Hillclimbing
Encyclopedia
Motorsport
Motorsport or motorsports is the group of sports which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles, whether for racing or non-racing competition...
in which drivers compete against the clock to complete an uphill course.
It is one of the oldest forms of motorsport, since the first known hillclimb at La Turbie
La Turbie
La Turbie is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France.-History:...
near Nice
Nice
Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...
, France took place as long ago as 31 January 1897. The hillclimb held at Shelsley Walsh
Shelsley Walsh Speed Hill Climb
The Shelsley Walsh Speed Hill Climb is a hillclimb in Worcestershire, England, organised by the Midland Automobile Club . It is one of the oldest motorsport events in the world, and is in fact the oldest to have been staged continuously on its original course, first having been run in 1905...
, in Worcestershire, England is the world's oldest continuously staged motorsport event still staged on its original course, having been first run in 1905. The longest permanent hillclimb in the UK is at Harewood in West Yorkshire, with a track length of 1448 metres.
A very different kind of hillclimbing is done with offroad motorcycles going straight up extremely steep hills. The winner is the one which could climb the highest, or in the case more than one made it to the top, the fastest. This kind of motorsport, which requires skill as well as bravery, has a long tradition in the USA and has been popular in France and Austria since the 1980s. The Austrian event in Rachau
Rachau
Rachau is a municipality in the district of Knittelfeld in Styria, Austria with a population of 626 inhabitants. It is divided into three districts: Mitterbach, Glein Rachau and the village of Rachau itself. Neighbouring settlements include; Apfelberg, St. Margarethen, St. Lorenzen, Kleinlobming, St...
focused on crowd entertainment, and inspired many similar events.
Europe
Hillclimbs in continental EuropeContinental Europe
Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands....
are usually held on courses which are several kilometres long, taking advantage of the available hills and mountains including the Alps
The Alps
The Alps is a 2007 American documentary film about the climbing of the north face of the Eiger in the Bernese Alps by John Harlin III, son of John Harlin who died on the same ascent 40 years earlier...
. The most prestigious competition is the FIA European Hill Climb Championship
European Hill Climb Championship
The European Hill Climb Championship is an FIA-run motorsport competition held across Europe on mountain roads.Unlike circuit racing, each driver competes alone, starting from a point at the base of a mountain and reaching a finish point near the summit...
.
British Isles
In the British Isles, the format is different from that in other parts of Europe, with courses being much shorter (Harewood HillclimbHarewood speed Hillclimb
Harewood speed Hillclimb is a hillclimb near the village of Harewood, West Yorkshire, England. The track can be found on the A659 between Harewood village and Collingham, north of Leeds...
is the UK's longest permanent hillclimb at 1,584 yards, 1448 meters) - more akin to uphill sprints - and almost always taking under one minute for the fastest drivers to complete. For this reason, cars and drivers do not generally cross between the British and continental European championships.
Hill Climbing is also relevant to motorcycle sport; the governing body is the National Hill Climb Association.
France
The French hill climb championshipFrench hill climb championship
The French hill climb championship, or Championnat de France de la Montagne started in 1967 and rapidly became one of the continent's most competitive national series. For much of its history, the leading cars have been from Formula 2 or 2-litre sports cars...
, or Championnat de France de la Montagne, has been one of the most competitive of the European national series, attracting many new F2 and 2-litre sports cars during the 1970s and early 1980s. Notable champions from this period include Pierre Maublanc (1967 and 1968), Daniel Rouveyran (1969), Hervé Bayard (1970) and Jimmy Mieusset (1971, 1972, 1973 and 1974). The best-known Course de Côte are Mont Ventoux
Mont Ventoux Hill Climb
Mont Ventoux Hill Climb is a car and motorcycle race course near Avignon in France. The course of the Mont Ventoux Hill Climb starts from the village of Bédoin and rises 5,289 feet for 13.4 miles to the observatory at the summit....
and Mont-Dore
Mont-Dore
Le Mont-Dore , formerly called Mont-Dore-les-Bains, is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne in central France.-Geography:...
.
Germany
Two German venues: Freiburg-SchauinslandSchauinsland
The Schauinsland , is a mountain in the Black Forest with an elevation of 1,284 m above sea level....
, Rossfeld (near Berchtesgaden
Berchtesgaden
Berchtesgaden is a municipality in the German Bavarian Alps. It is located in the south district of Berchtesgadener Land in Bavaria, near the border with Austria, some 30 km south of Salzburg and 180 km southeast of Munich...
