Loton Park Hill Climb

Loton Park Hill Climb is a hillclimb held in part of the Loton Park deer park in Shropshire, England. The track was originally constructed by the members of The Severn Valley Motor Club based in Shrewsbury, in the mid-1950s. The first ever winner was Peter Foulkes in a Cooper Climax. The track was threatened with closure in 1969 [1] and since then events have been organised by the Hagley & District Light Car Club, who obtained the lease on the land from owner Sir Michael Leighton in 1970, in which year the first National A hillclimb was staged.

Loton Park
LocationLoton Park, Shropshire, England
Time zoneGMT
Major EventsBritish Hill Climb Championship
Hill Length1,475 yards (1,349 m)
Hill Record43.52 (Scott Moran, 2012, British Hill Climb Championship)

The course is 1475 yards (1349 metres) in length, making it the third longest course used in the British Hill Climb Championship. It contains an unusual downhill section fairly early in its layout. As of June 2009, the hill record of 44.42 seconds stands to Scott Moran, who set the mark in the second run-off of the 13 April 2009 meeting. Martin Groves had previously beaten his own previous record (44.53s) with 44.46s in the first run-off.[2]

Loton Park Hill Climb past winners
Year Driver Vehicle Time Notes
1960 Sept 3.
1961 M. Hatton Cooper 1,100 c.c. 35.68 sec [3]
M. Hatton Cooper 33.95 sec R [4] July 22.
1963 Round 1 : Tony Marsh Marsh-Climax 1½-litre S/C [5] 37.03 sec [6] April 27, lengthened 900-yard course.
1964 Round 1 : Peter Westbury Ferguson-Climax P99 2½-litre 35.56 sec [7] April 25/26.
1965 Round 1 : Tony Marsh Marsh-Special Oldsmobile [8]
1967 Round 1 : Bryan Eccles Brabham BT18-Oldsmobile V8 [9]
1968 Sept 1.
1969 Round 1 : David Hepworth Hepworth FF [10]
1973 Round 1 : Sir Nicholas Williamson Marlyn 712-DFV [11]
Roy Lane McLaren M14D 54.72 sec R [12]
1979 Martyn Griffiths Pilbeam MP40 2.2-litre 50.81 sec R [13] July 1.
2006 Round 1 : Scott Moran Gould-NME GR61X 3.5-litre 46.54 sec [14] April 7.
Round 2 : Roger Moran Gould-NME GR61X 3.5-litre 46.34 sec
Round 13 : Scott Moran Gould-NME GR61X 3.5-litre 45.94 sec [15] June 11.
Round 14 : Martin Groves Gould-NME GR55 45.45 sec
2009 Round 13 : Scott Moran Gould-NME GR61X 3.5-litre 44.72 sec [16] June 13–14.
Round 14 : Scott Moran Gould-NME GR61X 3.5-litre 44.78 sec
2010 Round 9 : Roger Moran Gould-NME GR61X 3.5-litre 45.36 sec [17] June 13.
Round 10 : Trevor Willis OMS-Powertec 2.8-litre 58.72 sec
Round 33 : Scott Moran Gould-NME GR61X 3.5-litre 44.62 sec FTD [18] Sept 26.
Round 34 : Martin Groves Gould-NME GR55B 3.5-litre 44.73 sec

Key: R = Course Record; FTD = Fastest Time of the Day; S/C = Supercharged.

References
  1. Motor, May 24, 1969, Page 68.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-06-17. Retrieved 2010-02-07.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. Autosport, May 19, 1961, Page 659; C.A.N. May, Speed Hill-Climb, G.T. Foulis & Co LTD, 1962, Page 166.
  4. C.A.N. May, Speed Hill-Climb, G.T. Foulis & Co LTD, 1962, Page 176.
  5. For a description of the Marsh-Climax see Autosport, March 29, 1963, Page 423.
  6. Autosport, May 3, 1963, Page 617; Motor Sport, June 1963, Page 397.
  7. Autosport, May 1, 1964, Page 619; Motor Sport, June 1964, Page 476.
  8. Motor Sport, September 1965, Page 745.
  9. Motor Sport, August 1967, Page 702.
  10. Motor, May 10, 1969.
  11. Motor, August 18, 1973, Pages 24-25.
  12. Autosport, Aug 16, 1973, Page 54.
  13. Autosport, July 12, 1979, Page 42.
  14. Autosport, April 20, 2006, Page 101.
  15. Autosport, June 15, 2006, Page 105.
  16. Autosport, June 18, 2009, Page 117.
  17. Autosport, June 17, 2010, Page 81.
  18. Speedscene, Issue 161, December 2010, Pages 17-19.

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