Speed race reports 2026

2026 Speed Race Reports

Championship sponsored by Bill Rawles Classic Cars and Peter May Engineering

The 2026 championship comprises 15 rounds with 10 hill climbs and 5 sprints. Scroll on down to see the race reports shown in latest first order:

Rounds 7/8 Harewood 6/7 June 2026 (Healeys drop oil?)

(Report by LC Branch with photos by Jackie Baker)

The Healey hill climbers travelled to Harewood in the Yorkshire dales for this fabulous hill climb. Set in stunning countryside, the longest hill climb in the UK is a real treat, especially when the weather is good - unfortunately, it was wet on Saturday morning but dried up for a sunny afternoon. Sunday was mainly dry and overcast but crucially wet when we went for our last run for some in the class - so overall, not too bad.

As last year, the entry for this ever popular event sold out in a couple of hours of the entry opening, yet most of the Healeysport drivers were on the ball and so we had a reasonable entry of 15 drivers taking part in this two day weekend event. We had the Sprites of Steve Casson, Paul Baker, Rob Owen, Brett Dillon (at Harewood for the first time), Richard Salisbury and John Tewson (Sunday only), the 100's of John Ducker, Mervyn Coxon and Michael Berry, the 100/6 of Simon Warburton, the 3000's of Warren Beese (here competitively for the first time), Ian Thomas, Richard Mason and Murray Shand and the Jensen Healey of David Lane.

Saturday was run on scratch i.e. the quickest driver wins their class with Sunday our Target Time event, where each driver is given a target that matches their experience and the ability of their car. The driver beating their target by the biggest margin, wins.

Saturday morning was wet all through our two practice runs. In the Sprite class it was Paul Baker quickest with a best time of 81.25 from Steve Casson in 83.17, with Brett Dillon next in 84.25, then Rob Owen in 92.20 and Richard Salisbury in 93.22.

In the Big/Jensen Healey class, it was Richard Mason quickest with his first run with an 80.16 but then he was stopped from competing on his second run due a to drip of oil from his engine in the start line area (who has ever heard of a Healey dripping oil !). Oil on the track had been a recurring issue in the morning with cars crashing and delays whilst the problem is cleared up. Ironically, the culprit laying the oil was not a Healey but appeared to be the tow truck bringing all the bent cars back to the paddock!! Ian Thomas was next in 80.86, followed by Michael Berry, Mervyn Coxon in 84.82, Simon Warburton in 88.81, John Ducker in 94.01, David Lane in 94.01, Warren Beese in 99.74 and Murray Shand in 102.33 who was struggling with a brake problem.

After lunch the weather stayed wet for a while then the sun came out and dried the track for our last run - and see how the times did tumble. In the Sprite class, it was Paul Baker who won the class with a 68.07, from Brett Dillon in a superb time of 69.95 - such a good time for someone tackling this long and complex track for the first time. Steve Casson was next in 70.66, then Rob Owen in 73.02 and Richard Salisbury in 79.13.

In the Big/Jensen Healey class the top three cars finished within 0.11 secs of each other - so close, but the winner was Richard Mason in 70.26 from Michael Berry in 70.31 with Ian Thomas a whisker behind him in 70.37. Then came David Lane in 74.92, from John Ducker in 77.71, then Mervyn Coxon in 78.37, then Simon Warburton in a new personal best time of 81.35, then Warren Beese in a much improved time of 84.24 and Murray Shand still troubled with brake problems in 87.10.

After the racing on Saturday had finished, all thoughts of hill climbing were moved to one side, as all the Healey drivers and partners were invited to the annual Duckers Cocktail bar - set up in the paddock car park. John and Cate surpassed themselves with food and drinks, with this year's specialties being Pina Coladas or Harvey Wallbangers, plus the usual beers and a tasty selection of food and dips. John had also brought along a selection of his games usually seen at village fetes - namely "Splat the Rat" and Throw the horse shoes at the post.

Usually, we repair to a local hostelry for dinner, but as the Harewood Arms was closed we had decided, given the changeable weather, to erect awnings and easy up's and provide seated cover for all and Steve Casson organised the ordering and collection of Pizzas for all. So we had a relaxed evening eating and drinking under canvas. Huge thanks to Ian Thomas, Brett Dillon and Warren Beese for constructing our awning city.

Sunday morning broke dry and bright with the expectation that we should get through our four runs without any rain, but is that what happened - read on.

Practice in the Sprite class had Paul Baker out front with a best time of 68.73 with Brett Dillon now in second place in 70.31 as he gets to grips with this new venue. Steve Casson was enjoying his car and was only a whisker away in 70.37. John Tewson joined us for the Sunday event as he was unable to get an entry for Saturday - he finished practice with a best time of 71.51. Rob Owen was all set to go on his first practice run only to find that he had a broken throttle cable - as always the other Healey drivers came to his aid with a replacement, but Rob missed the first practice run fitting the cable - he did a 70.00 on his second practice run. Richard Salisbury (pictured right) ended with a best time of 77.85 but realised he had a loose crankshaft pulley bolt. Not an easy problem to solve without being able to lift up the front of the engine to be able to get a socket on the bolt. Richard tried his best with the tools available to fix the problem but he lost the bolt on one of his later runs so had to retire the car.

