THE highlight of the south west hill climb season is undoubtedly the visit of the country’s premier series, the Avon Tyres/TTC Group British Hill Climb Championship, to Wiscombe Park this weekend.

The main championship event will include two exciting run-offs for the 12 fastest championship competitors on Sunday, while the previous day sees a separate event for local drivers plus the practice runs for those contesting the national series.

A new driver to the premier class of large capacity racing cars leads the way in the Gould GR61X, which has won the series in recent years in the hands of five-time champion Scott Moran.

That driver is Alex Summers who has forged his way to a series lead he is extending as Moran will not be contesting all of the qualifying rounds.

Two drivers who will be keen to take the initiative on the demanding East Devon course will be previous champion Trevor Willis and Will Hall.

The duo currently share the Wiscombe Park hill record having set identical times during the national championship event 12 months ago.

Equipped with OMS and Force chassis respectively, these two will be out to halt Summers’ charge and if conditions are suitable improve on their 33.79 second benchmark.

The national series only visits the south west once during the season so this weekend will be the only opportunity to view the fastest driver/car combinations.

Although the focus of attention is on these ultimate machines, there will be a huge supporting cast of saloon and sports cars, in addition to the vintage Austin Sevens, Porsches and Minis.

More local drivers will battle for glory in the Woolbridge Motor Club invitation classes for modified and road-going cars on Sunday.

Weymouth’s Geoff and Graham Blake are among that number but will be taking a keen interest during Saturday as Geoff’s sister Debbie makes her speed event debut at the wheel of a Peugeot 106 Rallye.

The Road-going Specialist Production class sees Frampton’s Stewart Green at the wheel of his Sylva Riot joining the Westfield SEi of Lyme Regis driver John Sullivan and son Paul.

Having taken overall victories earlier in the season, Rod Thorne from Charminster is seeking to compare his performances against the best in the country, but his first objective will be to take the honours in the Sports Libre category.

The garage proprietor shares the driving duties in his Rover V8 Pilbeam MP43 with Andrew Forsyth, who has taken a number of wins this season in his Westfield Megabusa.

Forsyth has driven the five-litre machine before so should get up to speed quite rapidly as the duo deal with the challenge of Doug Bennett’s fleet Sylva Striker and Scotsman Allan McDonald’s four-wheel drive Mitsubishi Evo-powered Mini.

Gates open at 10am on both Saturday and Sunday and further information is available at wiscombepark.co.uk