LOOKING AHEAD TO 2026
British Hill Climb Championship
Hill climbing is a discipline for all, with classes ranging from standard road cars right up to the super-fast single seaters that are the pinnacle of the championship.
What is it?
Drivers pilot powerful single-seater machines up narrowlaned courses that are short, technical and bordered by unforgiving grass banks. There are 26 individual‘ runoffs’ across the season that shape the title race, making consistency of performance a crucial factor.
Each hill presents its own character – some fast and flowing, others tight and relentlessly technical – and clocking the fastest time demands precise positioning to maintain momentum all the way up the course.
Ones to watch
Matthew Ryder returns as champion, sharing the Gould GR59 Judd with established winner Sean Gould. Four-time champion Wallace Menzies remains a constant challenger, while Will Hall and Alex Summers are two who could also take the title.
When and where is it happening?
The season will start and finish at the prestigious Prescott Hill Climb in the Cotswolds. Running from April through to September it visits a total of 10 different venues across England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands.
Get involved
Hill climbing is both spectacular and accessible, with events all around the country to attend. Those who want to get involved can either try out club-based competitions or join the national circuit in one of its many different classes.
The British GT Championship welcomes a collaboration of rookies this season when Historic Rally champion Ernie Graham and four-time British Touring Car champion Colin Turkington team up in GT4 as WSR FlexiFly, an offshoot of the BTCC superstar team WSR.
The British GT Championship is the leading national championship for GT3 and GT4 supercars with professional and amateur driver pairings taking part in races of 1-3 hours’ duration. Manufacturers represented include Aston Martin, BMW, Ferrari, Lamborghini, McLaren, Mercedes and Porsche.
Northern Ireland driver Turkington left the BTCC in 2025 and this is the realisation of his GT ambitions, switching halfhour sprints for one, two and three-hour mini-enduros. But for compatriot Graham it marks a significant progression following his debut circuit racing season in last year’ s BMW Car Club Racing Championship.
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The pair shared a BMW M3 E30 in Silverstone Festival’ s Historic Touring Car Challenge last year and Turkington said:“ While he’ s [ Graham ] relatively new to circuit racing, he has so much experience from the rally stages I’ m sure we have all the ingredients to perform well.”
Graham’ s 30-year rallying career included a handful of WRC appearances before a switch to Historic Rallying, where he has achieved three FIA European titles and a silver medal for Team UK at the FIA Motorsport Games in Valencia.
His move shows that for those who want to enjoy more motorsport, more often, switching codes is not as scary as it might appear. He explained:“ It might sound strange to leave a world I know, and have been successful in, to take a leap into the unknown, but I’ ve always loved new challenges, so I feel ready for it.”
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Photos: James Roberts