Hillclimbing , also known as hill climbing , speed hillclimbing , or speed hill climbing , is a branch of motorsport 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 near Nice , France, took place as long ago as 31 January 1897. The hillclimb held at Shelsley 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.
55-558: The Shelsley Walsh Speed Hill Climb is a hillclimb in Shelsley Walsh , Worcestershire , England , organised by the Midland Automobile Club (MAC). It is one of the oldest motorsport events in the world, and is the oldest to have been staged continuously (wartime excepted) on its original course, first having been run in 1905. On that first occasion, the course was 992 yards (907 m) in length, but in 1907 it
110-472: A 16-cylinder Auto Union . The weather was wet however, and he was unable to even match the time he set in 1930, with a best time of 45.2. Fellow German Walter Baumer set a time of 42.6 in an Austin, a new 750cc record and just a second slower than fastest time of the day winner Mays. For the September 1936 meeting new timing apparatus were installed, allowing timing to the one-hundredth of a second rather than
165-661: A 1971 Yamaha XS650. The MG Car Club of Queensland Inc. (est. 1954) built the Mount 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. The Australian Hillclimb Championships have been held there on at least 9 occasions. Australia's longest hillclimb course
220-554: A 3L capacity and 125 bhp (93 kW) driving the rear wheels. The car could be had with a selection of body styles. There were plans for a straight 10 3.9 litre version but this never materialised. In 1931 the "Sport" variation of the Nacional Pescara tuned for racing won the European Hill Climb Championship. The company ceased to exist just before the 1936 Spanish revolution , with
275-511: 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 PA20), Franz Tschager (three times European champion in
330-530: A borrowed conventional Bugatti for the event itself. 1932 also saw the introduction of a live radio broadcast by the BBC at Open events, which would run throughout the rest of the 1930s. From 1933 the two annual events were placed on equal footing as Open events, and it was at the second of these, in September that Stuck's record was finally broken first by Mays in Riley in 42.2 seconds, then by eventual fastest time of
385-402: A formula based on power and cars of 20 hp or more being required to be four-seaters and to carry passengers. All cars were required to carry full touring trim and a full load of passengers. The winner was calculated by multiplying the car's time in seconds by the horsepower, and then divided by the total weight (including the weight of the driver and passengers and any ballast). There was also
440-524: A government backed attempt to create a Spanish motor industry. The project was the idea of Raúl Pateras Pescara , and the first car was designed by his brother Enrique and Italian engineer Edmond Moglia. The company was set up in 1929 in Barcelona with an investment of 70 million pesetas , cars went on sale in 1930. The car produced was called the Eight and was a twin cam inline eight-cylinder engine with
495-419: A light car class from 1920–1922, and also recognised was the fastest amateur driver who was a member of the organising club, known as the closed winner. Times continued to come down, and during the 1920s the emphasis moved firmly away from reliability and onto speed. A new generation of competitors emerged with Count Zborowski of Chitty Bang Bang fame driving a Sunbeam in 1921 and Raymond Mays taking to
550-466: A move from Saturday to Sunday meetings, despite protests from, among others, the Lord's Day Observance Society . Several Formula One drivers competed regularly at Shelsley in this era, among them four-time British Hill Climb Championship winner Ken Wharton who broke the hill record on four occasions, and Tony Marsh . The young Stirling Moss would have made his competition debut at Shelsley in 1947, but
605-628: A new lady's record of 24.70 seconds. Hillclimbing Hillclimbs in continental Europe are usually held on courses which are several kilometres long, taking advantage of the available hills and mountains including the Alps . The most prestigious competition is the FIA European Hill Climb Championship . An Austrian venue: Gaisberg . An historic course is at Semmering. The French hill climb championship , or Championnat de France de la Montagne , has been one of
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#1732802126893660-516: 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 ) and Kay Wachira (winner 2014 Kiamburing TT Slalom Challenge). Returning to the Kiambu motoring circuit in 2015, Mohamed died in a crash during practice. Nacional Pescara Nacional Pescara was
715-661: 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
