Round 3 of the BBR Hill Climb Series saw the first appearance of the 2019 Hill Climb Champion Dave Scott on a favourite hill – and a fine win sealed in a belated entry to the Series as Mid Shropshire Wheelers promoted their one mile climb of The Stiperstones. Scott pushed out the 2021 Silver medallist and 2022 Series leader Tomos Hales by just over six seconds with a great time of 3 minutes 57.54 seconds on a glorious evening. Scott was pleased with his ride, missing out on equalling the course record by just under three seconds. He stated: “Perfect conditions; my ride went well, and it was nice to kick things off with a win. Great ride from Tomos”.

Hales stretched his lead at the top of the Series to 10 points with a huge improvement of over 18 seconds on his 2021 effort demonstrating the form he has shown all season with a top climb of 4:04.11. This is a Series Hales is particularly targeting this year, but with 58 points already in the bag he knows there is still plenty of work to do – and that the post-race get together in The Stiperstones Inn was going to detract from that target: “I really enjoyed this climb this year, it has a tough technical breather at the top before going for the line. Much improved time over last year. Well done to David Scott for breaking sub-4. Thanks for Mid Shropshire Wheelers for hosting, and I enjoyed the chips at the pub after”.

Despite winning the Veterans competition in Rounds 1 and 2 Steven Prince missed out on points due to not being affiliated, but he made no such mistake for Round 3 and has plenty of time to make up ground in this best six scores count Series. Despite being a regular on the Hill Climb scene this was Prince’s first visit to this climb – and the lovely surface, frequent bends and slight descending met with his approval as he took third place overall and the Veteran’s win too: “This was my first time up The Stiperstones and it’s already a favourite – a brilliant climb and perfect surface. I really suffered on the last switchback, but thankfully the finish line came in time. Congratulations to Dave Scott, always good to see him racing – thanks to MSW for hosting”.

Mid Shropshire Wheelers’ Alex Hart made it three wins out of three in the BBR Junior Series and consolidated his second place in the Series Overall with a fine effort of 4:15.26, beating Wrekinsport’s Ben Southgate by over 41 seconds. However Hart is trying hard to fit in six events to be as competitive as possible, with a packed end of season meaning clashing Cyclo-cross races affect his ability to race all the hill climbs: “I really enjoy hill climbs and am very happy to be doing well”.

Meanwhile it was a close call in the Women’s Series as Paramount CRT’s Becky Griffiths took the win in 5:27.29, just over 10 seconds ahead of Mid Shropshire Wheelers’ Junior Daphne Jones. Griffiths was pleased with her evening’s work, and looked to attract more females to have a go, commenting: “Always a great event. Just hope to see more women turn out in the future”!

Result:

Pos’n Name Club Cat Time Points
1 David Scott Mule CC S 3:57.54 20
2 Tomos Hales Wrekinsport CC S 4:04.11 18
3 Steven Prince SCCA Private Member V 4:11.48 16
4 Alex Hart Mid Shropshire Wheelers J 4:15.26 14
5 Sebastian Bacon Wolverhampton Wheelers CC S 4:31.09 .
6 Scott Palmer Bridgnorth CC V 4:34.95 12
7 Matthew Redworth Mid Shropshire Wheelers S 4:38.80 10
8 John Sammut Lyme RC V 4:39.09 .
9 Phil Roberts Wrekinsport CC S 4:47.20 8
10 Chris Riley Paramount CRT V 4:51.09 6
11 Jack Young Oswestry Paragon CC S 4:51.41 4
12 Alec Thomas Unattached V 4:55.36 .
13 James Hards Unattached S 4:56.07 .
14 Ben Southgate Wrekinsport CC J 4:56.48 2
15 Richard Dawson Fibrax Wrexham RC V 4:59.76 .
16 Mark White Mid Shropshire Wheelers V 5:05.22 2
17 Ben Wood Wrekinsport CC S 5:07.58 2
18 Neil Coles Oswestry Paragon CC V 5:08.29 2
19 Noah White Mid Shropshire Wheelers J 5:12.95 2
20 Becky Griffiths Paramount CRT W 5:27.29 2
21 Ben Thompson Wrekinsport V 5:35.95 2
22 Daphne Jones Mid Shropshire Wheelers WJ 5:37.92 2
23 Tim Willson Unattached S 5:46.08 .
24 Andy Collins Mid Shropshire Wheelers V 5:57.09 2
25 Neil Griffiths Mid Shropshire Wheelers V 7:13.58 2

Veterans on Actual:

Vets Pos’n Name Club Cat Time Vets Points
1 Steven Prince SCCA Private Member V 4:11.48 20
2 Scott Palmer Bridgnorth CC V 4:34.95 18
3 John Sammut Lyme RC V 4:39.09 .
4 Chris Riley Paramount CRT V 4:51.09 16
5 Alec Thomas Unattached V 4:55.36 .
6 Richard Dawson Fibrax Wrexham RC V 4:59.76 .
7 Mark White Mid Shropshire Wheelers V 5:05.22 14
8 Neil Coles Oswestry Paragon CC V 5:08.29 12
9 Ben Thompson Wrekinsport V 5:35.95 10
10 Andy Collins Mid Shropshire Wheelers V 5:57.09 8
11 Neil Griffiths Mid Shropshire Wheelers V 7:13.58 6

Women’s:

Women’s Pos’n Name Club Cat Time Women’s Points
1 Becky Griffiths Paramount CRT W 5:27.29 20
2 Daphne Jones Mid Shropshire Wheelers WJ 5:37.92 18

Juniors:

Junior Pos’n Name Club Cat Time Junior Points
1 Alex Hart Mid Shropshire Wheelers J 4:15.26 20
2 Ben Southgate Wrekinsport CC J 4:56.48 18
3 Daphne Jones Mid Shropshire Wheelers WJ 5:37.92 16

Cumulative standings after three rounds

Overall Top 10:

Position Name Club Cat Best 6
1 Tomos Hales Wrekinsport CC S 58
2 Alex Hart Mid Shropshire Wheelers J 48
=3 Matthew Redworth Mid Shropshire Wheelers S 40
=3 Scott Palmer Bridgnorth CC V 40
5 Phil Roberts Wrekinsport CC S 28
6 Jack Young Oswestry Paragon CC S 26
7 David Scott Mule CC S 20
=8 Chris Riley Paramount CRT V 18
=8 Kirk Vickers Holohan Coaching RT S 18
10 Steven Prince SCCA Private Member V 16

Veterans Top 10:

Position Name Club Cat Best 6
1 Scott Palmer Bridgnorth CC V 58
2 Chris Riley Paramount CRT V 52
3 Neil Coles Oswestry Paragon CC V 44
4 Andy Collins Mid Shropshire Wheelers V 34
5 Ben Thompson Wrekinsport CC V 22
6 Steven Prince SCCA Private Member V 20
=7 Mark White Mid Shropshire Wheelers V 14
=7 Oliver Rodwell Wrekinsport CC V 14
9 Ashley Kirkham Wrekinsport CC V 10
10 Matt Price Wrekinsport CC V 8

Women’s standings:

Position Name Club Cat Best 6
1 Hayley Wells Paramount CRT W 40
2 Becky Griffiths Paramount CRT W 20
=3 Daphne Jones Mid Shropshire Wheelers WJ 18
=3 Robin Jones Bridgnorth CC W 18
=3 Victoria Doran Wrekinsport CC WV 18

Junior standings:

Position Name Club Cat Best 6
1 Alex Hart Mid Shropshire Wheelers J 60
2 Ben Southgate Wrekinsport CC J 18
3 Daphne Jones Mid Shropshire Wheelers WJ 16