Practice in the Big/Jensen Healey class had the usual three drivers within half a second of each other. Richard Mason always seems to be able to pull out that little bit extra to be quickest with a 70.45, from Michael Berry in 70.70 and Ian Thomas in 70.99. David Lane posted his best time of the weekend with a 73.98, as did John Ducker in 74.97 and Murray Shand in 76.43. Warren Beese was improving with every run and was now down to a 77.60 and Simon Warburton had now broken the 80 second barrier with a 79.52 in his 100/6. Mervyn Coxon was having a miss fire problem resulting in a slower time of 82.52 - a change of coil later solved the problem.

After lunch the timed runs got underway. The weather forecast had now changed and rain was expected mid afternoon, so all the drivers realised that the first run after lunch would be key.

In the Sprite class, it was Paul Baker who was quickest with a new personal best time of 67.63 from Brett Dillon in a superb time of 68.55, then came Steve Casson in 69.65 - just off his pb and achieved on his second run in the rain!! Rob Owen beat his personal best time with an excellent 70.98 to stay ahead of John Tewson (pictured right) by 0.02 secs, as he finished with a 71.00.

In the Big/Jensen Healey class, it was Richard Mason yet again who managed to lead the class with his best time of the weekend in 69.45. Michael Berry tried too hard on his first timed run and ran over the black and white marker boards at the finish line which results in the run being disqualified - such a shame as it would have been a new Healey 100 record and a new pb - but not to be (check out the in-car video of his run). So he had to put everything into his last run which was also in the rain - he managed an excellent 70.28 - his fastest run of the weekend. Ian Thomas was a tad behind in a 70.53 - his quickest run over the weekend. Cometh the hour, cometh the man - yes, I'm referring to John Ducker who knocked two seconds off his practice times to post a new pb time of 72.98 to leap frog David Lane by 0.08 secs as he finished with a 73.06. Murray Shand saved the best till last to end with a 74.02 from Warren Beese whose final run was a highly respectable 74.80 - a 29 second improvement from his opening run on Saturday in the wet. With his Healey 100 engine now back on song with it's new coil, Mervyn Coxon posted a new pb time of 77.54 to stay ahead of Simon Warburton who also ended with a new pb time of 81.01.

As this was a target time event, Steve Casson fired up the spreadsheet and the results were calculated as follows:

Sprite Class: 1st Brett Dillon (pictured right), 2nd Rob Owen, 3rd Paul Baker, 4th Steve Casson, 5th John Tewson and 6th Richard Salisbury.

Big/Jensen Healey Class: 1st Warren Beese (pictured below right), 2nd Mervyn Coxon, 3rd John Ducker, 4th Ian Thomas, 5th Michael Berry, 6th Richard Mason, 7th David Lane, 8th Murray Shand and 9th Simon Warburton.

All the prizes were presented by Richard Mason.

Overall, a great weekend's hill climbing at this long and challenging venue. Huge congratulations to our two newbies to this track - Brett Dillon and Warren Beese for winning their classes and to all those who broke their personal best times. Many thanks also to John and Cate Ducker for such a successful cocktail hour.

Our next event is a sprint at the fabulous Lydden Hill track near Canterbury in Kent on 11 July, so be there if you can make it.

Click on the links to see the full results from this and all events this season. To see all the pictures, in-car and outside videos go to our Gallery page. If you want to see the sprint and hill climb records for each class and venue, then go to the Big Healey and Jensen Healey records and the Sprite records pages.

Want to start Sprinting and Hill Climbing?

If you own a Healey or Jensen Healey and you like what you see on this website and want to find out more then click here to take a look at our Beginners Guide. If you want to get involved, then send an email to Paul Baker our Championship Organiser at competitionsec@austinhealeyclub.com New drivers are always made very welcome.

Rounds 5/6 Prescott - 23/24 May 2026 - "More ice creams please"

(Report by LC Branch and Pics by Jackie Baker)

Off to Prescott for the Bugatti Owners Club Historique event for cars from the classic era. The weather was superb - in fact a little too hot for some at over 30 degrees.

We had 18 Healeysport drivers (6 Sprites and 9 Big/Jensen Healeys and 2 drivers in our Libre class) competing in this double header event with Saturday being held on scratch and Sunday as a target time event. We had two new drivers to Prescott in Tony (pictured right) and son Ethan Morgan in their Libre classed Sprite. The rest of the drivers had all been to Prescott before. They included the Sprites of Steve Casson, Rob Owen, Brett Dillon, Richard Salisbury, John Tewson (back out after his gap year!!) and Paul Baker. The 100's of Mervyn Coxon, Michael Berry and the recently rebuilt 100 of John Ducker - following his accident at Cadwell Park. We also had the 100/6 of Simon Warburton, the 3000's of Peter Walton, Ian Thomas and Richard Mason and finally the Jensen Healeys of Gerry Wilby and David Lane.

