year since 1946 and the first meeting we had after the war. It rained like the bible that day with crowds still trying to get in a 4.30 in the afternoon but he celebrated his 75th anniversary of being at Shelsley Walsh by being back to the hill twice now in 2021, once to see the British Championship cars in June, and then to see the Vintage cars in July.
Robin has seen the outright hill record go from 37.37 seconds as it was during the war to Groves’ current 22.58 seconds and the flurry of 22 second runs we had on the hill last year. He was 18 years old when he first came to the hill...
“I always sat at Bottom Ess and studied the lines the drivers took on their way into the corner. I used to then have a chat with Raymond Mays about the lines and how I thought he could go quicker as I’d seen so many runs.”
The MAC gave Robin a Honorary Membership of the MAC during the Vintage meeting in recognition of the time he has devoted to Shelsley and towards the older machinery, particularly the Spencer family and Spider II.
Spider Trophies
Record holder at Shelsley Walsh in 1926 with 46.8 seconds was Basil Davenport in Spider, one of the most historical cars in the 116 years of history at Shelsley Walsh. The car has recently passed into the hands of Jim Edwards from David Leigh, the car being in safe hands with the 27 year old.
Davenport’s son Peter came down to the hill from Macclesfield over the Vintage weekend and brought with him the trophies that his father won at Shelsley including the very 1926 trophy that Basil won in September that year when he took the outright record. The trophies had never been back to the hill since the 1920s so it was a real treat to see them next to the cars in the paddock.
Peter first came to Shelsley at the same meeting as Robin Mynett, the June 1946 weekend which was the first meeting after the war. “It rained all day to the extent that people couldn’t get out of the car park so there were cart horses pulling cars out.”
Thank you Peter for coming down with your son in law Jo who lapped up Shelsley for the first time after hearing all the stories from one the years.
Shelsley Walsh; as old as motorsport but as modern as today too.
Summer Spree
At the end of July we have our two separate days of club motorsport with the Summer Spree which are just £10 entry per day or free with your 2021 MAC Membership. It’s a great weekend for those new to hill climbing to drive the hill and find their feet so we have the AUTOCAR Shelsley Walsh Young Drivers Championship coming along after their first weekend at Curborough last weekend plus the Midland Speed Championship and others too.
Duke of London Hill Climb
Something different will be coming to Shelsley on August 8th with the inaugural 'Duke's Hill Climb' that will start the day before from London when a convoy of cars both old and new but all classy and cool will wind their way up to the Teme Valley before an evening of food, drinks and live music in the Courtyard at Shelsley on the Saturday evening.
Overnight glamping and camping is available before hill climb action commences at 9am on Sunday morning. Places are filling up but spectators are more than welcome to see the eclectic cars on Sunday from a Ferrari F40 to Bentley Blower No. 2, McLaren P1 GTR, Rolls Royces of all ages, retro 1980s homologation specials, Porsches retro and new plus cars on display for all to enjoy.
See the Duke of London website for more details and…their very amusing Instagram is well worth a look for the style of the event and cars that’ll be there
Autojumble Cancelled
Regretfully we have to cancel our Autojumble on August 7th but we’ll keep it on the back burner and see what we can do in 2022. Apologies for any problems this may cause but let’s see for next year.
Digital Shelsley Walsh
Keep in touch with our Shelsley Walsh digital channels during the run up to meetings and for a daily stream of info, cool pictures and interesting angles of Shelsley Walsh and hill climbing related subjects. Our Instagram has just hit 10k followers while with all the other channels we now have a combined following of 37,100 followers
Our Tik Tok channel is going great guns with now over a 1000 followers in a new and different market for Shelsley Walsh. If you’re on the channel, then give us a follow as there is different content there over our regular Shelsley Walsh channels on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter - the links for which are at the base of this page.
Sponsors corner
We welcome our new partners at Shelsley Walsh into 2021 with Piston Gin, Liqui Moly Performance, Pirelli and Deltaworks joining us trackside with signage and other packages.
Piston Gin
Piston Gin are based in Worcester where the entire process of distillation is done as they bring in botanicals from all over the world to their HQ in Severn Street where the Worcester Porcelain works used to be. Having won many an international award for their gins the world over, the team there have a genuine fresh take on flavours and how to drink or sip gin with the old adage, ‘don’t knock it until you try it’ very much to the fore.
