It’s a busy weekend for all at Wiscombe Park this weekend (September 14 and 15), writes Geoffrey Pickett
The weekend sees the venue host season ending finale featuring the MG Car Club and the National Hill Climb Association.
The former event will include a variety of MGs with cars of historic merit such as Jack Ashley's 1929 M Type as well as the more contemporary MG ZR models and an array of marque sports cars plus the saloons, sports and single seaters contesting the Wiscombe Park Championship.
On the Sunday the NHCA will celebrate 50 years of hill climbing at Wiscombe Park with a national championship event which will see the ten fastest competitors (solos and sidecars) contesting a Top Ten Run-Off to gain championship points.
Entry is £10 on the gate on each day (Saturday and Sunday) with accompanied children under the age of 14 admitted free. Car parking and entry to the paddock area is also free.
Find out more about all things Wiscombe Park at www.wiscombepark.co.uk
The start of this season (2019) saw Cullompton's Ed Hollier leave the national hill climb scene and return to his roots in the south-west and simultaneously return to his winning ways at Wiscombe Park.
The vehicle technician proved his speed and dexterity at the wheel of his 1.6 litre Suzuki powered Pilbeam MP62 with a brace of overall wins during the weekend both of which were taken ahead of Andrew Forsyth who battled to stay on terms with his friend and on-track adversary in his OMS CF04 which, like the chassis of the overall victor was powered by Suzuki, but by a unit which has a displacement 185 cc less than the winning car.
Hollier took the win in the Saturday meeting with a climb of 37.36 seconds having distanced Forsyth by 0.59 seconds whilst the following day his pace quickened with a 36.46 second ascent of the testing 915 metre course and the margin expanded by a further five hundredths of a second. With the elevation of Hollier to the overall win Forsyth claimed the victories in the 1100 cc to 1600 cc racing car class.
Whilst Hollier was the pacemaker overall Exeter DJ and chef, Ben Adams, was making the 1800 cc to 2600 cc division of the Roadgoing Series Production category his own with a brace of wins in his rapid 1.8 litre Audi A3 Quattro against twenty-two other drivers. On both days of the meeting Rod Eyles from Tiverton provided the competition at the wheel of his striking Alfa Romeo 4C sports car. The retired motorhome dealer who has on three occasions been crowned British Sprint Champion provided a determined performance to finish, in the Saturday meeting, a mere twelve hundredths of a second in arrears of the rapid Adams.
Another South Devon driver to achieve two triumphs across the weekend was Martyn Pike who took absolute command of the Modified Series Production Car class in his 1.7 litre BDA engined Ford Escort Mk1. The architectural technician from Feniton stayed focused and committed to one hundred per cent driving effort even though his pace meant he won by over seven second on one occasion despite the efforts of Honiton Ford Fiesta driver Duncan Beer who claimed second and third places in a far less powerful vehicle.
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