). The fourth International Schauinsland hillclimb at Freiburg was held on August 5, 1928: "A car made the fastest time of the day, Heusser's Bugatti putting up 74.009 k.p.h., the fastest motorcycle being Stegmann's D.K.W. at 69.6 k.p.h." Caracciola
Rudolf Caracciola
Otto Wilhelm Rudolf Caracciola , more commonly Rudolf Caracciola , was a racing driver from Remagen, Germany. He won the European Drivers' Championship, the pre-1950 equivalent of the modern Formula One World Championship, an unsurpassed three times...
(Mercédès) won the over two-litre racing car class.
Italy
In the Italian championship, also known as Campionato Italiano Velocità Montagna, there are the most long and challenging hillclimbs like Trento-Bondone, Coppa Bruno Carotti (the Italian races in FIA European Hill Climb ChampionshipEuropean Hill Climb Championship
The European Hill Climb Championship is an FIA-run motorsport competition held across Europe on mountain roads.Unlike circuit racing, each driver competes alone, starting from a point at the base of a mountain and reaching a finish point near the summit...
), Pedavena-Croce d'Aune, Monte Erice and Verzegnis-Sella Chianzutan, which are also the most known.
Hillclimbing in Italy became famous in the 1970s, early 1980s, between 1994 and 2000 and at the end of the 2000s, especially in the last 2 periods thanks to TV services, magazines and live internet commentaries.
The most famous Italian drivers, who won a lot even in Europe, are Ludovico Scarfiotti
Ludovico Scarfiotti
Ludovico Scarfiotti was a Formula One and sports car driver from Italy. Just prior to entering Formula One, he won the 1963 24 Hours of Le Mans for Ferrari. He later participated in 12 World Championship Formula One grands prix, and many non-championship races. He won one World Championship...
(famous Ferrari driver who won the F1 race in Monza 1966), "Noris" (he won almost every race in Italy until 1972, when he died), Domenico Scola (who runs a Sport Prototype even now at the age of 80), Mauro Nesti (over 20 championships between Italy and Europe, from the 1970s to the 1990s), Ezio Baribbi (three times Italian champion), Fabio Danti (1994 Italian champion, 1995-96 European champion, died in 2000), Pasquale Irlando (Italian champion in the early 1990s and European champion in the last 1990s, the one who turned the Osella
Osella
Osella is an Italian racing car manufacturer and former Formula One team based in Volpiano near Turin, Italy. They participated in 132 Grands Prix between 1980 and 1990...
PA20 in the monster we all know), Franz Tschager (three times European champion in the early 2000s), Simone Faggioli (the real Italian champion of the 2000s) and Denny Zardo (Italian champion in 2005 and 2008, European champion in 2003, he wins with every car he drives)
Malta
Hillclimbing is a very popular sport on the island of MaltaMalta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
. Numerous events are organised annually by the Island Car Club. Participants are divided according to their type of vehicle into various categories ranging from single seaters to saloon cars.
Romania
Hillclimbing is popular in Romania among drivers with limited financial resources. It has a long tradition in the country. The first major event was the Feleac course, in ClujCluj-Napoca
Cluj-Napoca , commonly known as Cluj, is the fourth most populous city in Romania and the seat of Cluj County in the northwestern part of the country. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest , Budapest and Belgrade...
. From 1930, it was a round in the European Hill Climb Championship
European Hill Climb Championship
The European Hill Climb Championship is an FIA-run motorsport competition held across Europe on mountain roads.Unlike circuit racing, each driver competes alone, starting from a point at the base of a mountain and reaching a finish point near the summit...
. The record of the Feleac was set by famous German racer Hans Stuck
Hans Stuck
Hans Stuck was a German motor racing driver...
in 1938, driving a 600 bhp Auto Union Grand Prix car. Stuck stormed through the 7 km gravel course in 2'56". Despite several attempts in the 70s, Stuck's record was never beaten. In recent decades, the course was widened in order to be suitable for intense traffic and therefore is considered inappropriate for auto racing.
Today's hillclimbing in Romania is referred to as Viteză în Coastă or Campionatul Naţional de Viteză pe Traseu Montan (VTM). In 2006, the Romanian National Hillclimbing Championship had 7 events, each containing two rounds (each scoring separately) held on Friday and Sunday respectively, with Saturday being a rest day. The seven events were Câmpulung Muscel (April 7/9), Braşov
Brasov
Brașov is a city in Romania and the capital of Brașov County.According to the last Romanian census, from 2002, there were 284,596 people living within the city of Brașov, making it the 8th most populated city in Romania....
