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43-608: The Potzberg is one of the "Palatine Domes" ( Pfälzer Kuppeln ) and is located in the western part of the Northern Palatine Uplands in the county of Kusel. Not only its relative height, but also its massive appearance make the hill a conspicuous high point in West Palatinate . Although the Stolzberg (572 m [1,877 ft]) and Königsberg (567 m [1,860 ft]) are somewhat higher,

86-661: 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

129-511: 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

172-401: A pedestal to the platform of the tower, it was opened on 13 July 1952 with about 3,000 guests present. Originally an 18.5-metre-high broadcasting aerial was erected on the platform. From here, Südwestfunk broadcast its radio programmes until 30 November 1993 and the then private radio station RPR1 until 24 March 1993. Due to the dilapidation of the tower, however, the transmission antenna

215-661: 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

258-688: 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

301-738: 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

344-615: The Dreikönigszug ("Epiphany Shaft"). The Dreikönigszug , which had been in operation for almost nine decades, was one of the most profitable mercury mines in the Palatinate and Germany. Even today, numerous surface remnants in the Potzberg forest such as portals ( Mundlöcher ), collapsed tunnels ( pingen ), spoil tips , the gallery spring ( Stollen Quelle , "Yellow Water") as well as the former mining administrator's house in

387-579: 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

430-703: 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

473-628: The Westrich Plateau . Its former name of "Further Palatinate" ( Hinterpfalz ), which emerged during the time of Bavarian rule in 1816 and was viewed by the local population as very discriminatory, is only commonly used in the Anterior Palatinate ( Vorderpfalz ). The following counties and independent towns or cities lie wholly or partly in the Western Palatinate:: The county of Donnersbergkreis and

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516-611: 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

559-428: 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

602-541: 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

645-518: 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

688-890: 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

731-511: 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

774-699: 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

817-752: 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

860-538: The Potzberg has been given the epithet of "King of the Westrich ", the name of the local region. In 1964/65, the road was extended up to top of the Potzberg. Its summit belongs to the municipality of Föckelberg and is home to the Potzberg Wildlife Park , Potzberg Tower , a Bundeswehr military tower and a hotel. Potzberg was a mining centre in the Palatinate in the 18th and 19th centuries. From

903-568: 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

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946-607: 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

989-481: 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 ,

1032-519: 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 the most competitive of the European national series, attracting many new F2 and 2-litre sports cars during

1075-585: 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

1118-575: 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. Hillclimbs in continental Europe are usually held on courses which are several kilometres long, taking advantage of

1161-673: 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

1204-704: 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

1247-588: 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

1290-417: 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

1333-475: The first decades of the 18th century until 1866, mining for the mercury mineral cinnabar was evidently carried out at Potzberg. The mining district in this second Palatine mining period mainly covered the municipalities of Gimsbach, Rutsweiler, Mühlbach and Föckelberg. The government of the Electorate of the Palatinate promised itself new sources of income with the production of mercury . This began on

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1376-479: 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

1419-509: The largest US community outside the United States. By far the largest city and the upper center of the region is Kaiserslautern with around 102,000 inhabitants, followed by Pirmasens and Zweibrücken. The following list lists the largest settlements in the region: Hillclimbing Hillclimbing , also known as hill climbing , speed hillclimbing , or speed hill climbing , is a branch of motorsport in which drivers compete against

1462-436: The miners' settlement of Dreikönigszug and the housing estate of Kellerhäuschen are still reminiscent of the history of mining on the Potzberg. The present Potzberg Tower , which has several predecessors, was built in only 39 working days. The foundation stone was laid on 13 October 1951, on 2 December 1951 the last stone on the 35-metre-high structure was cemented into placed. After the construction of 165 wooden steps and

1505-420: The mining boom. Unfortunately, however, many projects were unsuccessful and closed down after a short period. Very few mines were able to survive for any length of time and operate more or less profitably. After its expectant beginning and years of hope, mining gradually declined on the Potzberg. In 1795, there were only five mines still in operation; in 1850 only three mines were left, and, in 1866, mining ended at

1548-685: 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

1591-584: The old counties of Rockenhausen and Kirchheimbolanden were also counted as part of the Western Palatinate in the widest sense, but are often viewed as an independent region ( North Palatinate or Nordpfalz ). A different definition also existed for the division of the police force: the Police District of West Palatinate ( Polizeipräsidium Westpfalz ) looked after just the western part of Donnersbergkreis county (roughly corresponding to

1634-465: The old county of Rockenhausen) as well as the collective municipality of Meisenheim in the county of Bad Kreuznach as well as the above administrative regions. Almost 550,000 people live in West Palatinate, including around 30,000 foreigners. There are also around 50,000 Americans living in the greater Kaiserslautern area, who are not recorded in the official population statistics. They form

1677-482: The southern Potzberg ("Alter Potzberg"), but from 1771 the focus shifted to the much richer northern Potzberg. Its zenith was probably in the 1780s. An old mining map by Electoral Palatine master miner ( Bergmeister ), Adolph E. Ludolph, dates to this time The names of the mine bear witness to the Christian faith of the miners. Numerous test pits, prospecting tunnels and other prospecting marks indicate this period of

1720-679: The top of the Potzberg. It was 3.34 kilometres long. West Palatinate Western Palatinate or West Palatinate ( German : Westpfalz ) is a sub-region in the west of the Palatinate , a German cultural and historic region in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate . It includes the western part of the Palatine Forest , the central part of the North Palatine Uplands , the West Palatine Moor and

1763-651: Was dismantled. Its successor is the telecommunication tower on the Bornberg (520 m) at Schneeweiderhof near Eßweiler ; it is used today by Südwestrundfunk . The Potzberg Run ( Potzberglauf ) is 8,210 metres long and climbs through 342 metres in height. It takes place annually in November and is one of the Palatine Mountain Running Cup series. Until 1997 there was an annual mountain race for touring cars from Mühlbach to

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1806-488: 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

1849-689: 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

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