770-688: Is the most popular and famous hillclimb, being held since 1927, most of the editions as part of the European Championship. In Romania, the first major event was the Feleac course, in Cluj . From 1930, it was a round in the European Hill Climb Championship . A record of the Feleac was set by famous German racer Hans Stuck in 1938, driving a 600 bhp (450 kW) Auto Union Grand Prix car. Stuck stormed through
825-738: 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 known as Rob Roy. Mount Tarrengower, near Maldon in Central Victoria , has an annual Hillclimb hosted by
880-579: The New Zealand motor sport calendar. Race to the Sky was based near Queenstown . Held every Easter from 1998 until 2007, it starts from the floor of the Cardrona 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 1:11 gradient . The driver with the greatest number of "Race to
935-703: The Porsche 909 Bergspyder being the most extreme, weighing in at only 384kg. Thus, most German hillclimbs are in the Mittelgebirge regions, but even the rather flat northern part of Germany has hillclimbs, like the one in Hilter near Osnabrück , which is part of the German ″Berg Cup″ series. In the 2023 calendar, Schottenring , Wolsfeld , Iberg near Heilbad Heiligenstadt , Homburg, Saarland , Hauenstein near Hausen, Rhön-Grabfeld , Eichenbühl , Mickhausen are
990-514: The closed competition taking place at the earlier meeting, and the open event later in the year. The 1930s were a golden era for Shelsley. The decade began with some notable changes. Most important of these was that the Open meeting for 1930 would count towards the first European Hill Climbing Championship . As a result, it was decided to move the Open date to July, with the Amateur meeting taking
1045-611: The 1950s, attracting drivers from the Pacific Northwest. 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, a very talented Mexican driver, Moisés Solana , died in the "Hill Climb Valle de Bravo-Bosencheve". Since September 30 2017, Pedro Vargas founded the San Pedro Martir Hill Climb; the event is held in
1100-541: The 1970s. Two states, Nordrhein-Westfalen und Baden-Württemberg , do not allow hillclimbing racing events anymore, mostly due to environmental reasons. Thus, the probably most famous event, the Freiburg-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
1155-518: The 7 km (4.3 mi) gravel course in 2 min 56 sec. In recent decades, the course was widened in order to be suitable for intense traffic and therefore is considered inappropriate for auto racing. The modern Romanian hillclimbing event is the Viteză în Coastă or Campionatul Național de Viteză pe Traseu Montan (VTM). There are several traditional hillclimbing race events in Slovakia. Some of
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#17328021268931210-798: The British and continental European championships. Hillclimbing is also relevant to motorcycle sport; the governing body is the National Hill Climb Association. In the Italian championship, also known as the Campionato Italiano Velocità Montagna , there are the longest and most challenging hillclimbs like Trento-Bondone , Coppa Bruno Carotti (the Italian races in FIA European Hill Climb Championship ), Pedavena-Croce d'Aune , Monte Erice and Verzegnis-Sella Chianzutan , which are also
1265-511: 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 being 192.524 km/h (119.629 mph) . There
1320-699: 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. The overall ascent record was set by the late Carlin Dunne at 14' 58" piloting a Honda CRF 450 c.c. supermoto. An Australian Hillclimb Championship
1375-752: 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″ from Hindelang to Oberjoch , with the Rossfeld race in the Berchtesgaden Alps being a part of the 1965 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
1430-426: The September date. It was also decided that the track should be resurfaced, now sprayed with bitumen. The two most important international competitors at this meeting were Hans Stuck in an Austro Daimler and Rudolf Caracciola in a Mercedes SSK sports car of the type he raced to win the 1929 RAC Tourist Trophy . Stuck was able to significantly lower Raymond May's record time to 42.8 seconds, taking fastest time of
1485-568: The Sky" outright wins (8) is Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima , driving his custom built Suzuki Escudo hillclimb special vehicle. The best-known hillclimb event in South Africa is held annually in early May during the Knysna Speed Festival, currently known as The Simola Hillclimb and founded in 2009. 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
1540-607: 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
1595-481: The aftermath of the fatal collision between cars at the 24 Hours of Le Mans 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 . The most known hillclimb races are the Gurnigelrennen , the course en côte Ayent – Anzère ,