(April 28/30), Reşiţa
Resita
' is a city in western Romania and the capital of Caraş-Severin County, in the Banat region. Its 2004 population was 83,985.- Etymology :The name of Reşiţa, might comes from the Latin recitia, meaning "cold spring", as the great historian Nicolae Iorga once suggested, presuming that the Romans...
(May 19/21), Bálványos (June 9/11), Abrud
Abrud
Abrud is a town in the north-western part of Alba County, Transylvania, Romania, located on the river Abrud. It administers three villages: Abrud-Sat, Gura Cornei and Soharu.-Population:...
(July 28/30), Reşiţa
Resita
' is a city in western Romania and the capital of Caraş-Severin County, in the Banat region. Its 2004 population was 83,985.- Etymology :The name of Reşiţa, might comes from the Latin recitia, meaning "cold spring", as the great historian Nicolae Iorga once suggested, presuming that the Romans...
(8/10 September) and Râşnov
Râsnov
Râşnov is a town in Braşov County, Romania with a population of under 16,000.It is located at about 15 km from the city of Braşov and about the same distance from Bran, on the road that links Wallachia and Transylvania....
(September 29/October 1).
Sweden
In SwedenSweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, hillclimb events are run along different lines, with dirt bikes and four-wheel drive
Four-wheel drive
Four-wheel drive, 4WD, or 4×4 is a four-wheeled vehicle with a drivetrain that allows all four wheels to receive torque from the engine simultaneously...
machines literally driving up the side of a roadless hill.
Switzerland
Motor racing was banned in SwitzerlandSwitzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
in the aftermath of the fatal collision between cars at the 24 Hours of Le Mans
24 Hours of Le Mans
The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the world's oldest sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since near the town of Le Mans, France. Commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency, race teams have to balance speed against the cars' ability to run for 24 hours without sustaining...
race in 1955. However, this prohibition does not extend to events where drivers compete only indirectly via the clock. Events such as rallies, hillclimbs and slaloms are very popular, including the FIA European Hill Climb Championship
European Hill Climb Championship
The European Hill Climb Championship is an FIA-run motorsport competition held across Europe on mountain roads.Unlike circuit racing, each driver competes alone, starting from a point at the base of a mountain and reaching a finish point near the summit...
.
The most known hillclimb races are the Gurnigelrennen, the course en côte Ayent
Ayent
Ayent is a municipality in the district of Hérens in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.-History:The Ayent area is first mentioned in 1052 as Agent. In 1250 it was mentioned as Argenta.-Geography:...
- Anzère
Anzère
Anzère is a small village in the canton of Valais, Switzerland, located in the municipality of Ayent and close to Sion and Crans. A south-facing purpose-built resort in traditional Swiss architectural style...
, the course en côte St. Ursanne - Les Rangiers, and the historic Klausen Hill Climb known as the Klausenpassrennen. Ludovico Scarfiotti
Ludovico Scarfiotti
Ludovico Scarfiotti was a Formula One and sports car driver from Italy. Just prior to entering Formula One, he won the 1963 24 Hours of Le Mans for Ferrari. He later participated in 12 World Championship Formula One grands prix, and many non-championship races. He won one World Championship...
clinched the European hillclimb championship at Ollon-Villars
Villars-sur-Ollon
Villars sur Ollon, commonly referred to as Villars, is a village in Switzerland in the canton of Vaud, part of the municipality of Ollon. Accommodation consists largely of chalets...
on August 30, 1965, driving a Dino Ferrari 2-litre.
Canada
Canada's best known hillclimb event is the Knox Mountain Hillclimb, held in KelownaKelowna, British Columbia
Kelowna is a city on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan Valley, in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. Its name derives from a Okanagan language term for "grizzly bear"...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
. It is a 3.5 km paved road, climbing 245 m elevation. It has run annually since the 1950s, attracting drivers from the Pacific Northwest.
