Class records in speed events – representative or not? By John M L Brown

Class records for speed venues are one way of recording the best times set by a driver and car which meet the regulations for a particular class but they must never be taken as the final arbiter of the ultimate fastest time set by such a combination for that particular venue.

There are a number of occasions where class records give a false impression.

To clarify, a class record is set during the ‘class’ runs which are at the core of all speed events. These runs may be used as a qualifying event for a Top 10 or 12 run-off which gives the fastest cars an additional chance to set a time and score points in a Championship.

Crucially, a time set in a Run-off which is faster than the class record for that class does not count as a ’class’ record because it was not set in the class runs, even if it is an outright venue record.

As an example the class record for Racing Cars over 2000 cc at Gurston Down stands at 25.48secs and yet in May 2022 Alex Summers won a run-off with a time of 25.00 secs which stands as the outright hill record but as it was not set in the class runs it does not count as a class record. 

The usual argument is that not every driver has a chance of an extra run in the run-offs and so it is said that it is unfair to all runners in the class who did not qualify for the run-off that they have not had that extra chance to set a time. Well they should have gone quicker in the class run then!

Can you imagine Mo Farah winning the British 10,000 metres Championship (a qualifier for the World Championships) in a new British record time of say 28 minutes, and then he goes to the World Championships where he sets a time of 27 minutes which is a new World record – but is not recognised as a British record because other British runners were not there to get a second chance?”

Should we therefore have a separate way of representing the ultimate best times by a particular group of cars – for example a category record – the fastest time set by a Racing car over 2000 cc at any time? 

Now you may say that we already have that because that is the outright hill record but these are not the only cars that reach run-offs.

One of the sights in recent years was the progress of Robert Kenrick as he cut a swathe through the records for the up to 1 litre single seater racing car class setting records at every hill where he competed.

Looking at 7 of the Championship hills on the mainland – Prescott, Loton, Shelsley, Gurston, Harewood, Barbon and Doune –he set new class records in 2019 at all of them but these were not always his fastest times up the hills. In 4 cases he set faster times in the run -offs – Prescott (36.93 as against class time of 36.97), Loton (44.32 compared to 45.16), Gurston (27.89 as compared to 28.04) and Doune (37.64 as compared to 37.74); at Shelsley he set the same time (24.63) and only at Barbon (21.95 as against class time of 21.81) and Harewood (49.06 compared to a class time of 48.58) were his best run off times slower than his class times.

So this is a case where a best category time – the fastest time set by a Racing Car up to 1100cc on any run would be more representative of the true position.

Another anomaly occurs where classes change from year to year but the same cars may be running but just in a differently defined set of classes. 

In 2016 the up to 2 litre single seater class was split into two new classes – both having a 2 litre upper limit, but one for normally aspirated engines and one for forced induction engines. There were no changes to the specification of the cars and the split was only to give the normally aspirated cars a chance of winning a class and thus preserving some of them on the hills. It makes sense to have a class record for both new classes but should there have been a carry over of the times from the previously combined class?

The example this time comes from Doune, but it is no doubt reflected elsewhere. The best normally aspirated time in the pre-2016 combined class was Paul Haimes’ 38.80 from 2009. The best forced induction time was Jos Goodyear’s 36.02 from 2014. When the classes were split in 2016 these times were lost and new standards had to be set – but why? The cars were basically the same as before and in some cases were exactly the same cars! In 2016 however two new ‘records’ were set – Terry Davis set a 43.52 for normally aspirated and Dave Uren set a 37.32 for forced induction – not exactly setting the pace when compared to the previous best times. 

It was not until 2019 that Jonathan Varley lowered Haimes’ time to 38.73, but Goodyear’s forced induction time has never been beaten and yet it still stands as the fastest time up Doune by a forced induction up to 2 litre car…….. well actually no it isn’t!! Going back to my earlier point – the fastest time up Doune by Goodyear is actually 35.05, one of FIVE times he set a time under his ‘class’ record in run-offs! The current forced induction ‘class record’ by the way stands to Richard Spedding at 36.43, some way off that time.

So as the situation stands now Jonathan Varley is the fastest person up Doune in a normally aspirated 2-litre single seater and Jos Goodyear is the fastest person up Doune in a forced induction up to 2 litre single seater but only one of them holds the current class record for cars of this very type. 

Again this is a case for having a category record to recognise the fastest time at any stage by a particular specification of car which would mean that Jos’s phenomenal times continue to be recognised. As it is there is never a mention in a programme about those times and so a false impression is given about the true history of the times recorded at the hill.

My final anomaly is around the point that times set in ‘practice’ runs are not recorded as class records if they should occur. 

As a driver your personal best time must be the fastest you have ever done, whether it is in practice, in a class run or in a run-off and so why is the fastest time in a class not acknowledged in the same way?

As far as I am aware the majority of speed venues these days run practices the same way as they run the timed runs, in strict class order with the same timing system in place and to all intents and purposes they are identical to the ‘class’ runs.

Why do we not therefore discard the idea of not counting class records in practice runs if they should occur – then those who are on the ball early in the day and are quickest on their first or second run get acknowledgement of their ability. You don’t have to go fast from the beginning and so you can treat the early runs as practice if you want to, but if your car (or you) works best in the cool of the morning why should you be disadvantaged?

At the recent Gurston Down meeting, only 15 out of the 111 runners who completed practice and timed runs over the two days set their best time in practice, so it is not a regular occurrence but if it happens why not recognise it.

John M L Brown

December 2025 (revised)

About John

John has been a follower of motor sport since his teenage years in the mid 1960s when he was introduced to it by his father who was an occasional spectator and his brother-in-law who was a marshal.

John eventually became a marshal at events in Scotland, principally at Ingliston circuit but also at hillclimbs and rallies. When he moved to England he gave up on the marshalling but continued to be an avid follower of motor sport visiting many venues and then writing articles, particularly for Speedscene, the Hillclimb and Sprint Association’s periodical. After retiring from full time employment he started to commentate at hillclimbs and sprints.

John's introduction to hillclimbing came at the opening event at Doune in 1968 when he was just 14 and he still attends events there, but these days to commentate.

John has attended events at 20 circuits including  all the current motor racing circuits in Great Britain plus others that no longer operate, as well as a few abroad, and also at 15 British hillclimbs and 8 sprint venues.

In 2014 as a reward for retiring, John attended at least one race meeting at every racing circuit then operating and then in 2015 he attended every round of the British Hilllclimb Championship. On each occasion he wrote a blog after every meeting and these are still available at:

50 Years a Spectator

British Hillclimb tour 2015

It was John's annual summary in the latter of those that led to an invitation to be a commentator from the paddock at Gurston Down, assisting the main commentator, Jerry Sturman, by updating him with happenings in the paddock area and filling in gaps in the programme with interviews etc.. When Jerry retired at the end of 2024 he was asked to be the main commentator at Gurston.

John has also filled in for Jerry in years gone by at Curborough, Barbon Manor and Harewood as well as becoming the main commentator at Doune and have done a couple of events at Bo’Ness.

In 2026 John will be covering all events at Gurston Down and Doune and also the HSA final sprint weekend at Curborough (unconfirmed as yet).

He is also a keen collector of data and statistics about motor sport, hence his interest in hill records and also Championship results of all sorts.

Note that he has NEVER driven a competition car, either in anger or for fun!