ANDREW Forsyth claimed the MSA Anniversary Trophy after a double victory at Manor Farm, Charmouth.

The Shillingstone driver recorded the only sub 29 second climb on the second day of the event.

Multiple victor and outright record holder, Mike Lee returned to the Manor Farm track with the expectation of adding to his tally of wins in the double header organised by the local Woolbridge Motor Club but mechanical issues with his recently delivered carbon fibre chassis OMS 3000M side-lined the previous British Leaders Champion.

The first of two meetings to be held on the final weekend in September saw slippery track conditions test the drivers as they tackled two practice sorties prior to the three official runs the best time from which would determine the results.

The battle for the fastest time of the day and the Eric Moxom Memorial Trophy was anticipated to be fiercely fought and that was to be the case.

The nimble light-weight single-seater racing cars with their motorcycle engine power plants against the powerful V8 powered sports racer of Rod Thorne.

The sports libre machine of the Frampton garage proprietor was first to take to the track in the official runs.

Having driven with great brio, and providing excellent entertainment with his sideways motoring, during the early practice sessions the improving track conditions allowed Thorne to exploit the improved levels of grip in his Pilbeam MP43 with a first official time of 30.03 seconds.

Two protagonists from the up to 1100 cc racing car division were next to join the battle in the form of Adam Steel (Martlet AS1) and Ben Bonfield (Jedi- Honda).

The former moved into first place with a climb of 29.81 seconds against the Tauntonian’s 30.23.

Shaftesbury driver David Lord challenged in his two-litre engined Quest SF86 but could only manage 29.92 leaving an opportunity for Forsyth which he fully exploited with a neat and precise drive in his OMS CF04 to go into the lead with a time of 29.36 seconds.

The second runs with improving track conditions saw the four leading drivers make improvements with Bonfield moving ahead of Steel and Forsyth breaking under 28 seconds with a drive which yielded a 28.78 second run.

Thorne was now less than a quarter of a second in arrears. On the final visit to the track Forsyth and Bonfield failed to improve. Throne did find time but the seven hundredths of a second improvement left him in second place a mere 0.16 of a second shy of victor Forsyth.

The following day saw dry weather during the practice sessions but heavy rain effecting the timed runs to the extent that some classes did not have a second official timed run.

In an attempt to keep the pressure on the single-seater brigade Rod Thorne spun the five-litre Rover V8 powered MP43 off of the track, not gaining a time as a result.

Messers Bonfield and Steel enjoyed a close encounter with a mere two hundredths of a second determining the victor of the up to 1100cc racing car division in the favour of the Martlet pilot.

Forsyth claimed his second overall victory, and with it the MSA Anniversary Trophy, on a time of 28.41 seconds. The only sub 29 second climb of the day.

John Kirby from Weymouth took his Mini Clubman to a brace of victories in the Downton Motor Club category with Stephen Wareham from Bere Regis following the turbo-charged machine home on both occasions.

The Modified Specialist Production Car category saw Anthony Orchard and Martin Watson enjoy a close skirmish in their Westfield sports cars during the Saturday event.

The 1300cc Megabusa-powered version of Orchard not able to better Watson’s best climb of 31.15 seconds. The Wareham driver being denied victory by just 0.28 of a second.