México
Hillclimb races were held in México in the 1960s and 1970s in places like El Chico, Puebla and Lagunas de Zempoala.On July 27, 1969, the best Mexican driver in México
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
(Pedro Rodriguez
Pedro Rodriguez (racing driver)
Pedro Rodríguez was a Mexican Grand Prix motor racing driver. He was born in Mexico City and was the older brother of Ricardo Rodríguez.-Career:...
wasn't racing in the National Championship), Moisés Solana
Moises Solana
Moisés Solana Arciniega was a racing driver from Mexico. He participated in eight Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on October 27, 1963, and scoring no championship points. He also participated in one non-Championship Formula One race...
, died in the "Hill Climb Valle de Bravo-Bosencheve".
Since that time, hillclimbs have not been held in México.
Australia
Hillclimbing in Australia dates back to the early 1900s, and was most prevalent in the city of MelbourneMelbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, at locations such as Templestowe, Heidelberg and Rob Roy. The course at Templestowe still exists today in the Domain Wetlands. The course was never trafficable due to the massive incline known as "the wall", with an incline ratio of 1:2.5 is thought to be the steepest bitumen surface in Australia, and so was only used during race events.
Burgundy Street in Heidelberg was used for early Hillclimbs.
The course at Rob Roy hosts race meets regularly, including rounds of the Victorian Hillclimb Championships . It is located just off Clintons Road, Christmas Hills in an area of Smiths Gully
Smiths Gully, Victoria
Smiths Gully is a town in Victoria, Australia, 35 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Nillumbik....
known as Rob Roy.
Mount Tarrengower near Maldon
Maldon, Victoria
Maldon is a town in Victoria, Australia, in the Shire of Mount Alexander local government area. It has been designated "Australia's first notable town" and is celebrated for its 19th-century appearance, maintained since gold-rush days...
in Central Victoria has an annual Hillclimb hosted by the Victorian Vintage Sports Car Club, Bendigo Light Car Club and the Historic Motorcycle Racing Association of Victoria. The event is held on the 3rd weekend of October.
It is now a "classics" only event - after a serious accident in the 1970s. Vintage motorcycles are now a feature of this event.
Reigning "King of the Mountain" for motorcycles is Mike Panayi on a Featherbed Norton 750 twin.
South Australia features Collingrove http://collingrovehillclimb.com.au the annual Mount Alma Mile and the annual Legend Of The Lakes Hillclimb. The NSW Hillclimb Championship
CAMS NSW Hillclimb Championship - Australia
The CAMS NSW Hillclimb Championship is a "Speed Hillclimb" Championship run in the state of New South Wales Australia & boasts a diverse array of Racecars & Drivers.....
has been active 1959.
New Zealand
Hillclimbing is a popular club event in New Zealand, although a number of international competitors and foreign motor racing enthusiasts attend the premiere hillclimb event on the New ZealandNew Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
motor racing calendar.
Race to the Sky
Race to the Sky
The Silverstone Race to the Sky is an annual automobile and motorcycle hillclimb to the summit of a mountain. The race has been held every year since 1998 on two days over the Easter weekend...
is based near Queenstown
Queenstown, New Zealand
Queenstown is a resort town in Otago in the south-west of New Zealand's South Island. It is built around an inlet called Queenstown Bay on Lake Wakatipu, a long thin Z-shaped lake formed by glacial processes, and has spectacular views of nearby mountains....
. Held every Easter since 1998, it starts from the floor of the Cardrona Valley and runs uphill for 15 kilometres through 137 corners to the top, climbing from 1500 ft (457.2 m) to 5000 ft (1,524 m) averaging a 1:11 gradient.
The driver with the greatest number of "Race to the Sky" outright wins (8) is Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima
Nobuhiro Tajima
, is a hillclimb racer, tuning shop owner, rally team manager and former rally driver who is best known for his participation in Suzuki's rallying program as well as his triumphs at the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb.-Racing career:...
, driving his custom built Suzuki Escudo
Suzuki Escudo
The Suzuki Escudo is an off-road vehicle that has been in production since 1988...
hillclimb special vehicle.
External links
- http://www.collingrovehillclimb.com.au Australia's oldest purpose-built Hillclimb track.
- Hillclimb and Sprint Association. (Britain)
- TIME: Vroom at the Top (Friday, Aug. 06, 1965)
- Photos and news from Italian hillclimbs (Italy)
- Photos of hill climbing in Malta.
- http://www.ollon-villars.com/ Ollon Villars revival. (Switzerland)
- "Fearless Riders Turn Motor Bikes Into Goats" Popular Science, August 1932, early motorcycle hillclimbing