A DULVERTON racer became a new South West motorsport champion at Wiscombe Park, a speed hillclimb venue near Honiton, last weekend.

Paul Reynolds clinched the Wiscombe Park Tillicoultry Quarries Championship.

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 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.  

Reynolds moved into top spot by setting a new classrecord – a time of 38.54s for the 1,000-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, Reynolds held on to that top spot to claim the championship honours.

And he did it in fine style, winning his class on both Saturday and Sunday. 

Reynolds 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, the Taunton MC member completed a full rebuild of the car and engine with the plan being that the 2023 season would be a “learning year”.  

Reynolds' 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 enduros - 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.