Hill climbs are about as old as five minutes after the first time a bloke strapped on a horse, saw a slope, and thought “my nag can get up that”. Then the car came along and nothing changed except the bit the human was attached to.
What’s a hillclimb? Hillclimb is a speed event, where one car and driver runs over a defined uphill winding course, from a standing start, against the clock. In competition, cars are classified into categories so as to have cars of like potential performance competing against each other.
Australia has a pretty strong history when it comes to hillclimb events and although there’s a few roads around that would be great as a hillclimb, such as Brown Mountain near Bega, there’s other, more established, runs around the country.
New South Wales
It should go without saying that perhaps the Mt Panorama racetrack is also home to hillclimbing. Run in reverse direction (clockwise) to traditional motorsport when heading up towards The Esses (750m), or normal direction using Mountain Straight (1300m), it’s an opportunity for competitors to hillclimb Australia’s best known racing circuit.
Queensland
Perhaps the best known hillclimb track in the north eastern corner of Australia is the Mount Cotton site. Owned and operated by the MG Car Club of Queensland it’s been in operation since 1968. A 50th anniversary run was held on the 18th of February and featured legendary Australian racing driver Dick Johnson unveiling a commemorative plaque.
Victoria
There’s a number of hillclimbs to choose from here, with hillclimbvic.com.au a great place to visit to find out more. Bryant Park, in Yallourn, just north-west of Traralgon, is run by the Gippsland Car Club. It’s a tight, twisty, 1300 metre long track and has hosted the Australian Hillclimb Championship three times. The Rob Roy Hillclimb in Christmas Hills is another spectacular burst through the hills. Now owned by the MG Car Club of Victoria, Rob Roy was the host of the very first Australian Hillclimb Championship way back in 1938!
Western Australia
North of Perth is the former Wanneroo Park Raceway, now known as Barbagallo Raceway. It’s home to the 1350m Jack’s Hill Hillclimb and is run by the Vintage Sports Car Club of W.A. 2017 saw Marcel Every race his Formula Toyota to a time of 50.01 seconds, in a car that he bought from third place getter, the appropriately named Ray Ferrari. Although not the tallest of climbs the amount of turns make this a challenging piece of road.
South Australia
There’s the Barossa Valley in South Australia, famed for its wine and there’s the Collingrove Hillclimb track. Located approximately sixty kilometers north west, of Adelaide in Angaston, Collingrove has been running since 1952 and is owned and operated by the Sporting Car Club of South Australia.
Drivers such as Norm Beechey have competed here. There’s nine turns along the shortish 750 metres of tarmac, yet rises an amazing 70 metres, The quickest time was set in 2014 by Brett Hayward, with a mere 25.15 seconds under the tyres.
Collingrove hosted the Australian Hillclimb Championship in 2017.
Tasmania
The North West Car Club hosts the Barrington Hillclimb. Complete with 31 bends over a 2.3 kilometre distance it’s a relatively new entry to the hillclimb runs for Australia.
Have you ever competed in a hillclimb event? We’d love to see the cars you’ve competed in! Upload a photo of your hillclimbing weapon into the comments section below this blog on the Rare Spares Facebook Page.