The events followed the usual hill climb format of two practice runs before lunch, followed by two timed runs after lunch. As mentioned before the weather was set to be dry and hot all weekend which encouraged drivers to dry harder with the result that they tend to have more accidents resulting in red flag coming out and the racing stopping until the problem is cleared. Saturday was particularly bad with red flags out every few minutes. With 30 degree heat and the waiting drivers done up in mobile saunas i.e. race suits, balaclavas, helmets and gloves - the paddock marshals were very quick to ensure that waiting drivers were not overheating, by handing out umbrellas. Cate Ducker came to the rescue of the Sprite drivers who got caught in this situation with bottles of cold water - thanks Cate.

Saturday practice got underway in the Sprite class and it was Brett Dillon leading with a best time of 52.35 from Paul Baker in 52.51, then Steve Casson in 54.37, Mike Mohr in 54.10, Rob Owen in 55.33, John Tewson (pictured below) getting the hang of competing again with a best time of 55.40 and Richard Salisbury in 59.16.

Practice in the Big/Jensen Healey class finished with Michael Berry posting a new personal best time of 51.97, followed by Ian Thomas in 52.63, Commentators favourite Richard Mason in 53.02, then the flying farmer - Pete Walton in 53.24, David Lane in 56.07, John Ducker in 58.20, Mervyn Coxon in 60.42, Gerry Wilby in 59.66 and Simon Warburton in 64.27.

In the Libre class it was Ethan Morgan quickest in 59.80 from Tony Morgan in 61.71.

Lunch was followed by a fly past of a D Day liveried Spitfire - such an evocative sight and sound.

After lunch the timed runs got underway in the Sprite class and the top three drivers all produced a personal best time. Paul Baker took the top slot with a best time of 51.46 to just stay ahead of Steve Casson in 51.86 and then Brett Dillon got down to a 52.05. Mike Mohr was next in 53.67 - just off his pb, then John Tewson beat his pb with a 54.73, Rob Owen posted a best time of 55.73 and Richard Salisbury ended with a 60.02.

In the Big/Jensen Healey class, it was Michael Berry (pictured below) in yet another pb winning time of 51.78 to stay just ahead of Pete Walton in another pb time of 51.87. Richard Mason managed a best time of 52.18 with Ian Thomas a whisker behind in in 52.26. David Lane finished with his best time of 55.52 and John Ducker over came carburetor problems with help from his fellow 100 drivers to finish with a 58.20. The next three drivers all put in maximum effort to end up with personal best times - Mervyn Coxon in 59.42, Gerry Wilby in 59.73 and Simon Warburton in 62.32.

In the family battle in the Libre class, it was Ethan Morgan who finished with a superb 55.32 - a great result, given this was the first time he had properly driven the car on track and he had never been to Prescott before. Tony Morgan ended with a best time of 62.20. Although Tony had found a well known Sprite gearbox foible i.e. it refuses to go into third gear if you push the gearlever too far right!! He now had the Sunday event to practice getting it in gear.

The results from this Saturday scratch event were as follows:

Sprite class: 1st Paul Baker (pictured below right), 2nd Steve Casson, 3rd Brett Dillon, 4th Mike Mohr, 5th John Tewson, 6th Rob Owen and 7th Richard Salisbury.

Big/Jensen Healey class: 1st Michael Berry, 2nd Peter Walton, 3rd Richard Mason, 4th Ian Thomas, 5th David Lane, 6th John Ducker, 7th Mervyn Coxon, 8th Gerry Wilby and 9th Simon Warburton.

Libre class: 1st Ethan Morgan and 2nd Tony Morgan.

An excellent day's hill climbing at this wonderful venue. So many personal best times broken as the track had been super heated by the sun, giving the tyres mega grip.

We also had ex Big Healey Champion - Trish C-P and Keith Allen visit us and as it was both their birthdays had brought cake and bubbly for all the Healey hill climbers and partners. What a treat and a great end to the day plus it was a real pleasure to see Trish and Keith again.

All the Healey contingent had to do a fast turnaround as dinner had been booked at The Oak in Gretton - a fabulous old Cotswold pub with excellent country views service, drink and food to match. All expertly organised by Richard Salisbury, who even got a couple of his chums to drive us all to the pub and collect for the return journey - such a good evening.

Day two broke with classic May sunshine but it was expected to be even hotter than day one. Ice creams were definitely the order of the day. We also had previous Healeysport champion Colin Gale with us for the day.

