The MSA has issued an event organising permit for the first closed-road hillclimb at Watergate Bay in Cornwall, due to run on 15/16 September!
The passing of a new law has made the event possible. This allows local motor clubs to apply for permission to temporarily close public roads and suspend the Road Traffic Act in order to host motorsport events. Truro and District Motor Club, Newquay Auto Club and Plymouth Motor Club will be joint organisers of the event.
Competitors will tackle a section of the B3276, the picturesque coast road linking Padstow and Newquay. The start of the course will be on the road at Watergate Bay, one of Cornwall’s most popular tourist destinations. Competitors will race towards Newquay, with the breathtakingly beautiful North Cornwall coastline to their right. The finish line will be 720 metres further up the hill. A maximum of 90 cars will compete on each day.
Dave Brenton, Competition Secretary at Truro DMC and Deputy Event Director of the Watergate Bay Speed HillClimb, said “We’ve had great help over the past five years from Ian Davis, the MSA’s Regional, Rallies and Cross Country Executive, and excellent support for the event from local businesses and landowners. We hope the event will provide a real end-of-tourist-season boost to the local economy.”
The Watergate Bay Speed HillClimb is the third closed-road motorsport to be organised in England under the new Law; the Corbeau Seats Rally Tendring & Clacton is scheduled for 22 April, while the MotoFest Coventry sprint takes place on 2-3 June.
Simon Blunt, MSA General Secretary, said “Within a year of announcing the success of our campaign for closed roads, we’ve been able to issue a permit for the third event, the Watergate Bay Speed HillClimb, which shows a really encouraging early uptake from our event organising clubs. What’s particularly exciting is that the three events represent different types of motor sport in various parts of the country. We look forward to being part of each one, and to receiving even more applications for new events in other areas of England and also in Wales.”
All profits from the inaugural running of the event will be donated to the Cornwall Air Ambulance and the Cornwall Food Foundation. The latter includes Jamie Oliver’s apprentice training scheme at Watergate Bay’s Fifteen restaurant.