Star man Warwick forced out of start of hill climb season

THE new hill climb season will begin without its fastest ever local competitor.

Injury has forced Darren Warwick's withdrawal from the Easter Monday opener where more than 110 entries are confirmed for the Guernsey Motorcycle and Car Club event, but star name Warwick is not among them.

A back problem means he is unsure of his return date to the sport that he has dominated locally in recent years, posting a brilliant personal best time of 27.19sec. last year.

Warwick has not gone into specifics on the issue ruling him out, but admits he is disappointed to be sidelined ahead of a season that he had greatly anticipated.

'It is disappointing but there isn't much I can do about it apart from hope it is all sorted as quickly as possible – but right now, I don't know when I will be back. I am tentatively targeting the end of May but I just don't know.'

• Full story in Wednesday's Guernsey Press.