I was looking through a few old event programs today thinking of favourite hillclimbs i,ve raced at.I thought it would make an interesting subject so here goes.

Most technical hillclimb.
A few to choose from, Ringwood allthough short is very much a local knoewledge track and few do it better than Ben Durie.But my vote is Goulbourn, very fast at the start on the circuit then you go of onto the hillclimb part which is a series of tight hairpins. Car must be good on the fast circuit part then big stop before all those point and squirt hairpins.

Enjoyable hillclimb.
Allthough not used anymore i did love Eastern Creek. Plenty of room with the wide track and sand traps if you get it wrong. Loved belting around corporate hill, full noise in 4th gear blind corner then big stop for the hairpin.

Daunting hillclimb.
Okay this one,s not to hard, Bulladelah. Absolute speed and just plain scary. Four corners at full noise in 4th gear hanging on for dear life what a rush. Will never forget when i broke the record i went over the finish line that crossed up i was looking out the quarter window. They had a speed gun that clocked your speed over the finish line, that run i clocked 140 kms, it took me a few minutes to stop shaking.
Nathan Abbot was spectacular to watch, his rally style really suited this hill.

Fav of all hillclimbs
After much thinking it comes down to two. Both are old fashioned hillclimbs,Huntley, very fast a bit rough. Need some serious grunt and a good dose of insanity to post a good time, didn,t se to many with more of either than Jeff Unwin in Hellbug.
But my fav , well Tamworth of course. Step, rough, rock walls all the way and damn fast. Not to many better corners than pepper tree. Get it right, and it,s awesome. Wrong , well theres the rock wall or the telegraph pole take your pick.

So whats your fav?

Cheers Col

Hi Colin

I only ever competed at Silverdale and Amaroo. I liked both but the drive into Silverdale was like an off road course.

This is the 1303 that I'm rebuilding now being driven by the previous owner at Silverdale in the 1980s.

Steve

I would have to agree with you Colin about wakefield park. I love that track both the hillclimb and circuit. Its a good mixture of speed and stop go corners as far as the hillclimb goes. And there is plenty of run off when you decide to let your balls hang out and have a go. A good drivers circuit where your time is more about your ability then how much HP you have.

Buladelah is fun becuase its fast and you can hold some really good high speed (4th gear) slides. I hold it full pipe from start to finish, including the 35kph hairpin (taken fullpipe in 4th) and just hope to god I come out the other side of that corner. I really want to do that hillclimb with the new engine. An extra 30hp will make that hill so much more interesting. September 09 here we come.

Canberra is a good circuit but I just hate going there. Always have problems and never had a good run. Huntly is good too. I just wish it was another 1000m longer. I really like king edward park. Another track where a good dose of balls can give you a good time even if you do the rest of the track like poo. Grafton is a great track too. I love this track but my old man hates it (pussy). Tamworth (the look out one) is also a big balls track. I have never done this track but I have driven on it and would love to do it. Rumor has it they are trying to bring this even back, possibly in 2010. Bathurst esses is fun and moutain straight is too although mountain straight is a hp circuit and a little boring when you have 130hp.

I hate ringwood. It is my least liked track. I have always said that if you can go faster towing your car to the track then what you can at the track then I really cant see the point in doing it. Others will disagree with me but is is only my opinion. I like Mount cotton in qld, its also another good mixture...To be honest I love driving on any track. Anything you can give it full pipe and let the back hang out.

As far as circuits go I like oran park and wakefield park over eastern creek.

As far as roads go... Where do I start. I have some fav forest roads I have rallied on over the years. I would have so say Watagan Forest Road at 27klm long is on the list. The record for this dirt road is held by malcom Wilson (Ford Msport) at 13min 30 something sec. Set back in the 80's in a BDA 2WD escort. This record still stands and hasnt been broken by the 4wd turbos....

Mudarlo Rd down near wagga was also a good bit of dirt to race on as well as bogo forest near tumit. I would have to say I really loved driving the forest roads on the North Coast. Some are really fast including the roads in the buladelah state forest (Wangwalk Forest Way), Dingo tops and the forests north of Kempsay. One rally in kempsay saw my subi hit the rev limit (7200) in top gear.... Man that was riverting stuff

Steve.
My dad said he used to love racing at Silverdale, great views from up there too.
Looks like your car has some history, can,t think of anything more glorious then restoring a race car with history.

Come on evertbody else whats your fav. It doesn,t have to be a track, or even tar as Nathan said.

