2010 saw one of the most competitive years to date in the National Hillclimb championship, the Top 5 riders all within a few points of one another throughout the year. Each round brought about a different winner making it a very interesting championship!
All the way from round one to the final round there was not one definite stand out rider,each individual rider winning there prospective round by a few tenths of a sec. Excluding the few rounds where one rider dominated by a country mile but that wouldn't last long as the following round they'd be back down the field making way for someone different to win!
It wasn't until the final few rounds that it bacame clear of who the 3 top runners were. Martin Robbins, Paul Jarrett and Jimmy Hodges.
Martin Robbins and Jimmy Hodges seemed to start the year off with a running start,both swapping the lead in the championship several times, it was only until mid way through the session that Paul looked as if he was going to snatch the lead and run away with it. Taking the overall at several tracks and grabbing the championship points lead until the last final few rounds.
He really was on form,winning at rounds 6,8,9 and 11 and coming runner up at 80% of the rest of rounds consistancy was gonna be the key to the championship decider!
If he wasn't 1st or 2nd he was pretty close! The best of 10 rounds counted out of a possible 18 so he could afford to drop a few.
Martin was also on form throughout the season snatching wins from under the noses of Jimmy and Paul at several rounds,looking to upset either one of them at any minute! He was defintly not one rider to bet against when it came to the cahmpionship!
Jimmy started off consistantly coming 2nd at the 1st round and following it up with a few wins throughout the session. Consistancy was his key as the Team GV Honda 450 just didn't have the legs at the faster tracks due to the smaller capacity,but stick it on a twisty stop start track and it suited it down to the ground!
Suiting Jimmy's style and gifting him with wins at all the more suited twisty tracks.
It all went down to the last few rounds to decide who would win the overall! Wiscombe park down near Honiton could have decided the champion but it took a turn when Jimmy crashed prior to his championship running knocking his confidense and gifting Martin the win with Paul 2nd. Jimmy was back in 4th with no points!
It just showed how much these riders were on the limit,Paul and Jimmy weren't just contesting for the overall championship but it seemed they were fighting it out for the most crashes throughout the session! Both had crashed numerous times throughout the year showing just how hard they were pushing for the win!
Jimmy gave Shelsley a miss due to knowing his bike just wasn't suited to the track having left it all to do in the final round of the session at Hartland Quey.
Going to Hartland it could go either way,Paul had the points lead on wins even though both himself and Jimmy had the same ammount of points.
A win for Jimmy was all that was needed to lift the crown and to become the National Champion and it was the same for Paul! But once again you couldn't write off Martin as he couldn't win the championship but if he grabbed a win it would upset the standings conciderably!
The day was a brillaint demonstation of riding,Paul Qualifying 1st for the top 10 run off,Jimmy a close 2nd and Martin 3rd.
Lining up for the championship run off to decide the final standings it took another turn,unfortunatly another top 10 runner Jamie Mitchell crashed badly breaking his color bone holding up the meeting and putting the remaining riders on edge. Martin went up the hill 1st posting a time of 23.03 faster than he'd gone all day but was it enough...
Up stepped Jimmy for his run posting a time of 22.61 quicker than he'd gone all day and within sight of his track record. Paul was last to take to the track as he'd qualified fastest,he looked as if he had it in the bag,entering each corner completly on the limit pushing the tyres for all they had. Posting a time of 22.85 also quicker than he'd gone all day but just not enough to get the overall.
Gifting Jimmy Hodges the National Hillclimb championship by 1 point! Paul Jarrett 2nd and Martin Robbins 3rd.
1st Jimmy hodges with 95pts onboard the Team 2nd Paul Jarrett with 94pts 3rd Martin Robbins 90pts
Honda CRF450
Each rider deserves a huge congratulations for pushing the limit all year round making it one of the closest fought out championships for a number of years,who knows what 2011 will bring...
The Bike and what GVBIKES can offer you
Having raced ourselfs or competing in various forms of sport ranging from speed hillclimbs to enduro's to road racing,we can supply performance parts to help you to success
in whatever sport you compete in, just call us on 01823 276012 or email us at geoff717@hotmail.co.uk for more imformation.
Our bikes are fitted with parts we can supply over the counter,the bike pictured above is the CRF490 we built riden by Tommy Hodges.
For any parts you req give us a call and you never know we may be able to sort you out. Discount to NHCA registered riders.