Last weekend at Wiscombe Park, the speed hillclimb venue near Honiton, a new South West motorsport Champion was crowned. Dulverton resident, Paul Reynolds, clinched the Wiscombe Park Tillicoultry Quarries Championship, writes Nigel Cole. 

This year, 80 competitors in a wide range of cars have been battling to win the Championship comprised of 11 rounds. The leader for most of the season was Axminster garage owner Julian Rinaldi in his Ford Fiesta.  

However, at the MG Car Club event three weeks ago, Julian was deposed at the top by Paul Reynolds in his Caterham, with defending Champion, Ian Ingleheart, moving into second place. The top four drivers in the Championship all had the same number of points – 103 – going into the final two rounds.  

Paul moved into top spot by setting a new Class Record – a time of 38.54s for the 1000 yard ascent – taking nearly a second off the previous record that had stood since 2015. 

At the final meeting of the season, Wiscombe Manor Farm, Paul Reynolds held on to that top spot to claim the Championship honours. And he did it in fine style – he won his Class on both Saturday and Sunday. 

Paul is no stranger to winning titles. He was the 1991 ARMC Champion when he was based in Essex. A move to the SW followed and he added the ASWMC Championship to his motorsport CV in 2017 in his current car – a Caterham fitted with a 1585cc Suzuki Hayabusa engine. Last winter Taunton MC member, Paul, completed a full rebuild of the car and engine - the plan being, that the 2023 season would be a “learning year”.  

Paul’s motorsport journey started in 1988 competing in the Car & Car Conversions Championship. He has competed in various speed Championships – including the Midland and British Leaders – as well as various disciplines including autocross in a Mk2 Escort and a Toyota Corolla. He has also competed on two wheels in motor cross enduro’s - Paul is a motorsport “all rounder”! After a break, he has been competing regularly for the last 20 years, mostly in speed events - hillclimbs and sprints. 

 It has been another memorable year of speed hillclimbing at Wiscombe Park with many new records set.