Ton-Uphill boys pull them in

The biggest crowd ever seen at Shelsley flocked to the historic climb in August to celebrate Midland AC’s Centenary. With a joint VSCC/MAC meeting on Saturday and an Invitational event on Sunday, the occasion represented every era of the sport.

Graeme Wight Jr set the outright pace in his Gould V6. But alongside this future champion were stars such as Roy Lane, reunited with his old McRae GM1, and the five-time champion Martyn Griffiths, back at the wheel of a Pilbeam MP57.

The evergreen Tony Marsh, the most prolific champion of all, drove the 4WD Marsh Special that took him to the title in 1967, and Chris Cramer ran in David Gould’s original 1985 championship-winning car.

A host of ERAs recalled the days of Raymond Mays, but his famous R4D was forced to relinquish the pre-war car record, David Morris resetting the mark in R11B.

Martin Stretton’s Tyrrell six-wheeler made its hillclimb debut, but hit the unforgiving barriers.