1650-585: The best known and most popular include the Pezinská Baba hillclimb race and the Dobšinský Kopec hillclimb race. 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. Motor racing was banned in Switzerland in
1705-411: The course as a teenager in 1948. Also present for the occasion were Joe Dunn, editor of Motor Sport , Moss' biographer, Philip Porter, and Moss' personal Jaguar XK120 . In August 2021 the long standing outright hill record was beaten by Sean Gould with the new mark set at 22.37 seconds. Alex Summers was close behind with 22.52 and Wallace Menzies with 22.55 seconds. Later that day Nicola Menzies set
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1760-729: The course en côte St. Ursanne – Les Rangiers , and the historic Klausen Hill Climb known as the Klausenpassrennen. Ludovico Scarfiotti clinched the European hillclimb championship at Ollon-Villars on August 30, 1965, driving a Dino Ferrari 2-litre. Canada's best known hillclimb event is the Knox Mountain Hillclimb, held in Kelowna , British Columbia . It is a 3.5 km (2.2 mi) paved road, climbing 245 m (804 ft). It has run annually since
1815-507: The day winner Whitney Straight in 41.2 seconds in his Maserati . Straight would lower his record to 40.0 seconds at the following June 1934 meeting. It was Mays who was first to break 40 seconds, at the May 1935 meeting. He set a time of 39.8 seconds in his 1.5 litre ERA but later improved this slightly to 39.6 in his 2-litre ERA. For the June 1936 meeting Hans Stuck made his return, this time in
1870-507: The day, with Caracciola setting fastest time for a sports car but finding the running difficult in such a large car. Both Germans would go on to win their respective 1930 Hill Climbing Championships. For 1931 the Open event was again a part of the European Championship but few international entries were received. In the end just two foreign cars were entered, both factory Nacional Pescaras . As drivers Zanelli and Tort understood little English and had never been before, they had difficulty finding
1925-399: The day: 55.2 seconds, more than eight seconds faster than H. C. Holder's mark of 63.4 seconds which had been set just two years before. The First World War intervened and hillclimbing did not resume until July 1920. The formula competition continued into the 1920s but focus quickly shifted towards earning fastest time of the day (FTD). Awards were also given for a cyclecar class in 1913, and
1980-704: 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) Hillclimbing is a very popular sport on the island of Malta . 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. There are several traditional hillclimbing race events in Portugal, and its national championship growing in popularity since 2010. Falperra International Hill Climb
2035-502: The entry list was full; he had to be content with a win in 1948. The first sub-30 second climb at Shelsley was made by David Hepworth in 1971 in his own four-wheel-drive Hepworth FF, and little by little the outright record was chipped away - particularly by Alister Douglas-Osborn , who broke it no fewer than eight times between 1976 and 1983 - until Richard Brown brought it down to 25.34 seconds in 1992. However, an increasingly uneven surface made smooth runs more difficult, and around
2090-588: 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
2145-417: 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. In the 1930s, during the era of the famous "Silver Arrows" from Auto Union and Mercedes-Benz , Hans Stuck (1900–1978) dominated European hillclimbing, which earned him the nickname "Bergkönig" or "King of
2200-435: The hill for the first time in a self tuned Hillman . Basil Davenport was perhaps Shelsley's first "superstar", breaking the hill record four times between 1926 and 1928 in his GN "Spider". Starting in 1923, numerous class awards were introduced, at first for different engine capacities but later also dividing cars into touring, sports and racing types as well. Starting in 1926, it was decided to hold two events per year, with
2255-479: The historic permanent venue Collingrove , 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 in New Zealand , although a number of international competitors and foreign motor racing enthusiasts attend the premiere hillclimb event on
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2310-536: 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 and Mont-Dore . Germany has a long hillclimbing tradition, with some manufacturers of cars or motorcycles entering factory teams until ″Bergrennen″ became amateur events in
2365-685: 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, are Ludovico 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