Sunday was also classified by our championship, as a target time event, where the drivers who beat their target by the largest margin win. Target times are issued to all Healeysport drivers before the event, but they are reviewed after the practice runs.

Practice got underway in the Sprite class and it was Paul Baker leading with a new pb time of 51.40 from Steve Casson next in 52.04, from Brett Dillon in 52.92, then John Tewson in a new pb time of 53,73, then Rob Owen in 55.88 and Richard Salisbury in 59.67.

Practice in the Big/Jensen Healey class had Michael Berry out front with his best time of the whole weekend in 51.32, from Richard Mason in 52.63, with Ian Thomas a tad behind in 52.73 and Peter Walton (pictured below) in 53.08. David Lane was next in 55.72, then John Ducker in 56.49, Mervyn Coxon in 59.17, Gerry Wilby in 59.72 and Simon Warburton in 63.17.

Practice in the Libre class had Ethan Morgan leading with a best time of 55.35 and Tony Morgan in a much improvedtime of 58.51.

Lunch was followed by a fly past from a resplendent Dakota DC3 - such a different sound from the big radial engines compared to the Rolls Royce Merlin in the Spitfire the day before.

The timed runs started and in the Sprite class it was Brett Dillon who finally managed to get all the elements of this complex track together to finish with a new pb time of 51.36 and be the quickest Sprite over the weekend. Paul Baker was next in 51.46 a whisker behind. Steve Casson ended with a 52.04 pleased that his car has performed well even if gear selection at Pardon was an issue. John Tewson ended with his best time of the weekend in a 53.68 and a new personal best in his Sprite. Rob Owen finished with a 54.47 - his quickest run of the weekend and only a fraction off his pb. As always, Richard Salisbury confounds conventional logic with his fastest run over the weekend was his first practice run on Saturday morning and not his last run on Sunday which was a 60.18.

Timed runs in the Big/Jensen Healey class had Michael Berry out front with his best time of 51.82 just 2 thousandth's quicker than Peter Walton in 51.84 and a new pb. Ian Thomas was next in 52.64 with Richard Mason just behind him in 52.71 - so close. David Lane was next in 55.00 with John Ducker next in 56.41, then Gerry Wilby in an excellent new pb time of 58.51, Mervyn Coxon was trying too hard and ended up driving through the gravel trap at Ettores but finished with a best time of 59.20, but it was Simon Warburton who pulled out all the stops in his 100/6 to break the 60 second barrier and end with a 59.99.

Timed runs in the Libre class had Ethan Morgan out front albeit with a slower time than in practice of 56.25 and Tony Morgan ended with his best time of the weekend of 58.30.

As this was a target time event, the spreadsheet was fired up and the results calculated as follows:

Sprite class: 1st Brett Dillon (pictured right), 2nd John Tewson, 3rd Paul Baker, 4th Rob Owen, 5th Steve Casson and 6th Richard Salisbury.

Big/Jensen Healey class: 1st Simon Warburton, 2nd Gerry Wilby, 3rd Peter Walton, 4th Mervyn Coxon 5th Michael Berry, 6th David Lane, 7th John Ducker, 8th Ian Thomas, 9th Richard Mason.

Libre class: 1st Ethan Morgan (pictured right receiving his award) and 2nd Tony Morgan.

What a weekend. Superb weather, great track and competition and past Healeysport drivers and friends come to see us. Well done to our prize winners and those who broke their previous best times - plus, we finished the weekend with the drivers and all our cars in one piece.

Our next event is a double header hill climb at the superb Harewood hill climb on Saturday/Sunday 6/7 June - please be there if you can to support the drivers.

Want to start Sprinting and Hill Climbing?

Round 4 Goodwood 2 May 2026 - "A 99 Please!!"

(Report by LC Branch and photos by Jackie Baker)

It's the beginning of May and this year we are heading for the Brighton & Hove Motor Club's Figaty sprint at the world famous Goodwood circuit near Chichester in West Sussex. The weather was forecast to be dry to start with then heavy rain from mid afternoon. We also had the frequent sight and sound of a Spitfire taking off on the runway inside the track - so evocative given the history of this airfield.

Fourteen drivers were entered in the Healeysport class with the usual mix of Healeys - big and small. We had the 6 Sprites of Garrow Shand, Monty Hinton (now out in the ex Lawrence Maudsley Sprite - so good to see it out again), Brett Dillon, Steve Casson, Rob Owen and Paul Baker. We had the sole Healey 100 of Michael Berry (John Ducker had entered but due to problems with his newer 100 he had to withdraw), the two Jensen Healeys of David Lane and Gerry Wilby and the 2 x 3000's of Ian Thomas and Peter Walton (pictured right) and the 100/6 of Simon Warburton (this being Simon's first time at Goodwood). Tony and Ethan Morgan were booked in with their Libre classed Sprite, but unfortunately the car was not running well and needed more work, so they decided to withdraw their entry.

