R3 BBR Opticians Hill Climb Series: Newport Shropshire CC Station Road, Ironbridge Hill Climb

Jack Young extended his lead in the BBR Opticians Hill Climb Series with a commanding win in Round 3, Newport Shropshire CC’s Station Road, Ironbridge Hill Climb. Held just 20 hours after Round 2 in a weekend double-header in the Ironbridge Gorge, Young sprinted up the three-quarter mile course in 3 minutes 41 seconds, a fabulous 26 second advantage over nearest challenger Matt Barrett. This extended Young’s Series lead to 14 points, more than doubling his six point lead after the previous round. 

Young was a little nervous about tackling this climb so soon after Round 2, but he needn’t have worried with an impressive reduction on his previous personal best on this climb set in 2025 of 4 minutes 2 seconds. Young lopped off 21 seconds to storm up the climb in 3 minutes 41 seconds; the only riders to beat four minutes and taking a dominant win by 26 seconds from Matt Barrett. Young stated: “I wasn’t sure how I would feel after doing one the day before, but I felt really good on that one, and I got another PB, so I was happy. You’ve got to go hard from the bottom steep bit, so it’s quite a tough one”. As Young alluded to, the event starts close to the Broseley side of The Ironbridge; with riders having to negotiate the steepest and trickiest part of the course after 100 metres as the road turns back on itself 120º and climbs viciously towards Broseley, scrubbing off any attempt to carry speed through the corner.

The trickiness of the start didn’t deter Barrett however as his effort to get around the bend informed his entire race; putting out more power than the day before to stop the watch on 4:07, two seconds ahead of Mid Shropshire Wheelers’ team mate Monty Kynaston. Barrett rose to second in the overall standings as a result of this strong effort, commenting: ”Round 3 was my favourite so far. The steep ramp at the start set my rhythm for the first half, sitting around 400w until the courses final ramp where I went with everything I had left for the last one minute. A brilliant course, I really enjoyed it”.

14 year-old Kynaston not only took third spot overall, but also won the BBR Junior race too with his 4:09, pushing out another Mid Shropshire Wheelers’ Junior Bryn Nelson by 20 seconds. This was his first appearance in the BBR Opticians Series, and it seems to have left a positive impression: “I’m really enjoying the hill climb series which has followed on from racing over the summer. It felt like a tough course so I was happy to do well. I am looking forward to the rest of the Series”.

One welcome feature was the unexpected presence of three Philippine riders on a hill-intensive riding tour of Shropshire; and all members of Marites Riders Club. ‘Marites’ is a viral Philippines meme referring to a gossipy person, with Bryan Abad the fastest of the trio in 5:36.  

After being pushed down to the Veterans runner-up spot the day before, Stuart Proctor came back strongly to extend his Series lead to 14 points with his second win of the BBR Series. Proctor crossed the finish line in 4:13, 13 seconds ahead of Ludlow CC’s Richard Nelson despite a less than ideal start, as he explained: “For the third time in a week it was race day, and yet again, more wonderful ‘non-Hill Climb weather’ greeted us! I felt good from the off, but once more messed up the sharp left-hander which greets us after that initial sprint start – I really need to practice that! There was wonderful support half way up, with team mate Jack chasing and shouting at me for what seemed like forever! I saw my minute man in the distance, but knew I’d not get anywhere near him. I was more than happy with a new personal best and the Veterans win after losing out by a couple of seconds at Coalport the day before; thanks to everyone for the putting on the event and supporting us all”.

Female winner Rebecca Pugh had one clear goal in her head – to beat her 2025 effort of 6:23. This she did with some aplomb, cresting the line in 5:55 ahead of Newport 12 year-old Isla Furniss in 6:04. Pugh was delighted to take a brace of wins over the weekend, commenting: “Having done this event last year I went into this climb with the aim to best my 2025 effort. My plan was to hit the first corner out of the saddle, and use the middle section to recover before another push. I was feeling strong, and spurred on by supporters to keep pushing I secured a 28 second PB on last year. It was a great weekend of results and motivation for the remaining races”.

Full:

Veterans on Actual:

Females:

Juniors:

Cumulative standings after three rounds

Overall:

Veterans on Actual:

Females:

Juniors: