THE Moran family start their challenge for the Nicholson McLaren MSA British Hill Climb Championship with a first-round meeting at Loton Park near Shrewsbury on Easter Monday.

It follows a highly successful season for both Roger Moran and his son, Scott, who shared their Gould racing car in competition last year.

Scott came to the fore when he was runner-up in the championship, while Roger, the first and only Herefordshire driver to win the national title with a 1997 success, was third.

Scott had nine first places, including two hill records, 12 second places, and six thirds to finish runner-up in the 3.5-litre Gould GR61X, while Roger had two firsts, two seconds, and five thirds.

That was not the end of the Orleton pair's successes, however, and there were numerous other accolades for Scott, who was named Hillclimb and Sprint Association Man of the Year.

He also received the Raymond Mays Trophy for the lowest total time of the best runs at the championship's Prescott and Shelsley Walsh events, and the Nicholas McLaren Trophy for outstanding achievement.

Scott was the Avon BMTR Top Ten Challenge champion, beating national champion Martin Groves into second place, first overall in Class L of the PowerMec British Leaders Championship - and runner-up for the overall title - and received the Fletcher Family Homes Trophy under-30s award.

He was following in the tyre treads of his father Roger, who has been a dominant figure on the national scene in the years around the turn of the century and this time, as well as being third in the national title race, was second to his son in Class L of the British Leaders Championship.

Another Herefordshire driver, Deryk Young, was ninth overall in the British Hill Climb Championship.

He and the Morans will be aiming to make their mark again when the national championship season opens on Monday, taking competitors to wide-ranging parts of Britain from Scotland to the Channel Islands before the outcome is decided in the autumn.