With all the sign-on work now done on-line, all that was left was to get through noise control (very important at Goodwood but surprisingly low decibel numbers given this year!), then scrutineering and finally the drivers meeting with the Clerk of the Course. On the dot of 9am the first cars were heading out on track for their first practice run. As we were nearly three quarters of the way through the total entry, we had to wait about an hour for the Healeysport class to be hitting the track.

As with most circuit based sprints in the UK, the usual format is for one practice run followed by three timed runs. As a championship, we traditionally operate the format of two practice runs and two timed runs - however, as heavy rain was likely to seriously affect our last run, the drivers decided to go with one practice and two timed runs for the championship - if the rain holds off then all are free to take the final run, but it would not count towards the championship.

This event was also classified by our championship as a target time event where the drivers who beat their target by the largest margin win. Target times are issued to all Healeysport drivers before the event, but they are reviewed after the practice run.

As the circuit is so long, at 2.31 miles, there is the chance that a faster driver may catch a slower driver even though they are spaced with a 20 second or so interval. As cars are not allowed to overtake, baulking can occur, meaning the baulked driver usually gets a re-run. The drivers are told to order themselves into the fastest first order to help ensure that baulking is not a problem.

Practice got underway and in the Sprite class after one run, it was Brett Dillon leading in 108.41 from Steve Casson in 109.59, then Paul Baker in 110.96, Garrow Shand in 112.91, Monty Hinton (pictured above on the start line) getting used to his new Sprite in 113.74 and Rob Owen in 122.97.

In the Big/Jensen Healey class - all the cars went out in class order. Unfortunately, David Lane's Jensen Healey decided to fail out on track which delayed all the other drivers behind him, given they are not allowed to overtake. This affected Michael Berry and Ian Thomas. As it was a practice run, the Clerk of the Course had already made it clear in the Driver's Briefing that re-runs due to baulking would not be given during the practice run. So the actual times given for this class were: Peter Walton leading with a 105.56, Gerry Wilby (pictured right at the chicane) next in 124.43, Simon Warburton in 139.73, Michael Berry 229.87, Ian Thomas 244.31 and David Lane fail.

As it happens, the problem with David's car was the king lead had come loose from the distributor - so, simple to fix and David was back out in time for his next run.

After the practice run, a number of the drivers commented on how little grip there was in the track - which a spectator commented on by saying that were we aware that the pre-war Bentleys had last used the track - could there be a link!

On to the two timed runs - our first was before lunch and the second just after lunch. In the Sprite class, It was Steve Casson quickest, proving his new rear suspension is working well, with a new personal best time of 104.34, from Paul Baker in 106.06, then Monty Hinton in 110.69 on his first run then his car refused to start, related to a Lithium battery problem that even a jump pack would not resolve - so Monty played no further part. Garrow Shand posted a best time of 111.63, Rob Owen realised his short 4.5 diff was no match for the long straights at Goodwood so ended with a best run time of 120.69 nearly 9 seconds off his previous best time - a 3.9 needed next time. The big problem in the Sprite class was that Brett Dillon's Sprite stopped out on track with no power. His car was towed back to the paddock and after a check was found to have a blown head gasket. Such as shame, as this was a new engine for the start of the season and had only done the Cadwell Park sprint and one lap at Goodwood. Let's hope he gets it fixed for Prescott.

In the Big/Jensen Healey class, it was a battle between the 100 vs the 3000's - with Michael Berry (pictured below) in his 100M posting a fabulous 100.81 - just 0.06 of a sec off his own course record for this class. It seemed as if no matter how hard he tried he could not break the 100 second barrier - well there is always next year. Right behind him was the 3000 of Peter Walton in his best time of 101.13 and again he was 0.05 of a sec off his previous best time - and in third place was the 3000 of Ian Thomas in 102.67 who was just over a second over his previous best time. David Lane was next in his now working Jensen Healey with a best time of 112.67, followed by Gerry Wilby in his lightly modified JH in 122.99 and Simon Warburton in his 100/6 finished with a best time of 130.05.

As this was a target time event, the spreadsheet was fired up and the results calculated as follows:

Sprite class: 1st Paul Baker, 2nd Steve Casson, 3rd Garrow Shand, 4th Monty Hinton, 5th Rob Owen, and 6th Brett Dillon

Big/Jensen Healey class: 1st Simon Warburton (pictured below right receiving his prize from Paul Baker), 2nd Peter Walton, 3rd Michael Berry, 4th David Lane, 5th Ian Thomas, and 6th Gerry Wilby

What a day. For once, the weather forecast was correct. It was clear that heavy rain would start before our final run, so all of our drivers decided to call it a day as there was no way we could improve on our times with a wet track. So we completed our prize giving and most of us got our cars on trailers before the heavens opened.

Well done to our prize winners and our thoughts go to Lawrence, who I'm sure was watching us today and seeing his car out on one of his favourite tracks without him in it and would have given a wry smile to see Monty achieve a quicker time than he had managed at Goodwood. Monty is becoming a bit of a Goodwood specialist.

