To Neal and all,
First, thanks for the great in car footage in what must a royally fast
sports racer. That was a really lengthy hill , given the run time of the video.
I share your interest in the Hillclimb arena, as a former member of the NHA
( Northwest Hillclimb Association, out of Idaho) I have run Hillclimbs in
Oregon, and the only one in Northern California (Hoopa). It is a Natural
progression for seasoned autocrossers to move up to Hillclimb or even Solo 1
time trials.
However, this sport is not a easily organized in this state, the roadblocks
are too numerous to list here, but suffice it to say the CHP and the local
residents or municipalities will thwart most efforts to set up an event here.
There have been many infamous and seasoned racers in northern California that
have tried to do this ( Hi Dennis, Peggy, Mr Bob and many others! ) and been
shot down by the bureaucrats, and even the absolute costs of such events.
This is a shame, but not surprising given the resistance that we have to
site selection for just Solo 2 events. Hillclimbs work best in semi-rural
states, where the events have been in place for decades ( New England states)
or the southeast (Beech Mtn, etc). ( Oregon , Idaho , Montana, Utah) there
also has to be a form of economic need for a locale to want this type of sport.
Remember, we would compete with non- motorized sports for locations and we
make a bit of noise when we operate. We would have to show some serious revenue
to overcome that one obstacle alone. This would mean that somehow, we would
have to charge an exorbitant entry fee. ( Yet ,how much is a speeding ticket
on a Rural California road? ) Even if that were solved the events rarely can
operate with over 75-80 drivers for a two-day weekend event, given the limits
of road closure time.
So what are we left with, a wealthy landowner, and a big paved driveway?
That, is a bit of how we, (SCCA-SFR ) set up Thunderhill, but it's unlikely we
would ever get that lucky for Hillclimb usage.
( A bit of history, SCCA used to operate hillclimbs in the Sierra foothills
and at Donner pass on old Highway 40, many years ago.) Today, the
Motorcyclists, and kart racers get to race on old Highway 40 , during a
Motorcycle extravaganza in August every summer.
Not a statement of the impossible, but rather, a reality check for all of us
who may someday lobby to resurrect this very entertaining mode of racing.
Weigh in with your opinions, ideas etc. It would be great create a new legacy
of this type of racing...
Joe Kruskamp
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