Cheers Col

Huntley owns part of my soul, the amount of times I have driven, walked, mowed that place. I will forever hold the
downhill speed record on a ride on lawnmower when I cooked the brakes, and probably the uphill kombi record too.
Love going through the fork and drifting through the right hander at the esses. Not the fastest way but the most exciting.
Bathurst 1000 winner Peter McLeod saw me race there and said I must be very brave, very talented, or very stupid.
And then gave me a job in his race crew despite not being a mechanic. Not sure which of the 3 options he chose in
the end. Probably 3 because I didnt leave on overly friendly terms and wasnt asked back.

Mt Panorama would be the most awe inspiring piece of track. I've never driven though Bathurst without doing a lap, and
I've never stayed at Bathurst without walking a lap. Its as close to a religious experience that I will ever have. Its my
vatican or mecca.

Favourite track to drive on is shared between Raleigh and Amaroo. Going up over the hill at Amaroo, and then around
the high speed right handers over the back is exhilarating. Kombis with standard brakes realy dont like pulling up at the
3 stop go corners down the bottom either, so it was foolish thing to do. Who cares I have a trophy. Raleigh is too tight
for a real car race, but its a shitload of fun. A place where you dont need to take anything serious, I've never tried to
win and never seen a timesheet, just drive like a rat.

Hi

I only ever spectated at Huntley, would love to have a go one day.

The L bug that I posted pictures of above ended up having rotary motor in it after the 2180 died, it was from Peter McLeods Group C touring car.

Steve

For me for what it's worth, the Bathhurst Esses are top of the tree. Closely followed by Huntley, Buladelah, Wakefield Park and Canberra. It's a shame we just can't compete on them all in the same year.

Hi

I forgot. I did Bathurst Esses once, my super bug had a 1641 with a Holley, cant remember the time but it was so slow that I had the lines worked out by the 1st run and only improved by the times by a few 100s every run.

Now Bathurst has great view from the top.

My friend in his 2180 L bug (the blue one above) was the 2nd fastest sedan and was only beaten by a local Stuart Inwood (his parents owned the local VW dealer) in a 350 Monaro Sports sedan.

A fellow car club member was there in a really quick Turbo Mazda 626, he owned Bensons turbo centre, the blue bug beat it.

Steve

Stuart is a dam good driver who is fast in no matter what car he drives. His latest is a Nissan GTR. Very fast. Bensons, They use to be in Cardiff years ago. I remember they had a black XB coupe with twin turbos on it about 10 - 15 years ago.

I lost the rear of my fastback through the Caltex Chase left hander once. It all seemed to be going in super slow mo. I was looking left waiting at the GTR torana following come through the corner and wondering if it would stop in time. It did.

On my first trip up the mountain straight hillclimb I got so carried away I totally missed the finish line and kept going. Only realised it was time to stop when I reached the top and there was barricades across the road.

And the esses hillclimb I had my first run and got totally lost, was on the wrong side of the road at every turn, then on the second run I broke 2nd gear.

I let the wife have a go at Huntley once. She went slower in the race car than I was in my stock 1600 fastback. Tried to show her how to do it properly but she just kept closing her eyes.

I'm surprised a second hand Grp C rotary would be capable of powering anything especially one built on a McLeod budget.

Cool
Okay, how about fav corner or section of trackroad.
I,ll have a think too.

Cheers Col

On track or off track? The entrance to Caltex Chase is awesome. Doing 180 in a vw is awesome enough anytime, doing it through
a bend and then having to brake down to about 60-70 is insane. The V8 boys doing it with an extra 100kmh have mega balls.

On road I used to love Macquarie Pass but its just too busy now, havent had a clean run for years. Kings Hwy between Batemans Bay
and Braidwood is a great drive.

Can,t say i,ve ever raced down conrod. The closest i,ve ever come to doing that is pulling the car on the trailer after racing up the esses.

After much thought i reckon the final corner over the finish line at Buladehlah is my fav.

Just for it,s speed and tightness.

What do you think Nathan?

Fav Hillclimb track is Oxley lookout Rd Tamworth and King Edward Park Newcastle

Goood driving Rd's= Kangaroo Valley, Bells line,Jenolan Caves Rd,Up the Dorrigo Range.......and there's a great rd in the mountains just south of Cairns !

My fav corner would have to be on the dirt rallysprint circuit at awabawac park awaba. The gun club corner and main straight (uphill). My suby (and dato) use to see high rpm in 3rd gear, well over 100kph, up around the 120kph mark I think. The best fun I had on this corner was in my dato. The funny thing is its not really a straight. It starts out a long sweeping (left) bend that tightnens up into a series of short sharp bends more like a dogs hind leg. I recon a dogs hind leg would be straighter then it. If you get it right its really quick and a big thrill but if you get it wrong it ends in tears.

Col you would prob lov Mcphilliamy park corner (last corner on the moutain straight hillclimb). Its full pipe in top like buladelah but your on a slight down hill run so your about 20kph faster and you can hold a better slide cause of the speed