Hillclimbing, also known ashill climbing,speed hillclimbing, orspeed hill climbing, is a branch ofmotorsport 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 atLa Turbie nearNice, France, took place as long ago as 31 January 1897. The hillclimb held atShelsley Walsh, in Worcestershire, England, is the world's oldest continuously staged motorsport event still staged on its original course, having been first run in 1905.[1]
Hillclimbs incontinental Europe are usually held on courses which are several kilometres long, taking advantage of the available hills and mountains including theAlps. The most prestigious competition is theFIAEuropean Hill Climb Championship.
An Austrian venue:Gaisberg. A historic course is at Semmering.
TheFrench hill climb championship, orChampionnat 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 includePierre Maublanc (1967 and 1968),Daniel Rouveyran (1969),Hervé Bayard (1970) andJimmy Mieusset (1971, 1972, 1973 and 1974). The best-known Course de Côte areMont Ventoux andMont-Dore.
Germany has a long hillclimbing tradition, with some manufacturers of cars or motorcycles entering factory teams until ″Bergrennen″ became amateur events in the 1970s. Two states,Nordrhein-Westfalen undBaden-Württemberg, do not allow hillclimbing racing events anymore, mostly due to environmental reasons. Thus, the probably most famous event, theFreiburg-Schauinsland race in the Black Forest, is not a competition anymore like almost 100 years ago, when 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 km/h, the fastest motorcycle being Stegmann's DKW at 69.6 km/h."Caracciola (Mercedes) won the over two-litre racing car class.[2]
In the 1930s, during the era of the famous "Silver Arrows" fromAuto Union andMercedes-Benz,Hans Stuck (1900–1978) dominated European hillclimbing, which earned him the nickname "Bergkönig" or "King of the Mountains". The high-powered supercharged Grand Prix cars were often modified to use twin rear tyres, like trucks, to provide better traction.
Germany has only a small share of the Alps and few climbs there, like ″Jochrennen″ fromHindelang toOberjoch, with the Rossfeld race in theBerchtesgaden Alps being a part of the1965 World Sportscar Championship. At that time, Porsche entered lightweight open-top ″Bergspyder″ variants as their racing models were made for endurance racing up to 24 hours, with thePorsche 909 Bergspyder being the most extreme, weighing in at only 384kg.
Thus, most German hillclimbs are in theMittelgebirge regions, but even the rather flat northern part of Germany has hillclimbs, like the one inHilter nearOsnabrück, which is part of the German ″Berg Cup″ series. In the 2023 calendar,Schottenring,Wolsfeld, Iberg nearHeilbad Heiligenstadt,Homburg, Saarland, Hauenstein nearHausen, Rhön-Grabfeld,Eichenbühl,Mickhausen are the events in Germany. Additional rounds are held in Luxembourg, Austria or Switzerland.
In Great Britain, the format is different from that in other parts of Europe, with courses being much shorter. Cairncastle is Great Britain's longest hillclimb at 1.65 miles (2904 yards). These short courses are more akin to uphill sprints – and almost always take 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.
Hillclimbing is also relevant to motorcycle sport; the governing body is the National Hill Climb Association.[3]
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In the Italian championship, also known as theCampionato Italiano Velocità Montagna, there are the longest and most challenging hillclimbs likeTrento-Bondone,Coppa Bruno Carotti (the Italian races inFIAEuropean Hill Climb Championship),Pedavena-Croce d'Aune,Monte Erice andVerzegnis-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 two periods thanks to TV services, magazines and live Internet commentaries.
The most famous Italian drivers, who won a lot even in Europe, areLudovico Scarfiotti (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 theOsella PA20),Franz Tschager (three times European champion in the early 2000s),Simone Faggioli andDenny Zardo (Italian champion in 2005 and 2008, European champion in 2003)
Hillclimbing is a very popular sport on the island ofMalta. Numerous events are organised annually by theIsland Car Club. Participants are divided according to their type of vehicle into various categories ranging from single seaters to saloon cars.
There are several traditional hillclimbing race events in Portugal, and its national championship growing in popularity since 2010.Falperra International Hill Climb is the most popular and famous hillclimb, being held since 1927, most of the editions as part of the European Championship.[4]
In Romania, the first major event was the Feleac course, inCluj. From 1930, it was a round in theEuropean Hill Climb Championship. A record of the Feleac was set by famous German racerHans Stuck in 1938, driving a 600 bhp (450 kW) Auto Union Grand Prix car. Stuck stormed through the 7 km (4.3 mi) gravel course in 2 min 56 sec.[citation needed] In recent decades, the course was widened in order to be suitable for intense traffic and therefore is considered inappropriate for auto racing.[citation needed]
The modern Romanian hillclimbing event is theViteză în Coastă orCampionatul Național de Viteză pe Traseu Montan (VTM).[citation needed]
There are several traditional hillclimbing race events in Slovakia. Some of the best known and most popular include the Pezinská Baba hillclimb race and the Dobšinský Kopec hillclimb race.[5][6][7]
One of the most well known Slovak drivers competing in local and international hillclimb events is Jozef Béreš. Béreš is also very popular on social media networks thanks to the videos of him driving his legendary Audi Quattro S1 racecar.[8]
Motorracing was banned inSwitzerland in the aftermath of the fatal collision between cars at the24 Hours of Le Mansrace 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 theFIAEuropean Hill Climb Championship.
