16 September 2012

The Merlot goes hill climbing !

In a first for Project Merlot on Sunday 16 September the team were to be found taking on the Prescott Speed Hill Climb near Cheltenham. And I can report, that despite my initial reservations about what was not much more than a few seconds drive up a hill, it was great fun. This was supposed to be a fun run only, non-competitive, no helmets, no timing.  And indeed all those applied but sit me in the Merlot, strap me in with the harnesses and there is only really one way to drive, and that’s flat out.!  So there I was on my first run up the hill, wheels locked, in a cloud of tyre smoke, heading straight for the barriers on the surprising steep and tight Pardon hairpin turn.

 But I need not have worried, the Merlot has never let me down yet, and with inches to spare, full grip was returned and the turn was made, but it did quicken the pulse a bit.!  By the time of my third and last run things were going a lot smoother and I think I even managed to take the correct line around a couple of the corners!  So, Prescott maybe the home of the Bugatti Owners Club, it may have seen far grander cars race up the hill but it can now also boast to having been conquered by the one and the only Project Merlot.