The Banks Peninsula Hillclimb Weekend in October started on Saturday at Gebbies Pass with a small field of 13 cars competing. Maybe they were put off by last year’s 140kmh winds. The first casualty of the day was Doug who damaged one of the muscles in his leg while setting up the course and had to take himself off to hospital.

Stu Carter in his Toyota Starlet set the early pace on the first run of the day with a 2:46.26 followed by Stefan Moser-Rust, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 5, 2:48.10 and Tim McIver, Ford Escort MK2, 2:50.07. The rest of the field were spread out with the exception of just over 30 seconds separating places 9th to 11th.

Run two saw Stefan take the lead with a 2:41.18, followed by Tim on 2:43.56 then Stu dropping to 3rd on 2:44.92. Monty McHaffie’s Toyota Celica came to a halt at Radio Point 1 with a broken gearbox, while Derek Hartley in the Subaru Impreza WRX STI had his brakes lock on at the start line and could not start the run.

Run three and Stefan opted to sit out the rest of the event. With 6 drivers setting their fastest times, the order stayed mostly unchanged but Stu closed the gap to Tim to 0.3 of a second.Run four saw some changes as 4 drivers set their fastest times. The big movers were Graham Crow, Mazda MX5, up 4 places and Trevor Crowe in his Subaru Justy 3 places.

With the low numbers the event was all over just after 1.30 allowing everyone plenty of time to prepare for day two.

A slightly larger field of 20, including Monty McHaffie who had replaced the gearbox in his Celica, fronted up at Little River for Day two of the Banks Peninsula Hillclimb Weekend which was also Round 7 of the Canterbury Motorsport Clubs InterClub Challenge.  Darryl Smith was the first casualty of the day, out with a clutch problem. Tim McIver, Ford Escort MK2, set the quickest time of 2:10.09 on Run 1, from Derek Hartley, 2:12.95 and Stefan, 2:13.34. James McIver, who was sharing the drive of the Escort with Dad Tim, and George Coates, Porsche 924, didn’t record times on Run 1.

Run 2 saw Stefan move into the lead with a 2:05.40 from Tim who was just under 2 seconds behind. It was close between third and fourth as James and Daniel Liemburg, Mazda MX5, were separated by .31. Stu Carter, Toyota Starlet, and Bryce Mitchell, Honda Civic, significantly improved their first run times by 23 and 12 seconds respectively.

Stefan held his lead on Run 3 knocking just over 3 seconds off his second run time. James moved into 2nd overall from Gareth Evans, Nissan Skyline R32, who was .26 behind. A second further back was Stu. 5th and 6th positions were also being closely contested between Daniel and Tim on 2:06.16 and 2:06.72. Another close contest was between Bryce and Graham Crow, Mazda MX5, for 13th and 14th.

The 4th run got underway with a few of the drivers opting to do the run. Second to go was Stu who put the Starlet on its side not far from the finish. As the damage to the Starlet was extensive the times for those who had done Run 4 were wiped and the results were taken from the three completed runs. Congratulations to Stefan on taking 1st overall for the day. Well done to James for his impressive 2nd place on debut at this event and Gareth for taking the 3rd spot.

The prize giving took place at the Little River Inn where our hard-working volunteers enjoyed a well-deserved orange juice, thanks to you all for your invaluable assistance over the day and weekend. 

10 competitors competed in both rounds of the weekend.  Stefan’s two firsts secured him first overall to take home the Banks Peninsula Hillclimb Trophy.  Rounding out the podium were Stu and Tim.

Many thanks to our course set up crew and course marshals for doing a superb job as always over the weekend.  We greatly appreciate your help and could not put these events on without you all.

Click Here for results.

Article added: Friday 25 October 2024