The most known hillclimb races are theGurnigelrennen, the course en côteAyent –Anzère, the course en côteSt. Ursanne – LesRangiers, and the historicKlausen Hill Climb known as the Klausenpassrennen.Ludovico Scarfiotti clinched the European hillclimb championship atOllon-Villars on August 30, 1965, driving a Dino Ferrari 2-litre.[9]
Canada's best known hillclimb event is the Knox Mountain Hillclimb, held inKelowna,British Columbia. It is a 3.5 km (2.2 mi) paved road, climbing 245 m (804 ft). It has run annually since the 1950s, attracting drivers from the Pacific Northwest.[10]
Hillclimb races were held in México in the 1960s and 1970s in places likeEl Chico, Puebla andLagunas de Zempoala.
On July 27, 1969, a very talented Mexican driver,Moisés Solana, died in the "Hill Climb Valle de Bravo-Bosencheve".[citation needed]
Since September 30 2017, Pedro Vargas founded the San Pedro Martir Hill Climb; the event is held in the Mexican state of Baja California. The temporary course was set on the road to the National Astronomical Observatory situated on the San Pedro Mártir mountain range, on a stretch from km marker 50 to km marker 80. As of 2024, it is regarded as the longest hill climb in the world.[11]The overall ascent record was set by the late Carlin Dunne at 14' 58" piloting a Honda CRF 450 c.c. supermoto.[12]
AnAustralian Hillclimb Championship was first staged in 1938 and has been contested annually since 1947.
Hillclimbing in Australia dates back to the early 1900s, and was most prevalent in the city ofMelbourne, at locations such asTemplestowe, Heidelberg andRob 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,[13] 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 ofSmiths Gully known as Rob Roy.
Mount Tarrengower, nearMaldon in CentralVictoria, 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. Current champion is 2 time winner and only female competitor to take the title in the history of the climb, Stacey Heaney on a 1971 Yamaha XS650.
The MG Car Club of Queensland Inc. (est. 1954) built theMount Cotton Hillclimb circuit and continues with its current management and operation. The first event held at this facility was on Sunday 18 February 1968. The dedicated 946 metres of tarmac circuit hosts the annual Queensland Hillclimb Championships, the Club's annual six round Hillclimb series and inter-club competitions. TheAustralian Hillclimb Championships have been held there on at least 9 occasions.
Australia's longest hillclimb course is the Poatina Hillclimb, a temporary closed road course that features an elevation gain of 580 m (1,900 ft) in 10.6 km (6.6 mi), climbing Mount Blackwood from the Norfolk Plains to the Central Plateau of Northern Tasmania. The inaugural event, conducted in February 2014, covered 7.2 km (4.5 mi); the second running, in 2015, saw the course extended.
South Australia features the historic permanent venueCollingrove,[14] as well as annual temporary venues including Mount Alma Mile, Willunga, Legend Of The Lakes and the state's longest course is the Eden Valley Hillclimb at 3.7 km (2.3 mi).
Hillclimbing is a popular club event inNew Zealand, although a number of international competitors and foreign motor racing enthusiasts attend the premiere hillclimb event on theNew Zealand motor sport calendar.
Race to the Sky was based nearQueenstown. Held every Easter from 1998 until 2007, it starts from the floor of theCardrona Valley and runs uphill for 15 km (9.3 mi) through 137 corners to the top, climbing from 1,500 ft (460 m) to 5,000 ft (1,500 m) averaging a 1:11gradient.
The driver with the greatest number of "Race to the Sky" outright wins (8) isNobuhiro "Monster" Tajima, driving his custom builtSuzuki Escudo hillclimb special vehicle.
The best-known hillclimb event inSouth Africa is held annually in early May during theKnysna Speed Festival, currently known asThe Simola Hillclimb and founded in 2009.[15] It is a three-day event, with Classic Car Friday reserved for cars built prior to 1990 and restricted to 65 entries. The King of the Hill Challenge (limited to 84 entries), for standard production and unrestricted cars in various classes, takes place over the weekend. The Saturday is for practice and pre-qualifying, while Sunday features final qualifying, the class finals and then the category shoot outs. The course length is 1.9 km (1.2 mi) up Simola Hill. It is very fast with the 2018 winning average speed being192.524 km/h (119.629 mph).[16] There was no event in 2013 and 2020. 2020 was cancelled due to COVID-19. The eleventh running of the event was held on 3-5 September 2021.[17]
The Kiamburing TT is an annual hillclimb event inKenya. It is the first of its kind in East Africa[18] and inspired by other international hillclimb events. It is atime attack event run on a closed course.
The event held inKiambu County in October 20, 2013 brought together over 15 high performance cars to compete in a timed race on the 18-kilometre (11 mi) Kiambu-Ndumberi road.
Some of the drivers who have competed in the Kiamburing TT include Amir Mohamed (winner 2013 Kiamburing TT Endurance event[19]) and Kay Wachira (winner 2014 Kiamburing TT Slalom Challenge). Returning to the Kiambu motoring circuit in 2015, Mohamed died in a crash during practice.[20]
