Warwick has the French eating from his hands

GUERNSEY hillclimbers proved a big hit with racing fans in France. Competing at the La Pomeraye course in the picturesque Loire Valley, drivers from the local hillclimb scene made up most of the 32 British competitors in a special UK Hillclimb.

It was the first time that the race haD been organised and it ran alongside the annual event that is a stage on the French circuit.

The French track is 2.5km from start to finish and is longer that to which the Guernsey drivers are used to. Also, for many on the Condor Ferries sponsored trip it was the first time that they had raced outside the Bailiwick.

'The course is five times longer than the Val des Terres,' said trip organiser Greg Guille.

'It is difficult to learn a short course let alone such a long one. It's like being in a Sunday football league and then going to play Manchester United at Wembley.

'But everybody did really well.'

The 10,000-strong crowd got behind the British racers with one Guernsey competitor's exciting style of driving proving very popular.

'Darren Warwick is always good value for crowd entertainment,' said Guille.

'They loved it when he went sideways at corners thinking that he had lost it and then he would bring it back. Whenever he came into view they went absolutely ecstatic.

'One French commentator said: ''what a talent''. His times came down in big drops all weekend.'

Warwick finished first in his class in his Moore Stephens RS2000, while his great domestic rival, Tim Torode, finishing second.

Over the years the two have had fantastic battles and there is little between them, but unfortunately this contest was dampened somewhat when Torode's Wheeler Dev Anglia axle snapped in half.

But after three hours of work and with the help of tour member Paul Morgan and a small welding machine, he managed to patch the axle up to be able to race again. It was an amazing achievement, but unfortunately the car was somewhat slower.

Colin Le Maitre in his Autocare Gould Judd 4,000 proved to be another favourite with the crowd.

The engine used to be in Nelson Piquet's 1990 Lotus Formula One car and it produced quite a punch as it went up the course in the fastest time of the day, 1min. 3.688sec.

Unfortunately, the Gould had a clutch leak that stopped him from going up for a third time and Paul Priaulx in his OMS 1,.200cc also suffered from clutch trouble.

This restricted Priaulx's speed in his third race meeting in France.

Sarah Brehaut was the only Guernsey woman to make the trip and she was very impressive as she clocked up 1-19.816 in her first run.

Sadly, late in the day she came into the first corner in her OMS 1,300cc at 95mph and went into a four-wheel drift and spun out.

There was no damage to the car.

Brake problems in his Ford Escort 2,000cc rally car restricted John Le Cheminant's times, but this did not stop him from completing the course in 1-28.732.

Pete Dorey's day was also cut short when Paul Buckingham ran over his foot in the pit lane in the Dallara Formula Three car that they share.

The injury stopped him from taking any part in the racing.

Nick Saunders in his Hi Tech posted a time of 1-09.46, a fantastic time for an ageing car that was quicker than some more technologically advanced machines.

Rain during the third run ensured that the times were slower on a track that according to Warwick is exceptionally fast.

'It's an excellent course,' he said.

'At the top section you can get to the thick end of 100mph. Through the finishing line you're at 120mph.

'On the Val des Terres you're doing 50/60mph through the bends.

'You've got to be more careful as the consequences are more serious because of the speed.'

Guille saw the trip as a great success.

'It was a fantastic event from start to finish,' he said.

'For the future I've got some ideas for what to do.

'Big thanks to Condor for shipping us there otherwise it wouldn't have taken place.'