CHARMINSTER hillclimb ace Rod Thorne secured two victories over the Sylva Striker of Doug Bennett in the Five Clubs double meeting at Wiscombe Park.

Thorne, in his five-litre Rover V8-powered Pilbeam MP43, posted his best time of 38.27 seconds on his first official run to hold off Bennett, who finished 0.96secs in arrears.

It was a similar result the next day but on this occasion Thorne left the best to last with a scintillating 37.80secs to clinch a comfortable victory.

Double wins were also claimed by Weymouth’s Geoff Blake in the over 1800cc division of the Modified Specialist Production Car category in the Vauxhall-powered Westfield SEi he shares with his father Graham.

Blake Jnr was invincible throughout, taking two wins with a best time of 40.12secs.

Lyme Regis driver Craig Moore, a two-time Wiscombe champion, trailed Mark Shillaber by five points in the over 1600cc Rally Car class going into the meeting.

Moore was obliged to settle for the runner-up slot with a fastest climb of 43.28secs.

This weekend sees the final events of the season at Wiscombe Park with the MG Car Club taking the stage today.

Dorchester driver Mervyn Brake takes his Mazda MX5 on to the hills, Frampton’s Stewart Green campaigns in his Sylva Riot and Weymouth driver Rory Weaver shares the driving duties in his Riley 1.5 with son James.

In the Classic Marques Speed Championship, Lawrence Alex-ander from Bridport competes with his Alfa Romeo Giulia Coupe and Thorne goes for class honours in the Sports Libre divis- ion.

The following day sees a meeting dedicated to motorcycles including solos, sidecars and combinations where riders will seeking to qualify for the Top Ten run-off at the conclusion of the meeting as part of the British Championship.

In the solo classes, Weymouth’s Keith Haines is in action in his Aprilia SXV550 while Portland’s Keven Dewell and Kirsty Glover ride KTM RFS and Yamaha SR respectively.

The combination/sidecar class has a very strong local contingent with Portland providing two mixed crews.

Nigel and Kirsty Glover crew their Yamaha 1000 and Kevin and Sara Dewell pair up on their SKR Honda.

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

Both meetings are scheduled to finish at 5.30pm.

Admission is £7 for adults and accompanied children under 14 go free.