MOUNT Panorama’s reputation for attracting fast cars and top class racing will be further enhanced in November when it hosts the Australian Hillclimb Championships.
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Most people think of the famous circuit as a V8 Supercar track but the hillclimb titles and other events are proof that it is much more than that.
The Mount is considered to be among the best hillclimb tracks in Australia.
Bathurst has already hosted seven Australian Hillclimb Championships in the 75-year history of the sport, but this year is the first time the climb will be held on Mountain Straight, as opposed to The Esses.
The course will go in race direction, starting from the top of the hump on Mountain Straight, adjacent to the winery, and finishing near the police compound.
Doug Barry, Tim Edmondson and Ron Hay are currently the top three contenders in the NSW Hillclimb series and all are looking forward to the Mount Panorama challenge.
The trio have raced Mountain Straight before and Edmondson is looking to take the record officially.
He raced there in a club event last year and posted a time of 37.69 seconds in his Gould GR55B, but the time was not an official one as it was not clocked at a state or national event.
The current outright record is 39.35, clocked by Edmondson in early 2011 when competing in a NSW Championship round.
“The car has a lot more in it and I hope that I can push it and get more out of it,” Edmondson said.
“I think the record will fall in the Hillclimb and the new record will be in the 36 seconds range. Hopefully I will be up there with those sort of times.”
Bathurst motor sport enthusiast Brian Nightingale said hillclimbing was once held in much lower esteem than V8 racing, but it has come a long way. “Before we were seen as the poor cousins of V8 – that is certainly not the case anymore,” he said.
“These cars can go from zero to 100 miles an hour in seconds while climbing and reach speeds of 250 kilometres an hour, which is just amazing.”
Bathurst Light Car Club president Robert Wells said having the climb on the other side of the mountain gives the drivers something else to look forward to.
“This is a big event. We have people coming from all over Australia to compete and there are some great drivers,” he said.
“We wanted to offer them something different and have done that. People are excited to see what they can do on this track.
“We can only have 150 entries and inquiries have been strong.”
Among those entries are Bathurst drivers Bob Munday and Matt Windsor.
Although Edmondson has recorded the quickest time on that side of the Mount, he is not ruling out current NSW Hillclimb series leader Barry or other drivers.
And he has every right to be nervous as Barry, in his Lola T8750 F3000, came within 0.01 seconds of Edmondson’s time.
“There will be a tenth of a second in it,” Edmondson said. “When you look at it we are doing 70 metres a second; a tenth of a second can make or break the record.”
Barry, who is based in Mudgee, is also cautious of the competition and believes the record will fall.
“I don’t think it will be just three drivers in this race, there will be up to nine pushing for it,” he said.
“For me, time is crucial. I, like the other guys, want to win this and it will only be 1000ths of a second that separate us.
“We will hit speeds between 240 and 250 kilometres an hour. There is no other course where you can reach speeds like that.
“Whoever can take the bravest pill and push the hardest will get it. We do 1.7 kilometres on 30-odd seconds – that is pushing hard.”
The Australian Hillclimb Championships will be held from November 2-4.