1968 Enniskerry Hillclimb

Posted in 1968, Archives by October 3rd, 2021
Photo: Brian Foley
Stee Grififin in the 1.3 Smarties Mini-Cooper S sweeps around Enniskerry’s first left hander on his way to BTD and a new outright and saloon record — a great performance.

IRISH MRC ENNISKERRY HILLCLIMB

This report by Brian Foley appeared in Autosport May 3, 1968.

The Eire speed season opened with the Enniskerry hillclimb on April 20, with new classes introduced in the annual Sexton Trophy competition.

In the up to 900cc saloon class, Alan Moore three-wheeled his very quick Imp to a new class record of 44.16s. Also under the old record, but 1.72secs slower than Moore, was Imp-mounted Jimmy Fitzsimons; third was Des Cullen (Stiletto) (49.11s).

Rob Pollock (1.0 Mini-Cooper S) headed the 901 to 1250cc saloon class with a time of 43.09 s to beat the NSU TT’s of Nobby Reilly and Cecil Vard (46.76s and 47.22s respectively). A battle royal developed in the over 1250cc saloon class for BTD between Stee Griffin and Freddie Heaney, both in 1.3 Mini-Cooper Ss. Griffin came out on top with a time of 40.41s in the gaily turned out Rowntree‘s Smarties car, with Heaney only fractionally slower at 40.43s.

Omagh’s Rob Pollock (seen here at Syonfin) ran out winner of the 901-1250 Class and was joint third place in the handicap. Photo Derek Smyth.

The sports-specials up to 1275 cc class had only one runner, but the larger class was very hotly contested by Richie Conroy and Dave Furlong; Conroy not only won but also set third BTD at 41.74s in his Buckler. Furlong in his 1.5 Lotus 7 had no answer, but at 41.87 s he beat Eddie Regan’s special-bodied Elan by 0.91sec.

The racing car classes were poorly supported, with several non-starters, including current Sexton champion Richie Heeley. The up to 1100 class went to Bobby Newell, who bravely climbed in 46.19s in the immaculately prepared Leprechaun. The bigger class was won by Kevin Murphy (Brabham BT18) from Brian Cullen’s new F2 Lola T60, which was still unsorted; however, he managed a run in 50.25s.

With just 10 mins left before road opening time at 6 pm, the four fastest men were let loose on the 1230 yds hill for a special record attempt. Griffin really wound up the Smarties Mini to return a fantastic 38.96s, easily a new saloon and outright record, and Heaney got down to 40.26s.

RESULTS

BTD: S. T. Griflin (1.3 Mini-Cooper S), 40.41 s.

Class winners:

A.Moore (890 Hillman Imp) 44.16s;
R.Pollock (1.0 Mini-Cooper S) 43.09s;
S.T.Griffin (1.3 Mini-Cooper S) 40.41s;
S.Cosgrave (1.3 Austin-Healey Sprite GT) 51.56s;
R.Conroy (1.5 Buckler-Ford) 41.74s;
R.E.Newell (650 Leprechaun-BSA) 46.19s;
K.Murphy (1.6 Brabham-Ford BT18), 42.72s.

Overall Handicap:

L.Mooney (1.7 Audi), 35.11s (handicap 11s);
R.E.Newell, 36.19s (h/c 10s);
S.Mackenzie (2.0 Triumph) and R.Pollock, 36.59 (h/c 10.5s and 6.5s).