Shelsley Walsh was first used for competitive events in 1905. It is 1000 yards long, 12 feet wide, and rises about 320 ft. It is situated in deepest, darkest Worcestershire. And if you get it wrong, there is nowhere to go, and you will prang your kite!
This weekend was the Shelsley Season Opener, and seeing as it is always held in mid April, it is sometimes a bit wet. Not this time – the weather was balmy and glorious – a beautiful spring day.
Last time I came here (2022), I blew up the gearbox on the DB2/4 without even recording a time, so I have mixed feelings about this place.
Still, nothing daunted, your three AMOC members proceeded to test their mettle – and the metal of their steeds – on the sacred hill.
We were all in very different machinery.
Peter House brought along his very rare V8 Vantage Rally GT car, a serious bit of kit, hardcore even, and one of only four made, dating back to 2006. It has many stickers.
Mark Chandler brought his 1995 6 cylinder supercharged DB7, which is also quick, especially in Mark's hands.
I was in my 1956 DB2/4 Mkll (yes, the one with no paint and a rebuilt gearbox) which cannot really be described as quick, no matter whose hands it is in.
Still, Anne Reed at HQ had sent Mark and I our target times – times based on reams of big data and careful analysis so they must be right. 47.22 seconds for me, and 38.28 for Mark. Times that Anne expects us to beat, but only just. Peter somehow escaped being given a target time by putting in a very late entry – I am sure this is some cunning piece of gamesmanship that I do not fully understand – but it meant that of the three of us, he was under no pressure at all – no target time, you see.
So that is perhaps why Peter came first out of the three Astons with a best timed run of 36.51 seconds, with Mark snapping at his heels on 38.39.
Now the sharp-eyed and mathematically inclined amongst you will notice that Mark missed his target time by 0.11 of a second. What was really galling for him was that in the second practice run, which is timed, but crucially doesn't count towards the competition, he beat his target time by 0.01 of a second, recording a time of 38.27! Which shows a) how good Anne Reed and the handicapping spreadsheet are at producing the target times, and b) how unlucky Mark was on his timed runs.
Oh, the stress.
I came heroically last on 45.93, but on the other hand I was 1.29 seconds faster than my target time. So I probably won really, even though I lost. And was slowest.
Nigel Grice.
Club Members can view photographs from the first 2 rounds of the Speed Championship by clicking
2024 Speed Championship