Vintage cars flying round the Wiscombe track

Wiscombe Park, the speed hillclimb venue near Honiton, turned the clock back to the earliest days of motorsport recently when it hosted the 500 Owners Association and Vintage Sports-Car Club events.

The members of the 500 OA race cars that were the starting point for aspiring racing drivers in the 1950s and 60s.

The likes of Stirling Moss and Graham Hill would have raced these diminutive single-seater racing cars powered by 500cc motor bike engines. The cars are lightweight, fast and nimble – the perfect combination for a successful hillclimb car.

These cars won the British Hillclimb Championship for 12 consecutive years until drivers began to favour larger engined cars in the early 60s.

For 500OA members, the quickest of 30 drivers were Finlay Mackintosh – 48.39s - and Charles Reynolds – 47.51s.

The meeting also included more contemporary race cars, motorbikes, sidecars and trikes. There is a class for almost anything with an engine! In the modern car classes, there were wins for Gary Dawkins (Lotus Exige), Trevor Parsons (Lotus 7), and Tim Pitfield (DJ Firecat). Fastest Time of the Day – 42.86s – was secured by Neil Gould (OMS PR) - the first of his long racing career.

On two wheels, current NHCA Champion, Tom Short, showed that he will be difficult to beat this season by posting the Fastest Time of the Day – 41.46s - on his KTM SMR.

For the Vintage Sports-Car Club event, the Wiscombe time machine travelled even further back in automotive history with cars from the 1920s and 1930s. Famous marques like Bugatti, Riley, Austin and Frazer Nash were driven in a very spirited manner as the drivers negotiated the challenging 1000-yard course.

The VSCC was formed in 1934 and is one of the largest and most respected car clubs in the world. Their visit to Wiscombe Park has featured in the calendar since 1983.

The honour of setting the Fastest Time of the Day went to Theodore Hunt driving a Frazer Nash TT Replica with a time of 48.69s.