BEING invited to be part of the centenary celebrations at Shelsley Walsh hill climb this weekend is a dream come true for three local drivers.

Keith Knight, from Storridge, took the chequered flag in his first race at Silverstone in 1960 and has raced and hill climbed since then.

His ERA Riley car took part at Shelsley and Prescott, where it won the fastest time of day, in 1939 and it was on the third row of the grid at the first British Grand Prix at Silverstone in 1948, driven by now 80-year-old Geoff Richardson of Hartlebury.

Keith said: "I have owned the car since 1963 and have taken part in many circuit and hill climbs since then."

Two drivers locking wheels in the modern sports cars and group B rally cars class are Barry Lines from Ledbury and Ken Sims from Malvern Wells.

Barry, aged 65, has been competing at Shelsley for 20 seasons in several different cars, including a works Alpine Renault, Metro 6R4, a Jaguar Atlantis, in which he won the Paul Matty Championship in 2003, and a TVR Tuscan, when he set eight records in 1992.

Barrie, who will be driving a Pilbeam MP43/1 this weekend, still holds an Isle of Man hill climb record.

Malvern Wells' Ken Sims, 60, has completed for 15 years at Shelsley and says that the event will be "something else".

Ken, whose MG Metro 6R4 car was featured on the front of the MAC News magazine for the Shelsley celebrations, is not known for holding back on the power. Asked about his successes on the hill, he said with a smile: "I have got right to the top a few times, much to the delight of the marshalls."

The highlight of the weekend will be on Sunday, with cars dating back to the first meeting in 1905 to the present day, including the recently crowned 2005 British Hill Climb Champion Martin Groves, looking to lower his June record of 23.86 seconds.

Entry fees for today's (Friday) practice is £6, tomorrow (Saturday) the British Hill Climb Championship Rounds is £12 and on Sunday, the 100th anniversary of Shelsley Walsh day , is £15.