What are Speed Events (otherwise known as Hillclimbing and Sprinting)?

No, hillclimbing doesn’t involve muddy boots, or even two hardy souls bouncing around in a minimalist machine in an attempt to drive as far as possible up a section of rugged countryside; that’s Sporting Trials, a totally different motorsport discipline altogether.

Hillclimbing – speed hillclimbing – is all about traversing what amounts to a well-surfaced country lane from A to B as fast as possible against the clock, in cars that range from standard saloons to state-of-the-art, F1-type single seaters. The principle is the same for hillclimbing’s sister sport, sprinting, except for country lane read relatively flat road, usually somewhat wider – perhaps an airfield or, as is the case with the majority of British Championship sprints, a purpose-built race circuit.

Speed events are not about racing against fellow competitors alongside you on the track (so at least accidents are entirely down to you), but it’s equally competitive and, with a running time of typically 30 seconds to a minute, it’s intensely so. From the moment the start light goes green you have to be ‘on it’ and thereafter time lost by the slightest mistake will be unforgiven and monitored – to the nearest hundredth of a second – by electronic timing.

All hillclimbs on the UK mainland are held on private land, although in the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and in Ireland they’re on public roads. Sprint courses vary from the much used and popular Curborough, in Staffordshire, through airfields such as Colerne and North Weald to top race circuits such as Goodwood, Croft, Pembrey and Snetterton. Some (usually non-participants!) may say that in terms of ‘seat time’, or £'s per mile, sprinting and hillclimbing represent poor value compared to other forms of motorsport, but nonetheless their sheer split-second competitiveness – not to mention a friendliness between even the top rivals that’s unmatched in few other disciplines – combine to make them one of the most popular branches of motorsport.


Our aim in these articles is to help you through some of the questions you'll need to ask:

. Intro
· What car do I use?
· How do I start?
· What events should I enter?
· How much does it cost?