Joy Batchelor
MY MOTORSPORT MOMENT
The Ryder family enjoying their hill climbing
Harewood is the longest hill we go to in the British Hill Climb Championship, and it has a lot of corners you need to attack, which suits my driving style. Although it is still only 40-something seconds, pulling the whole run together is quite tricky – you only need to make one mistake on one corner – and you have thrown it away. If you get it right, you can really get into it, build a bit of a rhythm and feel the car underneath you a bit more, so you can push it and get more response out of it. As I drove up the run, I had a real confidence in the whole package – the car, the tyres and everything together – and when I saw the time at the top, it was a really special moment.
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When I finished the run, I arrived back in the paddock at the top of the hill and I was right there with a big group of people who had also only just seen my time. So, there was this really special moment when everybody understood what had just happened! I have it on the on onboard video, because the camera was still recording! You can see pretty much everyone in the paddock come swarming around the car, clapping; my mum and dad are both there, who helped massively with my motorsport – my dad runs the car and my mum also competes; my partner from the time, who’ s now my wife, was also there, which was special; and then there was lots of wider family who compete in hill climbing and I have grown up around ever since I was young. So, it really was a big celebration.
Revolution- December 2025