The Silverstone Race to the Sky is an annual automobile and motorcycle hillclimb

Hillclimbing

Hillclimbing is a branch of motorsport in which drivers compete against the clock to complete an uphill course....

 to the summit of a mountain. The race has been held every year since 1998 on two days over the Easter

Easter

Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...

 weekend. Major international drivers compete to see who is the fastest to ascend the hill.

Location

The race located at the Snow Farm ski area

Snow Farm, New Zealand

Snow Farm is a ski area near Wanaka, New Zealand, dedicated to cross-country skiing. It features 55 km of trails, and the conference centre has accommodation for about 60 people. It is located on the Pisa range close to Cardrona, at an altitude of 1,515 m, 55 km from Queenstown and...

 in the Cardrona Valley

Cardrona, New Zealand

Cardrona is the name of a locality, skifield and beer in New Zealand. Established as a gold rush township in the 1860s on the banks of the small river of the same name, it is known for its distinctive hotel of gold rush vintage which is on the opposite side of the river to the original township of...

, a 45 minute drive from Queenstown, New Zealand

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....

 and 20 minutes from Lake Wanaka. The hillclimb is held over a 14.5 kilometres (9 mi) gravel course, with an average gradient of 1:11. The 135 turn course climbs from 450 meters (1500 feet) above mean sea level

Above mean sea level

The term above mean sea level refers to the elevation or altitude of any object, relative to the average sea level datum. AMSL is used extensively in radio by engineers to determine the coverage area a station will be able to reach...

 to 1500 meters (5000 feet).

The qualifying session for the race is held on Saturday. The race itself is held on Sunday. The top 10 fastest qualifiers race in the reverse order from tenth to first.

Future

2007 may be the last year of the Race to the Sky. Event organiser Grant Aitken has given up the rights to the event to the Lee family in order to run the 2007 event. The Lee family were the former owners of the access road for Snow Farm resort, the route used for the event. Aitken noted several factors which led to his decision to surrender his right to run the event. They include marginal finances, changes to the tenure of the land used for the event, his team of helpers suffering burnout after a decade running the event, and the need to renew resource consents to continue with the event in the future. Aitken also had a troubled relationship with the Lee family who still own part of the access road. There was difficulty securing Silverstone as the title sponsor of the event, as Silverstone was signed for 2007 at the eleventh hour. The Lee family gives a 50 percent chance of the event running in 2008. The event would be more likely run in 2009 or 2010 if it does survive at all. The event's official website was expired as of 14 October 2007.

Overall winners

Year	Driver	Time
1998	Nobuhiro 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:...	8:13.60
1999	Nobuhiro Tajima	8:33.13
2000	Nobuhiro Tajima	8:40.91
2001	Possum Bourne	8:37.01
2002	Rod Millen Rod Millen Rodney K. "Rod" Millen is a racing competitor, vehicle designer, and business owner. He has competed in numerous genres of motorsports, including rally racing, off-road racing, hillclimbing, drifting, and super touring.-Personal life:...	8:43.76
2003	Nobuhiro Tajima	8:10.02
2004	Nobuhiro Tajima	8:17.85
2005	Nobuhiro Tajima	8:10.8
2006	Nobuhiro Tajima	8:01.17
2007	Nobuhiro Tajima	8:03.95

Current classes

The competitors are loosely divided into five groups: bikes; quads; cars

Automobile

An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...

; buggies

Dune buggy

A dune buggy is a recreational vehicle with large wheels, and wide tires, designed for use on sand dunes or beaches. The design is usually a modified vehicle and engine mounted on an open chassis. The modifications usually attempt to increase the power-to-weight ratio by either lightening the...

 and 4WD’s

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...

.