SHELSLEY Walsh racetrack finally roars into action this weekend with the second round of the Midland Automobile Club's British Hillclimb Championship.

The foot-and-mouth outbreak has hampered the start of the season but organisers have been given the green light to put their foot down and are expecting a good turnout.

Large sections of the Shelsley track, including the famous S Bend, have been re-surfaced this year and with good weather, organisers hope to see runs in the 25 second bracket and Richard Brown's outright hill record under threat.

Racing takes place on Sunday with practice on Saturday and visitors will be able to savour the atmosphere of the paddock and enjoy the action from the grandstand.

All of the top names in British Speed Hillclimbing will be here with Graeme Wright Junior in his V6 Cosworth powered Gould, starting as favourite.

The other top contenders are using ex-FI 3.5 litre engines, some extended to four litre and some 650 to 700 brake horsepower.

There are 11 F1-engined cars in the entry, headed by ex-champions Roy Lane and Roger Moran with strong challenges from Tim Mason and Tim Coventry, sharing a high-nosed Gould.

But hillclimbing is not only about the fastest single seat racing cars and this weekend's entry contains nearly 200 competitors competing in 17 classes.

These cover all types of cars from modified saloons through to sportscars, supersports and sports libre, and five capacity groups for single seaters.

Classic and historic cars and one-make classes for Ferraris and Lotus round off the entries.

Later in the year the MAC, which celebrates its centenary anniversary in 2001, is hosting a huge event in August, 17, 18 and 19 and the club is pulling out all the stops to make it that a memorable meeting.

Tickets for this weekend's event are £3 on Saturday practice and £9 on Sunday with U16s free.