“What a great synergy with Shelsley Walsh speed hill climb and Piston distillery, the oldest motor sport venue in the world and the best gin! We always pride ourselves on keeping it local and keeping it precise so to partner with these guys is perfect.” said Nick Weatherall, founder of the distillery.
MAC Members can get a ‘DEAL OF A 10% OFF OR £45 for a bottle of Gin and 24 x FEVER TREE TONICS upon showing your MAC members card in the distillery.
Pirelli tyres - Triple M Motorsport
Official tyre partner of F1, WRC and World Superbike, Pirelli have put their name to Shelsley Walsh with signage up the hill as the tyre battle in hill climbing comes over from Europe to us here in the UK. Following success on the longer European hills a specific tyre has been made for the shorter UK hills through Triple M Motorsport.
Alan Mugglestone of Triple M Motorsport in the UK picks the story up. “We spearheaded this project to bring the Pirellis over here to the UK with the mindset to make them quicker, a similar price point to the completion and a lot less trouble for the users midfield in that they don’t pick up as much dirt and grain less over a year.”
“The tyres are designed in Italy and then made in one of the four factories in Europe before coming to the UK but there’s a huge amount of experience already in European hill climbing as they’ve been going for seven years now but we specified tyres for the UK to be better for the shorter tracks and lower ambient temperatures.”
“Out of the 15 rounds so far in the British Hill Climb Championship Pirelli tyres have won 14 of them so although we’re happy with the result, we’re already working on next year’s tyres with the date from 2021.”
Tyres can be bought direct from Triple M and delivered to your door or fitted at their Didcot or Gainsborough bases together with 24/7 tech support on the phone
With the history of Pirelli going back to before Shelsley started in 1905, it’s a great to have such an international name at the venue.
Delta Works
DeltaWorks and RetroWorks in Worcester are world leaders in Lancia Delta Integrale restoration and Group A homologation car work for period correct cars, rallying or hill climbing. Obviously specialising in Integrales from the HF all the way through to the Evo spec they also are specialists in Toyota Celica GT-Fours, Subaru Imprezas, Audi Quattros and Renault 5GT Turbos.
Servicing, advice and restoration with panels sourced or fabricated in house following decades of knowledge after a life in the motor trade and motorsport are all under one roof in Sherriff Street in Worcester.
Allswage
A new partner of Shelsley Walsh for 2021 is Allswage UK with their family-owned and operated group of businesses, based in the West Midlands who specialise in swaging and industrial hose machinery, as well as mobile workshops, and off-the-shelf van racking.
Allswage fit out the vans for the entire fleet of Pirtek UK so they can fix hydraulic systems in the field quickly and efficiently plus Siemens and defence work for BAE including at the Barrow in Furness submarine base.
“We take about a week to completely kit out a Pirtek van for a full conversion but we’re very proud after nearly 40 years of experience to have the right structure in place for each van no matter it’s make or size. After Dave West started it, the second generation of Nick and Claire are in place to drive the company forward.” says Adrian Crawley.
Van racking is a growing business for Allswage hence the name change and focus as such going into 2021. David West, who founded the Allswage UK group, has competed in motorsport all his life.
He explains, “Allswage is well known for its distribution, servicing and support of trusted hose assembly equipment, but we are also a specialist in bespoke mobile workshops and modular van racking.” He adds, “Success in Motorsport is about investing in good relationships, expertise and experience. It’s the same for Allswage, these attributes drive our performance too.”
In fact, Allswage UK has just launched its new van racking website, having been responsible for the design and build of the first mobile hose workshop, at our Midlands HQ. It was built to support early construction work on the M5 in 1986. As David says, “If only our Facebook page went back that far, what a wonderful memory picture that would be to share!”
Classic Car Auctions and Silverstone Auctions
CCA and Silverstone Auctions continue to be a partner of Shelsley Walsh with their ever growing consignment and selling auction houses based in the Midlands. Last year saw a Lamborghini Miura sell for £1.9m but the CCA side of the business is for the everyman’s classic, old, retro or young timer with a massive saving of £250 for any MAC Member entering their car into any auction to make it a free entry for your car. Nick Bicknell is the contact for discussing how it works and to be a measured guiding hand for the new and experienced to take their car to auction.
