Team GB victorious at the 2021 FIA Hillclimb Masters
The battle for Category and Group raged up and down the field in Braga, Portugal, for the 2021 FIA Hillclimb Masters, with Team GB putting on a stellar performance.
Briton Olivia Cooper has crowned the Masters fastest female in the #56 Force TA Suzuki, finishing ahead of Italy’s Martina Raiti and Sarah Bernhard of France.
Damien Bradley (category 3) knocked a massive 2.5 seconds off on his third run behind the #142 Subaru Legacy wheel to add to Team GB’s silver medal tally. And in Category 4, Alex Summers improved his previous best time by 0.5 seconds in the #42 DJ Firestorm Cosworth to claim the silver medal, with fellow Team GB competitor Wallace Menzies picking up bronze in the #41 Gould GR59 M Cosworth. It was also a clean podium sweep in the single-seater class with Alex, Wallace and Trevor Willis.
Reflecting on Saturday’s performance, Damien said: “It’s been good today, it’s exciting, the gear changes need a lot to be desired, but we’ll get there. It’s so different from what we are used to in the UK. I’ve been driving it like a UK hill, and I need to go up a gear and smooth things out a little bit. The tyres are moving around a bit, and we’re using a different compound Avon that I’ve run before, so we’ll see what kind of grip we can get. The trip down to the start was insane, and the spectators were lining up, cheering and waving flags – it’s great.”
Team GB’s Tom Weaver said: “It’s very different from the UK, it’s much quicker, and the road surface is a bit bumpier than we are used to, but I absolutely love it; it’s brilliant. The fans here are mental, they love the event, and we are loving it. We are just going to see if we can improve today and prepare for tomorrow.”
In the Under 25 category, Team Ireland’s Robert Dwane finished second, but unfortunately, he couldn’t take his third run, having melted two pistons in his turbo-powered #53 OMS 25 Suzuki.
For the complete classifications from the weekend, head to the FIA Hillclimb Masters website. If you missed the live stream from the FIA Hill Climb Masters, you can see it again in full on the FIA YouTube Channel.