Our next event is a double header hill climb at the prestigious Prescott on Saturday/Sunday 23/24 May - please be there if you can to support the drivers.

Want to start Sprinting and Hill Climbing?

Rounds 2/3 Shelsley Walsh 11/12 April 2026 - "lucky with the weather"

(Report by LC Branch, photos by Jackie Baker and in-car videos supplied by Brett Dillon)

The Teme Valley in the Malvern hills in Worcestershire has been the idyllic setting and home for the historic Shelsley Walsh hill climb for the last 120 years. This incredibly steep strip of tarmac (which had been renewed over the winter period) is 1000 yards of a twisty and narrow track, walled by banks, railway sleepers or Armco barriers. It requires a car with serious horsepower to be quick and in the rain is not a place for the faint hearted. Naturally, this is a challenge that appeals to the Healey hill climbers and is invariably one of our best attended events of the year.

This year we had 18 drivers due on the Saturday and 17 on the Sunday. Unfortunately, our planned position in the paddock was mainly in the uncovered area, however, with some gentle persuasion with the paddock marshal and we were all housed under the covered shelters. This was important because the weather was forecast to be sunshine, some heavy showers and cold on both days. So cover for the open cars at least was required.

Our drivers over this two day event included: the 3000's of local specialist Richard Mason, Ian Thomas, Peter Walton (Saturday only), Murray Shand and new driver Warren Beese (pictured below right), the 100's of Mervyn Coxon, John Ducker and Michael Berry, the 100/6 of Simon Warburton, the Jensen Healeys of David Lane and Gerry Wilby and the Sprites of Garrow Shand, Richard Salisbury (back out with us after a year's break), Rob Owen, Mike Mohr (Saturday only), Steve Casson and Paul Baker. We also expected the Libre class running Sprite of father and son duo Tony and Ethan Morgan in their recently acquired Sprite. Unfortunately, Their car was not ready to bring on Saturday but appeared on Sunday morning.

As we always try to do something different at this Shelsley weekend - a trophy event was devised covering the two days, with bottles of bubbly to be presented on Sunday afternoon to the top three drivers who end up with the lowest aggregate target time difference at the end of the event. As the Shelsley Cup was unavailable, it will be presented to the eventual winner at Prescott in May.

For this double header, Saturday was set as a scratch event - where the fastest driver wins and Sunday as a Target Time event - where the driver who get closest or beats their target by the biggest amount, over the two days wins.

So read on to find out what happened.

After heavy overnight rain, Saturday morning was wet and overcast. As practice got underway in the Sprite class, the drivers were mindful of the Clerk of the Course's advice - that the track had been recently relaid and the tarmac was still giving off an oily residue, so that combined with the rain, the track should be treated with care, especially as there is no run off on the track, just Armco barriers and railway sleepers!!

The leading Sprite driver after the two practice runs was Paul Baker in 39.52 secs from Steve Casson (pictured right) - out for the first time this year in his Lenham bodied Sprite with a revised rear suspension that seemed to have corrected all the handling issues that have plagued the car for the last couple of years. As a result, Steve finished practice with a 40.13 and a big smile on his face - watch out the rest of the Sprite drivers as Steve is Back!! Mike Mohr was next in 40.79, then Rob Owen in 42.42, Garrow Shand in 44.49 and Richard Salisbury in 46.13.

In the Big/Jensen Healey class, it was of course local expert Richard Mason out front in his best time over the two runs of 37.56, from Pete Walton in a very good time of 38.65, then Ian Thomas in 39.80, next was David Lane in his Gulf liveried Jensen Healey in 41.19, then Murray Shand in his 3000 that was having a series of electrical and other problems in 42.03, John Ducker (pictured below right) was next back in his old black and white Healey 100 while his latest green 100 is being repaired following an accident at Cadwell Park two weeks prior - John did a 44.56 to stay ahead of Mervyn Coxon also in a Healey 100 with a time of 45.98. Gerry Wilby was next in his Jensen Healey in 46.86, from Simon Warburton in the unpainted and shiny aluminium 100/6 with the new tri-carb engine in 47.54 and Warren Beese completing the class in his beautifully presented 3000 with the new engine and gearbox - however, this was Warren's first trip to Shelsley and the first time on such a steep hill with no run off - it takes a bit of getting used to - sensibly he took it easy and learned the track - his time was 55.27.

Saturday was plagued with Red flags due to accidents and incidents - mainly due to the single seater drivers either unable to stay on the track or one that had an engine fire.

