Dickson races to clinch hillclimb crown
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Garry Dickson clinched the Scottish Hillclimb Championship after contesting rounds 10 and 11 held at Forrestburn near Glasgow.
Fifty-four-year-old Dickson, who is from Lyth but now resides in Bower, was racing in his 37th year as a competitor.
He has competed in a mixture of motorsports over the years, from rallies to sprints to hillclimbs and motocross, mostly in Scotland but also with success throughout the UK and Ireland.
Dickson had previously won the championship in 2011 with a smaller 1000cc car in which he competed through to last year. He had since changed it to a more powerful turbocharged 2008 GRC Force, producing around 450bhp and weighing in at only 350 kilos.
The season has not been without its headaches, such as having clutch failure two weeks before the season start while testing at Golspie. It was fixed – but, trying it out on one of the few private tarmac roads in Caithness the night before heading off for the first round at Doune, Dickson broke a drive shaft. Luckily he had a spare.
His quest for glory started to go well afterwards with four wins at Fintray near Aberdeen and Forrestburn near Glasgow but unfortunately the engine on second practice at Fintray in June let go and the weekend was over.
However, all was fixed up prior to him heading to Forrestburn recently. After some teething trouble on the Saturday still managed to be the fastest driver on the day with a 43-second run confirming Dickson as the 2019 Scottish hillclimb champion with two rounds to spare.
