Graeme Wight, Jr.

Who is Graeme Wight, Jr.?

Graeme Wight, Jr. is a Scottish racing driver, best known for his success in hillclimbing, where he has won two British championships.

Wight began competing in hillclimbs at an early age, but in September 1992, still only 21, he was badly injured in a road accident when the brakes failed on his Hillman Imp. It was feared that he might be paralysed, and he remained in hospital for more than two months, but by 1993 he was not only out of hospital, but competing in – and winning his class in – hillclimbs once again.

In 1995, Graeme married. Two years later, after a time in a Vision sports car, Wight won the Scottish Hillclimb Championship outright driving a Pilbeam. 1998 saw his first year of competition in the British Championship, at first in the two-litre class but then in the unlimited-capacity division. In 2000, now driving a Gould, he broke the hill record at Doune by 1.49 seconds, an astonishing margin in hillclimbing and indeed the biggest improvement in an outright record in BHCC history. After finishing fourth in the Championship that year, he finally reached the top in 2001 and 2002, winning the title in both years. Graeme became the first driver to complete the course at Shelsley Walsh in under 25 seconds when he recorded a time of 24.85 seconds on Sunday 2 June 2002, in the presence of Sir Stirling Moss. In that same year, he became the first reigning British Hill Climb Champion to be invited to drive at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.