After lunch the timed runs got underway. In the Sprite class, it was Paul Baker who took first place with his best time of 38.10 - some way off his personal best but the changeable weather conditions meant that the drivers were never quite sure how wet the track was plus the cold weather meant that the grip from the soft compound Kumho's was not always there. Next was Steve Casson in 38.83 greatly pleased with the way his car was handling, then we had Mike Mohr in 39.64, from Rob Owen in 41.17, then Garrow Shand who said he could not get near the times he did there on the Friday practice day - in 43.44 and Richard Salisbury (pictured right) finished with a best time of 46.63 - and just pleased to be back out in his Sprite.

In the Big/Jensen Healeys class, Richard Mason also lowered his time to a 37.00 best time some 2.38 secs off his best time at the track and the course record for a Big Healey - if this was a hot a dry summer's day the times would be very different. Ian Thomas leapt into second place with a 38.91 to just get ahead of Pete Walton in 38.99 - so close. David Lane was next in a 40.55 to stay ahead of Murray Shand in 42.90 which he achieved on his first run before mechanical gremlins stopped him getting a second run. John Ducker finished with a 45.78 probably wishing he had his green car for this power track. Likewise, Mervyn Coxon managed to get his time down to a 46.20 saying that he could not get the car to go any faster with only 100bhp and his foot flat to the floor for most of the run. Gerry Wilby managed a 47.96, Simon Warburton a 48.99 and Warren Beese a best time for the day of 51.05, although he was struggling with an electrical problem resulting in his 3000 running on 5 vs 6 cylinders - not ideal on a track like this.

Once the racing was complete, the drivers and partners got spruced up and went to the Baiting House restaurant which now sports a Michelin logo on its menu, for a super meal and evening as usual. Many thanks to Mark and his team at the Baiting House plus to Helen for organising it and to Garrow and Murray (pictured right in his 3000) for transporting most of us - what would we do without the Shands!!

Again, it rained heavily overnight, so the track was wet for at least the first run. Then rained again just before our second practice run, hence our practice runs were slower than Saturdays.

On Sunday morning Tony Morgan and his son Ethan arrived with their Sprite having spent a huge number of hours trying to get the car ready to compete. The car was eventually scrutineered and they were ready to compete. Although running outside our class, Tony took the car to the start line and unfortunately the engine failed just as he got away from the start. It would not restart so was pushed back to the paddock. After trying to assess the problem, Tony took the view that they could not fix in the paddock, so it was put on its trailer and taken home. A great shame as we would have all liked to have seen them enjoying their Sprite on track and competing with us. Hopefully all the problems will be fixed before their next outing with us at Goodwood at the beginning of May.

We also gained Michael Berry in his 100M but lost Mike Mohr from the Sprite class and Pete Walton from the Big Healey class.

In the Sprite class, it was Paul Baker just in the lead with a 40.28 from Steve Casson in 40.70, with Rob Owen next in 42.71, then Garrow Shand in 44.76 and Richard Salisbury in 46.36.

In the Big/Jensen Healey class, Richard Mason managed a 40.29 also just ahead of Ian Thomas in 40.38, with David Lane (pictured right) next in 42.87. Michael Berry had to get to grips with the resurfaced track and wet conditions for the first time - he posted a very good 42.99. Next was Murray Shand in 44.40 and Mervyn Coxon jumped up the order with a fine 46.25. John Ducker recorded a 47.20 with Simon Warburton in 48.81 and Warren Beese in 51.99.

After lunch the sun came out and the wind blew track dry, so the conditions were good for some quick times:

In the Sprite class, Paul Baker posted his best time of the weekend with a 37.41 as did Steve Casson with a 38.13 and Rob Owen (pictured right) in 40.84. Garrow Shand ended with a 43.44 and Richard Salisbury with a 46.63.

In the Big/Jensen Healey class, Richard Mason recorded his fastest time of the weekend with a very quick 36.46 from Ian Thomas in 38.23 and Michael Berry in 39.35 - just ahead of David Lane in 39.63. John Ducker pulled out all the stops and moved back up the field with a 43.06 - his fastest of the weekend which put him just ahead of Murray Shand in 43.13. Gerry Wilby posted an excellent time of 46.22 - the only one to beat his target time. Mervyn Coxon finished with his best time of 44.49 as did Warren Beese who broke through the 50 sec barrier for the first time with a 49.56 to be ahead of Simon Warburton who ended with a 49.75.

As this was a target time event, where each driver is given a target time to match their experience and performance of their car, their actual times are then compared against their targets to identify the order - which was:

Sprite Class: 1st Paul Baker (pictured right), 2nd Rob Owen, 3rd Steve Casson, 4th Garrow Shand and 5th Richard Salisbury.

Big/Jensen Healey Class: 1st Gerry Wilby, 2nd Ian Thomas, 3rd Richard Mason, 4th Michael Berry, 5th David Lane, 6th Murray Shand, 7th John Ducker, 8th Warren Beese, 9th Mervyn Coxon and 10th Simon Warburton

The Shelsley Cup award was won by Gerry Wilby (pictured below receiving a bottle of champagne from Richard Mason)who managed to get closest to his target time on both days with a score of +1.34, just beating Paul Baker into second on +2.03, with fellow Sprite driver Steve Casson in 3rd place on +3.26. Well done to all three and many thanks to Richard Mason for devising the competition and providing the bubbly.

