Offering an enthralling three days of close action motorsport, the annual Manx Classic hill climb took place at the Sloc, Glen Helen (Creg Willey) and Lhergy Frissel recently.

Located in the south, the Sloc course is a real challenge for competitors and also provides the added bonus of providing spectators with safe viewing for the full length of the track.

Creg Willey's runs through Glen Helen north of Ballig Bridge on the TT course, before negotiating Creg Willey's hill, past Sarah's Cottage and on to Lambfell, finishing on the Cronk-y-Voddy straight.

Lhergy Frissel follows the Mountain Course out of Ramsey and goes through the famous Ramsey Hairpin, Waterworks and Gooseneck corners.

The longest hill climb in Great Britain, it incorporates part of the original Gordon Bennett Eliminating Trails course of 1904 and the original (car) TT course from 1905 onwards.

Established in the early 60s, the 2025 edition of the event attracted more than 75 entries from pre-60s classics to single-seater race cars, plus 10 Ferraris from the Ferrari Owners Club Hill Climb Championship series.

Two thirds of the entry came from off-island and from as far away as Nigeria.

Poor weather aside, drivers and spectators alike were treated to a full-on three days of spills and thrills as well as exciting motorsport action, while witnessing several triumphs over adversity.

After struggling to even get his car running in time for the event, day one saw islander Sam Beevers – in his Mitsubishi Evo 6 RS - break his own and previous overall Sloc hill record despite being down on power.

This enabled him to take a 1.22 second lead into day two ahead of Rob Samuels who was driving a Ferrari 458 Speciale.

A wet day two at Glen Helen, saw many suffer spills accompanying the thrills but Sam prevailed eking out a further 1.95s advantage and crossing the finish line at close to 160 mph.

The bad weather at Ramsey’s Lhergy Frissel on day three led to slippery conditions and a brush with the hedges on his first timed run into the Gooseneck for Beevers.

Despite this, he was able to continue and saw off the challenge from the Ferraris and others to post a three-day aggregate time of 177.6 seconds and take the overall win - an amazing third time achievement for Beevers and a real triumph over adversity.

This was despite several issues and setbacks, including fuel pump failure, a crash, misfires and the aforementioned bad weather.

He first entered the event in 2011 and now has now fewer than 25 trophies and class wins to his name with the Evo and other vehicles attained in Isle of Man hill climb events.

The prizegiving ceremony was presided over by His Excellency the Lieutenant Governor Sir John Lorimer.

Receiving the top award of the Peter Bolton Trophy from Neil Crookall, chair of Ramsey Crookall and sponsor of the event, Beevers commented: ‘With thanks to all involved, it was a brilliantly organised event with many visitors and supporters enjoying the close racing action.

‘I hope to see everyone encouraging more entries and visitors next year as the event is surely deserving of further elevation as an important Isle of Man motorsport attraction.’

For more information about the event, visit organiser Manx Classic Hill Climbs’ website which can be found at https://www.manxclassic.im