SATURDAY – PIGEON BAY ROAD, DUVAUCHELLE

The 2020 Banks Peninsula Hillclimb Weekend was a South Island Sealed Qualifying round of the 2020/2021 MotorSport New Zealand Hillclimb Championship. 

A full field of 40 competitors entered the first day of the weekend but a couple of last-minute issues saw the number of starters drop to 38.  With the preliminaries out of the way it was time to start the competition.  First up was the timed practice.  This practice run gave the competitors an opportunity to get an idea of the road at speed without it counting for the overall results.  Dave Ollis’s day ended before it started on the practice run when his Subaru Impreza Sti Type R suffered a terminal mechanical failure.  Matt Penrose and Jarrod Owens driving Semog Bravo cross cars set the pace on the practice run on 1:30.75 and 1:33.21 respectively.  Competition behind the two forerunners was close with 4 seconds covering the next 12 competitors.  Mike Tall, Mitsubishi Evo 4, was next on 1:37.09 with Greg Crossan, Subaru WRX Coupe, hard on his heels .72 behind.  Right on Greg’s tail was Stefan Moser-Rust, Mitsubishi Evo 5, on a low 1:38.  Also on 1:38 was Michael Skevington in the first 2WD car.  Half a second behind was Mosgiel’s Chris Hey in his Toyota MR220.  The next 5 competitors were all on 1:40’s and rounded out the top 12.  Sam Gardiner, Subaru Legacy RSR, and Mark Higgins, Mitsubishi Evo 3 were having a good battle and were separated by .12 for 13^th and 14^th respectively.

The first run saw Matt and Jarrod hold their places at the top of the field with just over 3 seconds between them.  Below them there was a lot of shuffling going on.  Stefan had jumped up into 3^rd overall .27 behind Jarrod.  Also on a 1:32 was 15 year old Jack Winter from Dunedin driving a Semog Bravo Cross Car.  Just over 2 seconds behind was Mark Higgins.  The next 3 competitors were all on 1:36’s with Chris and Michael setting identical times.  Rounding out the top 10 was Stuart Carter, Toyota Starlet, .09 behind Mike Tall with Jason Clark, Mitsubishi Evo 5, 3/10’s behind.  The competitors from 12^th to 21^st were covered by 4.5 seconds.

Run Two saw a bit of movement at the top of the field.  Matt was still holding 1^st with a 1:27.27.  Jeremy Beaton, Mitsubishi Evo 1, had leapfrogged his way up the field from 15^th to 2^nd overall just under 3 seconds adrift.  Jack and Jarrod, both on 1:30’s, held 3^rd and 4^th overall respectively.  On this run Stefan’s weekend came to an early end as Pigeon Bay Road’s notorious “Crash Corner” claimed another victim.  Josh Mitchell, Subaru Impreza WRX STI, had some mechanical issues that ended his day early.  There were good battles going on throughout the field with three quarters of it covered by 15 seconds.

The third and final run of the day saw Matt hold onto a comfortable lead of nearly 4 seconds from Jeremy.  It was much closer between Jeremy and Jack who were separated by .08.  Jarrod was just under a second behind for 4^th overall.  Despite his off in Run 2 Stefan’s fastest time of 1:32.38 was good enough for 6^th overall.  “Crash Corner” claimed the Toyota Corolla of Taylor Judd on this run which resulted in suspension and steering damage.  David Owen, Ford Escort MKII, and Tyson Adams, Mitsubishi Evo 2, had terminal mechanical issues on this run.  There were still close battles going on amongst the majority of the rest of the field.  The competition for 26^th to 32^nd places was pretty close with these competitors, headed by Liam Gee, Toyota Corolla Levin, and rounded out by Sam Moulton, Toyota Starlet Turbo, being covered by 1.6 seconds.

