Bishop Auckland racer John Hildreth recorded no fewer than five wins out of six races when the third round of the Auto 66 Road Race Championships were held at Elvington Park, near York.

Aboard his 1000cc Suzuki, Hildreth won all three Super One races and took victory in two of the Earl of Elvington outings, his only defeat coming in that class when he had to settle for third place in the day’s opening race.

Saltburn’s Chris Smith nearly matched Hildreth’s trophy haul, but had to settle for a winning double in both the F400 and Formula Lites classes aboard his 400cc Honda.

Tom Robinson, from Ingleby Barwick, had a busy day on his 600cc Honda and emerged with a hat-trick of wins in the Formula Libre class, which he backed up with a best result of sixth in the F600 class and a fifth in the Rookies race.

Other winners included George Stainthorpe, from Saltburn, who won the opening F600 race on his Yamaha R6 before claiming a brace of runnerup spots later in the day. Bishop Auckland rider Mike Minns sandwiched a victory between two third places in the Formula Lites race on his 650cc Suzuki.

Miles Branton, from Boroughbridge, posted a best result of second in the Super One class on his Suzuki 1000, with Darlington’s Steve Degnan claiming a pair of third places on a similar machine in the same class.

Hartlepool rider Phillip Peek claimed second place in the F400 class on his Honda NC30, with Durham’s Peter Minns doing likewise on his 650cc Suzuki in the Formula Lites class.

Bishop Auckland’s Peter Hail finished in eighth place in the opening F600 race, with Shildon rider Drew Kirtley claiming a best finish in fourth place in the Rookies outing and Darlington youngster Katie Williamson followed up a pair of ninth places on her 125cc Aprilia with a seventh in the final outing in the F125 class.

Scotton sidecar racer Greg Lambert managed a best of fourth place in the final sidecar outing to round off a successful weekend for local competitors going into the next round at Elvington Park on May 9.

In the meantime, many of the top road racers will be heading for Oliver’s Mount in Scarborough this weekend for the first big meeting of the season, which sees the Ian Watson National Spring Cup take place on Sunday.

LOCAL rally competitors Pete Gibson and Adam Bradford will debut their new Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6 at the Quinton Horiba d’Isis Tarmac Rally, based at the MIRA test facility near Hinckley tomorrow.

The pair finished second overall in the AS Performance North of England Tarmacadam Rally Championship last year competing in a 1600cc Vauxhall Nova, while also taking class awards in the SG Petch Stage Rally Championship and the Hytorc Scottish Tarmack Rally Championship.

This will be their first run-out in the ex-Chris Singer Mitsubishi and Gibson’s first experience of four-wheel drive.

Gibson, a police officer from Consett, and Bradford, a car rental manager from Gateshead, will be looking to get some miles under their belts and learn the new car as 2010 will be a big learning curve.

The pairing will be competing on selected events with a view to competing in the MSA National Tarmac Championship in 2011.

The season opener organised by Quinton Car Club has a capacity entry, and this will be the pairing’s first visit to the venue.

They are treating the first event in the new car as a shakedown in preparation for the Jim Clark Memorial Rally in May.

THE British Automobile Racing Club makes the trip north as more top-quality car racing heads for Croft circuit this weekend.

Included on the bill in a 16- race feast are sports and saloon car racing coupled with exciting single-seaters.

The increasingly popular Darlington DMC-organised Northern Sports and Saloon Car Championship kicks off the 2010 season with a doubleheader.

Plenty of local drivers and a wide array of cars among the 37-strong grid will be in action, including Darlington driver Paul Moss (Citroen Saxo), Hartlepool veteran Mick Starkey (Ford Fiesta) and Middlesbrough’s Mark Campbell (Lotus).

There will be an historical element to the single-seater action when the Universal Racing Services Classic Formula Ford 2000 and BBE/URS Classic Formula Ford 1600 Championships battle it out in their respective races in what will be an exciting and fast-paced formula for pre-1984 single-seater racing cars with wings and slick tyres.

Cars from yesteryear are also catered for with two outings for competitors in the BARC Classic Clubmans Championship, although their modern counterparts will be in action with two rounds of the BARC Dunlop Clubmans Championship.

The Easytrack Caterham Graduate Championships proliferate throughout the weekend, with two races each for Classic Graduates, Super Graduates and Mega Graduates.

Practice gets under way at 9.30am tomorrow, with the first of seven races scheduled to start at 1.45pm. Sunday’s action sees nine races, starting at 12.30pm.

Adult admission costs £12 each day, including free paddock and grandstand seating, with accompanied children aged 15 and under admitted free. Further information is available at croftcircuit.co.uk or barc.net.