SUNSHINE and rain not only describes the prevalent weather conditions during the 500 Owners’ Association Wiscombe Park meeting but also the fortunes of Rod and Hayley Thorne.

The Charminster duo experienced the highs and lows of competitive motor sport.

A water pump failure on the Rover V8 engine which powers the couple’s Pil-beam MP43 sports racer sidelined Rod during his first competitive climb.

Fortunately, Hayley had already taken her first timed run on a track surface which would not be as quick as the day progressed.

Hayley ran second in class for most of the day with a climb of 58.88 seconds but eventually took the Racing Car win when leader John Hewett claimed the overall win in his single-seater GRD Formula Three circuit racer.

In the motor cycle classes, a podium position was claimed by Weymouth’s Keith Haines when he took his Aprilia SVX to the top of the testing 900m course in 50.13 seconds in the 501cc to 750cc class on a day when the motorcycles were able to out-perform their four-wheel counterparts.

Portland husband and wife team Kevin and Sara Dewell took fourth place in the sidecar category with their new SKR Honda combination and look forward to a drier Wiscombe Park this weekend to continue the familiarisation of their new mount.

This weekend will see a full programme spread across the two days with regional championship events providing a variety of machinery in action, from road-going saloons and sports cars through the modified categories, including BMWs, Subaru Imprezas and Mitsubishi Evos to the racing car divisions.

There will also be one make categories for MG today as well as TVR, on both days.

These two events see Weymouth’s Geoff Blake contesting the Modified Specialist Prouction Car class with the two-litre Westfield SEiW and the Thornes targeting a successful weekend with a fully operating Rover V8.

Gates open for the practice runs at 10am each day with the event starting after a break for lunch.