Well, what a weekend - we have been reasonably lucky this year with the weather as most of our runs have been almost dry. As said before, Shelsley Walsh is a fantastic venue but not in the wet, as there are zero run off areas and any mistake is punished with a trip to a hard object. However, apart from the usual array of mechanical maladies, all the cars were put back on their trailers undamaged to fight another day.

Don't forget to look at the in-car videos and also the pictures that Jackie - our intrepid and part mountain goat photographer takes up the hill.

Our next event is a sprint at Goodwood on Saturday 2 May - please be there if you can to support the drivers.

Want to start Sprinting and Hill Climbing?

Round 1 Cadwell Park 28 March 2026 - "Fabulous Season's Opener"

(Report by LC Branch, photos by Jackie Baker and in-car videos supplied by Brett Dillon)

For our 2026 season's opener, we travelled to Cadwell Park in the picturesque Lincolnshire Wolds just south of Louth. Originally set up as a motorbike race track, this 3 km circuit is often referred to as the 'Nurburgring of the north' due to its hilly setting. It is beautifully looked after with all the facilities and a perfect track surface.

As this was our first visit to this track, BARC Midlands really looked after us by giving us the prime paddock location next to the track.

We had 10 Healeys entered with the 100's of Michael Berry, John Ducker and Mervyn Coxon, the 3000's of Ian Thomas, Warren Beese and Peter Walton, the Jensen Healey of David Lane and the Sprites of Garrow Shand, Brett Dillon and Paul Baker. Both John Ducker and Michael Berry took part in the wet track day at Cadwell on the Friday before the sprint, which unfortunately resulted in John Ducker's 100 hitting the Armco barriers in Hall Bends, so he could not take part with us on the Saturday. However, both John and Cate still came to watch all the guys race on Saturday.

Most of the drivers had not been to Cadwell before so they were learning this complex but highly entertaining track. Brett Dillon had circuit raced there last year, Warren Beese had raced motorbikes there many times before but had not been there in his 3000 (pictured right at Chris Curve) and David Lane had raced his Jensen Healey there about 10 years ago in the 70's Roadsport series.

Saturday dawned sunny with a clear blue sky but with a biting northerly wind, resulting in a dry track but it was very cold.

One of our drivers made the fundamental error of leaving his race suit at home -190 miles away!!!! A trip to the race office and all the other Healey drivers and no race suit to be had, as most drivers only bring the one they plan to use. Fortunately, a single-seater driver in another class had a spare with him which was in date and fitted which he happily lent to our very fortunate Healey driver, who had almost resigned himself to spectating the others enjoying themselves.

Practice got underway and after the two practice laps it was no surprise that it was Brett Dillon in his Sprite with a new and upgraded 1380 engine produced the quickest time of 102.28. Paul Baker was next quickest in the Sprite class with a 117.78 and Garrow Shand did a 130.90. In the Big/Jensen Healey class, it was Michael Berry out front with a 103.19, from Ian Thomas in 107.78, Peter Walton in 110.91, David Lane in 115.95, Mervyn Coxon in 121.49 with Warren Beese just behind him in 121.81.

On to the two timed runs and in the Sprite class it was Brett Dillon who took the top honours with a superb time of 101.02 from Paul Baker in 113.24 and Garrow Shand in 120.56. Like all the drivers new to the track, Paul and Garrow were learning fast and improving with every run, but would need to have a few more runs to get on terms with Brett.

In the Big/Jensen Healey class, it was Michael Berry (pictured right going through Hall Bends) in first place with an excellent time of 102.44 from Ian Thomas in 105.62 who takes the title of the "quickest learner of the day" using all his rally driving skills to get to that time in 4 runs - really well done. Next was Peter Walton in 107.89, then David Lane in 118.06, Mervyn Coxon in 120.94 and Warren Beese in 121.31.

As a nominated scratch event, the finishing positions were as follows:

Sprite class: 1st Brett Dillon (pictured right - running wide exiting Mansfield), 2nd Paul Baker and 3rd Garrow Shand.

Big/Jensen Healey class: 1st Michael Berry, 2nd Ian Thomas, 3rd Peter Walton, 4th David Lane, 5th Mervyn Coxon and 6th Warren Beese.

As this was our first time at Cadwell Park new records were set for all classes. However, additional points are only awarded for breaking an existing record and not for setting a new one.

Overall, a great day’s sprinting at this classic old British track, albeit a new venue for Healeysport. BARC Midlands did a great job in running the event efficiently to get through this large field of cars in the time available.

Our next event is a double header hill climb at the prestigious Shelsley Walsh event on 11/12th April, so be there if you can as we will have a good field of Healeys for you to see.