A winning alliance continues
The three-way partnership between the Midland Hillclimb Championship, BMTR and Hoosier tyres will step up another gear in 2026 to mark 15 years of the association.
Motorsport tyre supplier BMTR has been supporting hillclimbing for five decades and continues as the title sponsor of the incredibly popular Midland Hillclimb Championship, as well as the sponsor of the BHC Cup within the British Hillclimb Championship.
BMTR is the hillclimb, circuit and historic distributor for Hoosier tyres in the UK and is able to supply tyres for much of the hillclimb paddock. This is primarily through the Hoosier brand, but BMTR can also supply tyres from other manufacturers to suit a very wide range of competition car. BMTR supplies both bias ply and radial hillclimb ultra soft tyres, as well as circuit orientated compounds and a number of FIA Appendix K historic tyres.
Hoosier, which is a part of the Continental organisation in Germany, currently manufactures 1.2 million competition tyres every year at its US factory in Plymouth, Indiana. Hoosier is the largest competition tyre manufacturer on a global basis. The company is firmly committed to motorsport, including hillclimbing in the UK, and is in motorsport for the long term.
In terms of the top class of British hillclimbing, Hoosier offered up its first iteration of tyres at the start of the 2025 season and is now in a development phase to bring even better tyres to the class towards the end of the 2026 season and into 2027. The 2026 season will be a test and development year for Hoosier, as much of the real development happens at competitive hillclimb events and therefore takes time.
However, BMTR and Hoosier are supplying far more than just the top level of the sport and aim to have a competitive tyre at a competitive price for as many hillclimb competitors as possible.
The Midland Hillclimb Championship was formed in 1980 under a three-way partnership between the three major midland venues with the Bugatti Owners Club at Prescott, the Midland Automobile Club at Shelsley Walsh and the Hagley and District Light Car Club at Loton Park. Each of the three venues hosts three rounds of the championship each season to form a nine-round championship.
The MHC is hugely popular and drew 164 registered contenders for the 2025 season. Of those, more than 120 scored points across all the classes, and interest is already running high for 2026 ahead of the start of the season Loton Park in April.
The Midland Hillclimb championship has run every year since 1980 with the exception of the covid year of 2020 and will soon be preparing for its 50th anniversary season. BMTR has supported the championship since the very early days.
BMTR, which dates back to 1919 as the Birmingham Motor Tyre Repository, was formed by JJ Smith senior. He was succeeded by his son Jack, who raced Jaguars in the 1950s and 1960s. The company then passed into the hands of the founder’s grandsons Peter and Paul Smith. As well as successfully guiding the business forward, Paul was also an accomplished racer as he progressed through the single seater ranks all the way to the European Formula 2 Championship. He then competed at Le Mans and raced an Ensign in Historic Formula 1 races.
The business remains family owned and run. Motorsport is, of course, a major part of the BMTR’s business activity, but it is very busy in car and motorcycle wholesale tyres and currently employs 110 people. BMTR has been active in motorsport since the late 1950s and brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to its motorsport activities.
For more information, please get in touch with our team:
Tel: 0121 331 1122
E-mail: racedivision@bmtr.co.uk
Web: www.bmtr.co.uk/motorsport/
Address: 103-115 Walsall Road, Birmingham, B42 1TU
Article by Paul Lawrence