Stephen Irvine’s campaign to regain the MGCC Luffield Cars Speed Championship title he won two years ago continued last weekend when he competed at the challenging Harewood Hillclimb.

It’s a familiar course to the Worsthorne driver, the son of former Burnley star Willie Irvine, but it was the first time he’d driven it in a front wheel drive car.

Irvine was at the wheel of the GBB (UK) Ltd/Minisport backed MG ZR in which he made a winning sprint debut at Anglesey Race Circuit last month, and Sunday’s event was the first hillclimb in the mixed discipline series.

Having completed his three timed runs he finished the day in second place, having got to within less than a tenth of a second of the track record for cars of his class on his final attempt.

The day didn’t always go so smoothly though as he found the car suffered from under-steer as he turned into corners and wheel spin as he exited them.

The car’s handling did provide some lighter moments, as Irvine said: “I gave it a ‘Scandinavian Flick’ at Orchard and it worked a treat.

“By the final run I was really in the groove and had an almost perfect run apart from the finish. I was braking from 90mph at Quarry bend and had to grab first gear to slow the car down, which cost me a couple of seconds. The car is in its early stages of development but it’s a good barrel of fun.”

The next round of the series is at Silverstone later this month, by which time Irvine hopes the car’s handling will be improved by introducing some negative camber to the set-up.