SUNDAY – KINLOCH ROAD, LITTLE RIVER

Another full field of 40 was expected to start the Little River Hillclimb but this was reduced to 33 after the previous day’s car issues.  After some late changes to the entry list the event kicked off with the timed practice run.  Jason Clark, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 5, was the only competitor not to get a time on this run as he stopped not long after the start.  Matt Penrose driving a Semog Bravo continued his winning ways with 1:57.14 giving him a 3 second lead from Jeremy Beaton’s Mitsubishi Evo 1.  The next four competitors were covered by 2 seconds. Jack Winter’s Semog Bravo didn’t have a repeat of the issue that saw him stop briefly on the Indian File to sit in 7^th overall.  Rounding out the top 10 were Mark Higgins, Mitsubishi Evo 3, with Andrew Oakley, Audi RS5 Quattro, just under 2 seconds behind and Tim McIver, Ford Escort MKII hard on his exhaust pipe .25 behind.  Further down the field an even narrower margin of .19 separated Brendon Wadsworth, Ford Fiesta R2, from the Triumph 2.5 PI of Gavin Jackson in 23^rd and 24^th overall. 

The first to have event ending mechanical issues was Nick Donaldson’s Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 4.  The remaining 32 competitors completed the first run without too many issues.  Matt knocked just shy of 2 seconds off his practice run time to hold an almost 6 second lead over Mike Tall in the borrowed Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 4 of Jussara Kokshoorn.  This run saw the beginning of issues for Jeremy’s Evo 1.  Jack moved up 2 places to 5^th overall with an almost 5 second improvement on his practice run.  It was pretty close between 2^nd and 15^th place which were covered by 11 seconds.  Jason Clark, Stuart Carter, Toyota Starlet, and Andrew Oakley were having a good battle for 8^th, 9^th and 10^th with .2 covering the three of them.  Even closer were Brendon Wadsworth and Paul McCulla, Peugeot 205 GTI, who were separated by .08 for 23^rd and 24^th. Carmen Liemburg, Mazda MX5, was .02 between Paul in 25^th.  Unfortunately, Paul’s day came to an end on this run with engine issues.

The second run of the day saw Matt continue hold station at the front of the field a comfortable 5 seconds ahead of Jarrod.  Jack now rounded out a cross car podium moving up to 3^rd overall less than a second behind Jarrod.  Michael Skevington’s Honda Civic was the first 2WD in 4^th overall half a second behind Jack.  Also on the cusp of breaking the 2 minute mark were the Evo’s of Mark Higgins and Mike Tall.  Half a second covered Chris Hey, Toyota MR2, Andrew Oakley and Willy Hawes, Toyota Celica GT4, as the battle for 12^th, 13^th and 14^th heated up.  Mechanical issues continued to plague Jeremy’s Evo 1 as he only made it to the first corner on this run.

The ultimate run of the day saw Matt hold onto 1^st place with a record time for a cross car of 1:52.65.  Jack Winter continued his charge taking 2^nd overall from Jarrod who tied for 3^rd with Mark Higgins.  Mike also broke the 2-minute mark for 5^th overall from Michael Skevington.  Jussara Kokshoorn put together a tidy run to go almost 6 seconds quicker and jumped from 16^th to 11^th overall.  Willy pulled out a lead over Chris and Andrew who were separated by a tenth of a second for 12^th, 13^th and 14^th respectively.  It was also close for 22^nd, 23^rd and 24^th between Gavin Jackson, Carmen Liemburg and Dwight Parlane, Honda Integra, with .83 covering the trio.  The pairing of Daniel Haworth, who had a moment at one of the right-hand bends on this run in his Mazda RX7 S1, and Brendon Wadsworth were .19 apart for 25^th and 26th.  Paul McCulla, despite the terminal engine issues early in the day finished in 27^th from Liam Gee, Toyota Corolla Levin, .85 behind in 28^th.  Jeremy’s mechanical issues worsened and he just got off the start line when the Evo 1 came to halt.

Congratulations to Matt Penrose for winning both events and the overall weekend.  The all cross-car podium was mirrored in the combined results for the weekend.  Many thanks to all our helpers over the weekend.  Without their invaluable assistance we would not be able to run these events.  Thanks also to the competitors who travelled from all round the South Island.  We also thank Southern Trust for their support of the event.

Click Here for results.

Article added: Friday 13 November 2020