Prescott Speed Hill Climb
| Location | Prescott, Gloucestershire, England |
|---|---|
| Time zone | GMT |
| Opened | 1938 |
| Major Events | British Hill Climb Championship |
| Hill Length | 0.641 miles (1,128 yd) |
| Hill Record | 35.51 (Jos Goodyear, 2014, British Hill Climb Championship) |
Prescott Speed Hill Climb is a hillclimb in Gloucestershire, England. The course used for most events (the "Long Course") is 1,128 yards (1,031 m) in length, and the hill record is held by Jos Goodyear, who set a time of 35.51 seconds on 7 September 2014 in his GWR Raptor Extreme. The track was extended in 1960 to form the present Long Course. There is also a "Short Course" of 880 yards (804.7 m), now used only by meetings organised by the Vintage Sports-Car Club.
The track is owned by the Bugatti Owners' Club (BOC), founded in 1929, who were looking for a permanent home and bought the land in 1937. The club had previously run events at Lewes and on the Chalfont Heights Estate, Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire. The club also ran a one-off event at Joel Park, Northwood Hill, Middlesex, on 22 June 1935, which was won by Richard Ormonde Shuttleworth, on a Bugatti, in a time of 30.16 sec. The Bugatti O.C. planned to develop Dancer's End, near Tring, Hertfordshire, but an event there scheduled for 20 June 1936 had to be cancelled.Motor Sport reported in December 1937:
"It will be recalled that about two years ago the Club planned to make Dancer's End a first-class hill-climb venue, and obtained approval from the landowner, Alan P. Good. Unfortunately, the noise nuisance, which is a disease not unknown to motor-race course promoters, broke out and the project was reluctantly abandoned,..."
The first event at Prescott was staged in April, 1938, on what is now the Short Course. As announced in Motor Sport: "The Opening Rally on April 10th will comprise an assembly at Cheltenham for lunch, followed by a run to Prescott and possibly timed runs up the hill, followed by tea at the Prescott club-house. Prescott will be ready for the first official meeting on Sunday, May 15th." Unofficial fastest time in April was set by I. Craig in a 4.9-litre supercharged Bugatti in a time of 55.58 seconds. Fastest time of the day at the inaugural meeting in May was set by Arthur Baron in a 2,270 c.c. supercharged Bugatti in a new record time of 50.70 seconds. Sydney Allard set the sports car record driving Hutchison's V12 Lincoln-engined Allard Special in a time of 54.35 seconds. On 3 July 1938 George Abecassis broke the Prescott outright record with a climb of 47.85 seconds in his supercharged 1½ litre Alta.Joe Fry bettered this unofficially when he climbed in 47.62 seconds in the 1,100 c.c. Freikaiserwagen, on 27 August 1938. Raymond Mays (2-litre E.R.A.) took the record on 30 July 1939 in a time of 46.14 seconds. Second overall at that meeting was Jean-Pierre Wimille in a 4.7-litre supercharged Bugatti, in the first international meeting held at Prescott.
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