DEFENDING British champion Martin Groves set the fastest time of the day at Saturday's Barbon Manor Hillclimb with a time of 20.71 seconds - just 0.2 outside the hill record.
After damp practice runs in the morning, conditions improved for the afternoon timed runs at the Westmorland Motor Club event, featuring rounds five and six of the Nicholson McLaren Aviation British Hillclimb Champion-ship.
Groves, who drives a 650bhp Gould GR55B, won round five easily, but not far behind was Scott Moran of Ludlow in a similar Gould GR61X. Third place went to Paul Ranson, who co-drives the GR55B with Groves, as the first six were covered by less than a second.
Worthy of note was Hamish Lindsay's effort in the tiny one-litre Jedi, which outgunned 16 competitors with more powerful cars.
Round six saw the top two places reversed, with Moran winning from Groves, who made a slight error at the first corner.
Chris Merrick, a retired policeman from Stroud, came third in his Judd-powered Gould in an even more competitive round, with the first eight covered by less than a second.
Class 5 entrant Geoff Twemlow, who competes in a road-legal Subaru Impreza, drove it all the way from Cornwall. He was just beaten into second by Hagley and District Light Car Club member Graham Loakes in a similar car.
Ulverston resident Keith Edwards won Class 6 in his 'fire-breathing' turbo-charged Audi Quattro. This vehicle, constructed by Dialynx, is a replica of the Group B short wheel base rally cars.
The Broughton-in-Furness resident Peter Speakman finished a respectable eighth after an oil leak in practice with his 1300cc Force-Suzuki.
This is Peter's first full season with the car and sees him return to single-seaters after many years pedalling the historic Chapman Mercury Special.
Organisers Westmorland Motor Club were disappointed when the long-term sponsor of the event pulled out earlier this year and are looking for a new backer for the 2008 event. The club's next event at Barbon is on Saturday, June 16 and Any motorsport enthusiasts interested in marshalling at future events should e-mail: marshals@westmorlandmotorclub.co.uk
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