The top end of the British Hillclimb Championship is a fiercely competitive place. Although sporting rivalry and camaraderie exudes from the well-established big guns of the discipline, the jump to try to join them is still a daunting prospect. But that’s exactly what Matthew Ryder did in 2022 – and he did it in style.
At 26 years old, Ryder joined Will Hall and then Sean Gould in the state-of-the-art Gould GR59 for his debut season in the over-two-litre single-seater class. The four-litre Judd-engined device is a purpose-built hillclimb car with well over 600bhp on tap and a weight of only around 420kg. With launch control and traction control optimised, it’s a rocketship.
Although he’d enjoyed success in smaller-engined cars, it was still a huge step forward for Ryder. But his progress and pace exceeded even his own
