THE trials season in Dorset continued with a return to field-based events following the recent Hardy Classic trial with 25 drivers contesting the Autotechnics Trophy trial at Hogcliff Farm between Dorchester and Yeovil.

Four rounds of six tests provided the challenge although the dry ground conditions were destined to provide close competition across the two major classes.

Battle was joined at an early stage in the Class 1, which catered for both front and rear-wheel-drive cars, which were not carrying ballast, with Peugeot 106 pilot Jez Searle shaping-up against Dave Atkins at the wheel of his 1587cc Citroen Saxo.

The fourth section provided the first defining test with Atkins gaining four penalty points against the single penalty of Searle who took the lead but a dropped score of three during the second round of sections saw the two level at the lunch-break.

The battle between the French machines continued with the Peugeot man completing the third run having only added a single point to his penalty cache whilst the Saxo driver added two to his tally.

During the final sextuplet of sections Searle advanced without further loss whilst Atkins dropped a further single point to finish two marks in arrears of the class winner.

The rear-wheel-drive category win went to Weymouth driver Alastair Stevenson in his MG TF while Maiden Newton’s Sarah Kirby, sharing the driving duties in her father’s Citroen Saxo won the award for the best performance by a lady driver.

The front-wheel-drive division (with ballast) provided a six-way battle which determined the winner of the event outright as well as the podium finishers in the class.

Pre-event favourite, Sherborne’s Mark Hoppe, lost ground to his adversaries on the critical fourth test with four penalties whilst his challengers lost a single mark.

At the end of the first round, John Kirby, from Maiden Newton, had progressed without further loss to gain a one-point advantage over fellow Citroen Saxo driver Shawn Franklin and Ford Fiesta mounted Dominic Bishop.

The second round of tests saw Bishop, from Bere Regis, take two single penalties to go into lunch level with Hoppe and now two points down of Kirby.

The third round saw the leading protagonists go clear but four penalties for Franklin, just three sections from the finish, dropped him to third in class in the final results, two points down on Bishop and Hoppe with the latter gaining the verdict by virtue of amassing 23 cleaned sections to Bishop’s 20.

A well-judged and penalty-free drive through the afternoon tests saw John Kirby finish on just two penalty points a performance which netted him the trophy for first overall.

While the battle for overall honours was hard fought, elsewhere in the entry list were two 18-year-old drivers making their trials debut as part of a new initiative from Woolbridge Motor Club.

Josh Lightfoot and Jonah Alexander were at the wheel of a Vauxhall Corsa provided by Autotechnics of Weymouth to enable young drivers from as young as 14 years (with a full driving licence holder of over 18 years of age in the front passenger seat) to try their hand at the sport.