2420-493: The most powerful cars and the rest is greater than at many other venues. It is also narrow, being no more than 12 feet (3.66 m) wide at some points. The winner of the first event, held on Saturday 12 August 1905, was Ernest Instone (35 hp Daimler ), who established the hill record by recording a time of 77.6 seconds for an average speed of 26.15 mph (42.08 km/h). However, at that time hillclimbs were not strictly speed events at all, performances being rated in terms of
2475-410: The one-tenth previously. However due to very poor weather times were not improved. At the next meeting however (June 1937), in good weather Mays was able to lower his record to 39.09 in the first event to take place over two days. At the last meeting before World War II , in June 1939, Mays set a new record of 37.37 seconds in his ERA R4D. Hillclimbing resumed at the track in 1947, and the 1950s saw
2530-413: The question of whether a particular car would make it up the hill at all. In these early years, drivers' times were not announced to spectators. Restrictions on competing cars were dropped from 1913, meaning that specialised racing cars were now eligible to enter Shelsley. Unsurprisingly, climbs immediately became much faster, and on 7 June 1913, Joseph Higginson's Vauxhall 30-98 recorded the best time of
2585-455: The start of the 21st century, the 25 second barrier had still not been broken. Meanwhile, the MAC had the much more pressing problem of its future to confront. The land on which the course is run does not belong to the MAC, but is rather leased from a local landowner. The original lease, taken out in 1905, ran for the common length of 99 years - which meant that a solution was urgently needed if 2004
2640-506: The track and were late to arrive. Although they were unprepared, new to the track and had to make numerous changes to gear ratios, the Nacional Pescaras set times of 44.4 and 44.6 seconds respectively. Fastest time of the day went to R.G.J. Nash in a Frazer Nash "The Terror" with 43.3 seconds, with Mays a fifth of a second slower in his Vauxhall. Prior to the June 1932 Open meeting, a large rain-storm caused significant damage to
2695-416: The track. However although it was initially feared the 1932 season would need to be cancelled, a large team of volunteers were able to have the track ready in time. The only international entry for 1932 attracted great interest as it was a four-wheel-drive Bugatti , entered by the factory and to be driven by Ettore Bugatti 's son Jean . Unfortunately Jean crashed the car during a practice run and had to use
2750-406: Was achieved, and the new lease signed in 2005. For nine years, the track record had stood at 25.34 seconds and many wondered when it would fall again and who could beat the record. The Scottish driver Graeme Wight Jr was the first to achieve the feat, in 2002, and he collected the £1,000 prize which had been put up for the first driver to dip under 25 seconds with a run of 24.85 seconds. The record
2805-488: 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 of Melbourne , 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
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#17328021268932860-536: Was lowered several more times in the next few years, including two records in 2008 by three-time reigning champion Martin Groves . In the June meeting, he took the record down to 22.71 seconds and then shaved 0.13 seconds off that record in the August meeting to set the record at 22.58 seconds. At the meeting on 11 June 2021, a memorial plaque to Stirling Moss was unveiled, highlighting the fact that he first competed on
2915-689: 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. The Kiamburing TT is an annual hillclimb event in Kenya . It is the first of its kind in East Africa and inspired by other international hillclimb events. It is a time attack event run on a closed course. The event held in Kiambu County in October 20, 2013 brought together over 15 high performance cars to compete in
2970-463: Was not to mark the end of hillclimbing at the venue. The owners of the land would not consider selling it outright, but were prepared to extend the lease (by a further 99 years). This, however, would cost a very substantial sum of money, and so the MAC launched the Shelsley Trust, with the aim of raising over a million pounds in order to secure the future of hillclimbing at Shelsley. This target
3025-487: Was standardised at 1000 yards (914 m), the length it remains today. Shelsley Walsh is a notably steep course by the standards of today's hillclimbs held in the United Kingdom. It rises 328 feet (100 m) during its length, for an average gradient of 1 in 9.14 (10.9%), with the steepest section being as much as 1 in 6.24 (16%). This makes Shelsley a hill on which power is important, and on which the gap in times between
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