Page 103 - Adrenaline DEC

THE HILLS ARE ALIVE (WITH THE SOUND OF ENGINES...)
The first weekend of July saw the third Chateau Impney Hill Climb take place, an event revived by the new owners that reflects the venue’s motorsport history dating back some 70 years, but you can read about that in the last issue of Paddock Life.
I dropped in at the Chateau on the Friday afternoon to deliver copies of Paddock Life for the Footman James Drivers Club and the VIP terrace, the paddock was already taking shape. The large parking area in front of the hotel reception forms the main paddock area, the overspill car park outside the conference centre was used for the Land Rover Experience display, the Footman James Concourse d’elegance and the display cars that would be taking to the hill for procession runs between races. The lawns dropping down to the left of the hotel were food and drink areas with some hospitality marquees bordering the straight up to the sharp left across the hotel terrace. So there’s a pretty good view of the action from most locations.
As the competitors cars were rolled off their trailers it was chance to see what’s here and chat to some of the owners and drivers. Watching the event come together and seeing the regular hotel staff switch rolls to help run a slick motorsport event was quite interesting.
Saturday morning and the sun was blazing down on the Worcestershire Estate as a very well directed flow of cars made their way to the huge parking fields at the top of the estate. I was in early to collect my passes and watch the event come to life. I love a good hill climb, it’s such a great way to get into motorsport, I was a regular competitor as an 18 year old, but I’ve not managed to get to many events lately as our weekends are spread across the globe with our GT, Classic and F1 race commitments. I suppose the Goodwood Festival of Speed is the only regular hill climb we get to, but you could almost forget there’s actually a competition running as that event has become so big. So I was keen to see how this “local” hill climb in a country estate hotel would turn out.
WORDS CRAIG BLAKE-JONES IMAGES HARVEY BLAKE-JONES
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