Nick is on 07957 279 000 or nick@silverstoneauctions.com
LM Performance
Liqui Moly join forces with Shelsley Walsh and the MAC too as the largest lubricant supplier in Germany with their huge 4,000 item range that encompasses everything you need in the garage that’s not just oil for your engine but maintenance and repair, additives, vehicle care and transmission fluids.
We’ve arranged a special deal for MAC Members and friends of Shelsley Walsh with LM Performance, Liqui Moly’s Motorsport Distributor in the UK.
Simply head to their website www.lmpuk.com and when you get to the checkout, enter ‘SWHC’ into the discount code field and you will find that prices will be more attractive than Amazon.
CEO of LM Performance is a name we all know as one of the fastest touring car drivers of the 90s, Robb Gravett, whose mastery of the brutal Ford RS500 Cosworths was stunning.
“To be associated with Shelsley Walsh and the history surrounding the venue is a privilege for LM Performance as we grow in the UK with the hi-tech products that have proven power gain and preservation strengths for all vehicles from the latest turbocharged engines to young timers, motorcycles, classic cars and everything in between. The range we have will surprise people with its specialisation for anyone with a car for ‘Sunday driving’ to a garage owner servicing specialist cars all week.”
“After driving all over the world when competing, I look forward to coming to Shelsley Walsh with a car to drive it at speed.”
LM Performance has all the range online ready for your garage, workshop or business. If you are looking to have a bigger supply of oils and lubricants we can put you in touch for trade prices directly with the right people at LM Performance.
2021 and 2022 Partnerships
If you wish your brand trackside at Shelsley Walsh for the remainder of 2021 and into 2022 then get in touch now to reserve the best places and what we have available that’s not just signage, but ticket packages, hospitality and digital media tie ups. toby@shelsleywalsh.com
2021 Hill Record Breaking
Record breaking has been very much part of the 2021 British Hill Climb championship with Wallace Menzies taking the record at Gurston before the record going three times in a day at Doune with Wallace Menzies and Alex Summers all ducking under the Scottish hill’s 34.76 mark only for Sean Gould to steal the day with 34.67 come the last Top 12 Run Off.
Might Shelsley be next in August…? Make sure you’re trackside to witness what will be a thrilling day’s sport no matter what the result as hill climbing in the UK is truly on top of its game at the moment with any one of four or five drivers able to take the crown.
Tickets for August Shelsley Walsh are here and discounted over on the gate prices on the day.
It’s all underway now for our Young Drivers Championship after the first round at Curborough last weekend with all kitted out in their new overalls and Vauxhall Corsas. The team of under 21 year olds added a great touch for series coordinator, Lucy Hart too. The new drivers will be attacking a hill climb for the first time at Summer Spree. Good luck guys!
Riviera Circle
Our friends at Riviera Circle have a great event lined up at the Holland & Holland shooting ground near London in September with Lifestyle On The Lawn, set to be an incredible experience that will immerse guests in a beautiful setting with amazing cars, champagne flowing, exciting cocktails, great food, music and other like-minded people. Held at the prestigious and world famous shooting grounds of Holland and Holland, there will be an exciting morning and afternoon that will involve:
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Manicured lawns with some of the world’s best cars on display
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Selected Member cars parked on the lawn as part of a display
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Champagne reception
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Clay Pigeon Shooting (optional)
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Gastronomic food delights ranging from slow BBQ, seafood and desert stands
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Cakes, Cocktails and a DJ and Saxophone player
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The day will be split into two parts
Full day or afternoon tickets are available. If you choose the full day package, you will arrive at 10.30 to a breakfast reception and be taken to enjoy 60 clays with full instruction across multiple stands, at the best shooting facility in the country. After the morning shooting you will be brought back to the lodge where there will be some time to relax before other guests arrive at 1pm.
The afternoon package will include an experience like no other car event in the UK. Immerse yourself amongst some of the best cars in the world (many of which are owned by members) whilst sipping champagne on the manicured lawns. Meet other members and start to make new friends in a relaxed and fun atmosphere.
Go to www.rivieracircle.com for more details of the event and their app that’s just been launched that will include Shelsley Walsh benefits as we move forward into 2022.
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Written and compiled by Toby Moody.
Thank you to photos from Shelsley Instagram @shelsleywalsh, Tom Gay, Jamie Bufton, Gail Knight, Stuart Wing, Dennis Wood, David Harbrey Charters, Ian Dowding, Lucy Hart, Rob MacDonald.