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Conditions were perfect too- hovering at 80 for a high with spotty clouds. Crowds were manageable and some of the turns have bleachers set up for easy viewing. You can work your way up the hill and cross the track at times when the cars are not on the course. It’s interesting to position yourself in different turns to see how the same cars perform (or not) in varying conditions. Some drivers were more drag racers and had issues handling anything that wasn’t straight while other drivers took left handers like Nascar drivers and right handers like… well, Nascar drivers. There were no serious casualties that I witnessed other than one open wheel car tapping a front lip on a granite curb.
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There were dozens of classes so I’m not going to post the complete list of results here but the new course record was set by George Bowland in a 2002 BBR Shark. 2011 was also the first year of the new course layout and the average time increased from 64.544 with an FTD (Fastest Time of the Day) of 53.983 to 93.868 with an FTD of 73.374. Hill climbs are definitely great events for spectators to attend because you can get close to the action and enjoy the slight high from the bouquet of brake dust, coolant, tire smoke, and race gas. The host club, BMR, uploaded some really cool videos to their website as well. Thanks to David Evans for all the great photography for this article.
The PHA will be running the Giants Despair Hill Climb near Wilkes-Barre, PA July 9th and 10th so check it out if you’re in the area. Better yet- get your car out there!
