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MEDIA
RELEASE
7 OCTOBER
2007
GRAVES WINS EXCITING
KAITANGATA HILLCLIMB
Gore driver Andrew Graves in his Mitsubishi
EVO 3 prevailed in a see-saw battle for victory in Saturday's
Kaitangata Promotions Bob
Scott Memorial Hillclimb. The hillclimb had been a National
Gold Star event throughout the 1960's and 70's and was revived this year after
a break of almost thirty years.
Graves scorched up the 1.2 kilometre gravel road at Whites Road, City Forests in a
time of 55.657 seconds on his fourth and final run of the day to edge out
local driver Duncan McCrostie in another Mitsubishi EVO. McCrostie had been the fastest after the third run but although he
improved his time to 55.802 on the final attempt he could not beat the
Gore driver's time.
Outram driver Glenn Frew finished third
after becoming the first driver to go under the one minute mark when he
recorded a 57.810 on the opening run. However Frew spun on his second
attempt and while he managed to drop his times on the third and fourth
runs he could not match Graves and McCrostie and ended with a 56.681.
Frew led after the first run before Graves
snatched the lead on the second. Then McCrostie took the lead on the
third before Graves posted the winning time on the final attempt. The
battle provided a fantastic spectacle for the large crowd that crammed the
various vantage points.
The battle for both outright and class
honours was enthralling as the times dropped steadily throughout the day
and the drivers became more familiar with the road.
Gore driver Craig Abernethy ended the day
in fourth place with a 57.402 followed by Invercargill driver Mark
McMillan who did a fantastic job in an older Subaru Legacy to climb the hill
in 57.472 seconds.
Brian Scott was sixth in a time of 58.727
seconds. Scott is a son of Bob Scott, the man the revived hillclimb paid
tribute to. The late Bob Scott was a
three-time South Island Grasstrack Champion in his Scott Special and won
the Kaitangata Hillclimb in 1967. Bob Scott,
along with his wife Margaret, was also the owner/operator of Scott's
Garage in Kaitangata during the 1950's and 60's and he had two terms
as Mayor of the town.
Completing the top ten were Shaun McMillan of
Invercargill (Subaru Impreza - 59.189), Jim McDonald of Tapanui (Mitsubishi
EVO 5 - 59.222), Paul Cross of Gore (Mitsubishi GSR - 59.743) and
Mosgiel driver Chris Hey (59.921). Hey was the fastest two-wheel-drive car and
the winner of Class C and drove his Toyota MR2 Turbo exceptionally well
throughout the day.
Another of Bob Scott's sons, Robert, drove
the Scott Special in the event and celebrated the occasion by
driving the car to victory in the Classic Class with a time of 1 minute
16.204.
Hey won Class C from Paul Goatley and Murray
Marshall who shared the same Nissan Bluebird Turbo while Balclutha driver Dean
Bond pipped fellow Balclutha driver Barry Mills in Class B when he
blasted up the hill in 1 minute 04.370 seconds on his final
run. Craig Cormack was third in Class B while Oamaru driver Peter
Fridd won Class A in his Toyota Starlet in a time of 1 minute 07.142 seconds.
David Scoles and Kevin Laird took the other podium spots in Class A. Graeme
Taylor of Temuka and Bob Dunstan finished second and third respectively behind
Robert Scott in the Classic Section. As Class D cars filled the top three
overall placings the class prizes went to Craig Abernethy, Mark McMillan and
Brian Scott.
The event was a joint promotion between the
Kaitangata Promotions Group and both the Otago Sports Car Club and the Eastern
Southland Car Club, comprising part of the Eastern club's annual
club championship.
The Kaitangata community got right behind the
hillclimb and a huge amount of work was carried out to get the road
back to the required standard to host the event. Most of the entrants were having their first attempt at the
Kaitangata Hillclimb and all were highly complimentary of the
road.
The event was also the first round of the Southern Twin Peaks Challenge
with the second and final round scheduled for Saturday 26 January in
Bluff.
The event attracted a very strong field
of forty-five cars. Television coverage will feature on Suzuki
Speedweek on Sky Sport 2 on Thursday 8 November at 7.30pm followed by another
screening on Alfa Romeo Speed Machine on Prime Television at 2.00pm on
Saturday 10 November.
Lindsay Beer
Media Liaison
Kaitangata Promotions Bob Scott Memorial
Hillclimb
021 351 499 |
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