MARY Tavy motor ace Paul Bishop came out victor in the battle of the Japanese supercars at last weekend's Werrington hill-climb.
Paul, driving a turbo-charged, four-wheel-drive Mitsubishi EVO 5, beat Michael Potter in the Subaru Impreza and Larry House's Nissan Skyline GT convincingly, but was pipped to first place by Roy Bray's Ford Escort Cosworth.
The race took place up the winding driveway to Launceston's spectacular Werrington country house. Paul's time was 45.63 seconds for the 1,250-yard course, an average of more than 56 mph. He was just 1.51 seconds off the pace under difficult weather conditions.
'The event was set up as a bit of a showdown between the three cars,' he said.
'I came out on top, with the Subaru in fourth and the Skyline last. I was just beaten by an old hand in the Escort Cosworth, but I was surprised to do as well as I did.'
Paul suggested the big range in performances came down to the weather, and that the Escort Cosworth was purely a competition car, while the others were road-legal.
The weather was blamed for some quite nasty accidents too, though nobody was hospitalised, he said.
Paul was awarded a mounted glass cup for his performance, and he won the Hemerdon Hillclimb Trophy for the fastest Plymouth Motor Club member. He will add these to a growing collection after a successful season last year, when in five races he had two wins, two seconds and a fourth place.