MCL Motorhomes British Hillclimb Championship - Rounds 1 & 2 - Loton Park, 13th April

The 2009 MCL Motorhomes MSA British Hillclimb championship season started with a one-two reversal for reigning champion Scott Moran and three times Champion Martin Groves.

Groves, who finished second in last year's title chase after three years at the top, took victory in round 1 with a new hill record that looked to be well-nigh unbeatable. Moran finished behind in second. But the reigning champion was not to be subdued and in round two he finished victorious with a stunning run that lowered Groves' fresh record even further.

This means that the pair are all square with 20 points each after the first event of 2009. Groves's performance may have been affected by the loss of a substantial piece of rear splitter that came off when his co-driver Paul Ranson spun out in round two qualifying after an encouraging fifth place in round one.

A similar reversal of positions took place when Jos Goodyear and Deryk Young traded places in rounds one and two each managing a third and a fourth place.

Results Round 1

1 Martin Groves (3.5 Gould-NME GR55) 44.46s New Hill Record; 2 Scott Moran (3.5 Gould-NME GR61) 44.59s; 3 Deryk Young (4.0 Gould-Judd GR51B) 45.28s; 4 Jos Goodyear (4.0 Pilbeam-Judd MP97 45.63s; 5 Paul Ranson (3.5 Gould-NME GR55) 45.69s; 6 Roger Moran (3.5 Gould-NME GR61) 46.02s; 7 Chris Merrick (4.0 Gould-Judd EV GR55) 46.03s; 8Paul Haimes (2.0 Dallara-Opel F301) 46.53s; 9 Tom New (4.0 Gould-Judd EV GR55) 46.81s; 10 Adam Fleetwood (1.4s DJ-Suzuki Firehawk) 46.97s; 11Eynon Price (1.6 Force Suzuki PC) 47.75s; 12 Will Hall (1.6 Force-Suzuki PC) 47.80s; 13 Trevor Willis (2.8 OMS-Powertec) Did Not Start. (13 places because last two qualifiers on tied time)

Results Round 2

1 Scott Moran 44.42s New Hill Record & Fastest Time of the Day; 2 Groves 45.31s; 3 Goodyear 45.42s; 4 Young 45.92s; 5 Willis 45.98s; 6 Merrick 46.51s; 7 New 46.57s; 8 Roger Moran 46.80s; 9 Haimes 47.20s; 10 Hall 47.24s; 11 Fleetwood, Fail; 12 Price DNS.