The black art of Hillclimbing is almost as old as motor sport itself - basically a sprint up (and sometimes down) a very steep hill, with competitors running one at a time against the clock. Though simple in theory, a good Hillclimb track can bewilder and challenge the best of drivers.
Located a short distance from Angaston on the Eden Valley Road, the Collingrove Hillclimb Track is the second oldest motor sport venue in continuous use in Australia. Opened in 1952, the track was built by the Sporting Car Club on land generously offered by Club member, Bob Angas, with the Club able to purchase the track outright in 1998.
Recent re-surfacing in 2000 has seen a reduction in times, with a well-driven street car now able to break 39 seconds and an equivalent race car able to turn in sub-35 second passes. Barossa local Kym Rohrlach managed to crack the 30-second barrier back in 1987 with a 29.81 second pass in his supercharged VW Special. This record was held until 2003, when Australian Hillclimb Champion Peter Gumley blasted up the track to a new outright record of 29.45 seconds, also driving a supercharged Vee-Dub special.
The track is surprisingly narrow for the first-time competitor - simply the width of one lane of bitumen on a normal road. Naturally it's a very steep climb and at around 600m in length it's also relatively short, making for very competitive events. With a category for every conceivable 4-wheeled vehicle, the top competitors are often separated by just a few hundredths of a second at the end of the day.
When the Sporting Car Club organised the first Hillclimb events in South Australia, this form of racing was popular among competitors, who wanted to be involved in motor racing in their daily-driven vehicles without the expense of long distance events. While some of today's combatants still manage to spend copious amounts of money to improve their times, the original philosophy nevertheless rings true. Some of the most popular and hotly contested categories are in the "Road Registered" classes, with the latest 4WD turbo brigade (WRX, Evo 4, GTi-R et al) providing spectacular viewing as they launch off the start line.
HILL CLIMB(Minimum Age 30)
Organiser:
Sporting Car Club of SA Inc.
Contact: Darryl Warman
Phone: 08 8373 4899
0427 606 113
Email:
dkwarman@bigpond.com
Dates:
Sun 16 Oct, 2005
Sporting Fee:
$70.00 per person
Venue:
Collingrove Hill Climb
Lot 100, Hill Climb Road
Angaston Rural
Track Surface: Bitumen
Track Length: Approx. 685 metres
Rules: This event if held under the FIA International Sporting Code (ISC), the CAMS National Competition Rules (NCR) and Standing Regulations for Speed Events, these supplementary regulations, and any further regulations will be issued by the organising club after the registration page has been received.
Entries: Maximum no. of driver entries for the event: 80 The organisers reserve the right to refuse any entry without giving a reason..
