THE final countdown is on for the Bathurst Real Estate Australian Hillclimb Championship (AHCC) on Mount Panorama’s Mountain Straight course, and while there are a number of drivers that can win the prestigious event, Sydney’s Tim Edmondson remains favourite.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The three-time NSW champion will drive his Gould GR55B, a car that was imported to Australia by Victorian driver Andrew Howell in 2006 for the Australian championship that was also run at Mount Panorama, but on the Esses course.
A purpose built hillclimb racer, the Gould has magnificent downforce, and is powered by a Nicholson McLaren V8 that was originally derived from an IndyCar Cosworth V8.
For its maiden AHCC in ’06, Howell drove the car with 10-time British champion Martin Groves, who accompanied the car to Australia, and they finished second and third behind West Australian Gary West in his Lola F3000 that will be driven in the 2012 event by Mudgee’s Doug Barry, with the Brit finishing ahead of its new owner.
Edmondson is yet to win the national title, however, it is something that is very much on top of his wish list.
“I attended my first AHCC as a spectator and pit crew for my Dad in 1996 at Bathurst, and was fortunate enough to see Peter Gumley win the first of his 10 Australian titles,” Edmondson said.
“The event has such an awesome history, having run from 1938 and having been won by some of the great names in Australian motor racing history – Jack Brabham, Lex Davison and Frank Kleining, just to name a few, and more recently Peter Gumley, Gary West and Brett Hayward, who are all exceptional drivers in our form of motorsport.
“I would consider it an immense privilege if at the end of the event I managed to win the title that drivers of this calibre have won – but there’s a lot of hard work to do from November 2-4 before I even consider the possibility!”
Two years after watching the 2006 national titles, he started competing in hillclimbs himself in 1998 driving a 750cc Jedi Open Wheeler.
In his first full season (1999) he managed to finish third outright in the NSW Championship, and since then has progressed through the Formula Libre
classes, winning State and National Class titles in 750cc, 1300cc and 2000cc, and in 2008 won his first NSW Hillclimb Championship in the Force.
During 2008 he set the outright record on Mountain Straight of 41.15s, and the next year he was again too good and won his second championship, again in the Force.
He purchased the Gould from Howell in 2010, and originally it was a 2.65 litre engine, and broke the Mountain Straight hillclimb record, setting what is the official outright record today and setting what is the current official record, 39.34s.
They later converted the engine to a 3.5 litres, and in 2011, driving the Gould, he won his third NSW Hillclimb Championship, primarily driving the Gould.
“I’ve now managed to break the Mountain Straight record unofficially at two events and have recorded a low 37. So on around three separate runs we’ve broken the 100mph mark for the climb,” Edmondson said.
“To give anyone an idea, in the recent Bathurst 1000 Top Ten the V8 Supercars covered the course in around 39 seconds, and they’re doing around 250km/h when they cross our start line on the hump.”
On top of that, when Jenson Button and Craig Lowndes drove the McLaren F1 car around the circuit in 2011, Button did the course in around 32 seconds and he was doing approximately 300km/h at the startline – so the top three to four competitors would certainly give him a run for his money over the top of the hill!