PROUD to be one of Britain's oldest motoring institutions, the Westmorland Motor Club, organisers this weekend's Barbon Sprint Hill Climb for car on Saturday.

Founded in 1910, the WMC has a distinquished history of motor sport in the country, catering for two, three and four-wheeled competition and this event is the club's biggest meeting of the season.

Run on a private tarmac track - the driveway to Barbon Manor, near Kirkby Lonsdale - this speed event is part of the National HillClimb Champion-ships and attracts the country's top drivers.

Seventy-eight entries have been accepted and ranges from a locally-owned 1932 3.9 litre Chapman Mercury to the latest 2003 Gould single-seater racing car.

Quicker off the mark than a Forumla 1 Grand-Prix car, the modern hill -climb cars are designed for explosive acceleration and very responsive handling over a tight course with hair-pin bends and often bumpy surfaces.

Top speeds at Barbon are around 120mph which are measure by a speed-trap just 100 yards or so before the top hairpin bend and all this on a roadway that is between nine and 12 feet wide.

The competitors start from rest, one at a time, and start the clock by breaking a light-beam on the start-line and stop the clock once they cross the finish-line at the top of the hill.

The elapsed time is recorded to two decimal places (two-hundredths of a second) and the winner is the one recording the shortest time either overall or in his/her class.

And yes there are some lady drivers entered, something not unusual at all in hillclimbing.

There are 16 classes of vehicle, graded by engine size and body-type, and there is plenty of opportunity to get a close look at them in the paddock area and when not on the hill.

Each competitor completes two timed practice runs in the morning and then two timed competitive runs in the afternoon. In addition, the 12 fastest drivers have a further two runs to count towards the championships.

Further track repairs have been carried out by the club this year and, given suitably dry conditions, David Grace's three-year-old record of 20.86 seconds could well fall.

Colin Hilton, Chief Executive of the governing body of British Motorsport, the MSA, will present the awards.To get to barbon, take the A65 to Kirkby Lonsdale and turn left on the A683 at Devil's Bridge towards Sedbergh, following the blue signs into Barbon and for the spectator parking.

Entry cost £7 for adults with Under-15s free. Practice starts at 9.30am with the main event at 2pm. No dogs are admitted.

May 6, 2003 13:00