Silverstone Race To The Sky - New Zealand

[Marty]

Silverstone Race to the Sky
Easter Sunday
Cardrona – New Zealand


Most people have heard of the Pikes Peak Hillclimb in the USA, and watched Ari Vatenan in the Peugeot film “Climb Dance”, but not many know that New Zealand has it’s own version, and it is getting more popular each year. Held on the access road to the “Snow Farm” in the Cardrona Valley – between Wanaka and Queenstown in the Alps of the South Island - the Silverstone Race To The Sky is a fantastic event.

The course is 14.5kms long – rises 3,500feet, has 135 corners including 9 hairpin turns. The longest straight is 500m long.

The event is extremely spectator friendly. The pit area is open for the public to wander around and most crews are more than happy to talk about their vehicles. The main spectating area is on top of a 15 metre high bank which overlooks the “flat track” – the first 1km section of the course which winds its way along the river bank, before crossing the river and starting the climb. Spectators can see the cars for about the first 1.5 – 2kms. After that, glimpses of the cars can be seen from time to time as the cars wind their way to the top. If you are feeling fit, you can walk up the mountain and view the race from almost anywhere as long as you are at least five metres above the road.

In the centre of the flat track, a huge television screen shows pictures from the ten cameras along the course. During the period when the competitors are returning from the top of the hill, a group of motorcycle riders put on a high flying display. The biggest cheers were for the guy who landed before the landing ramp and went over the handlebars!

Vehicles:
The competition is loosely divided into five areas – bikes; quads; cars; buggies and 4WD’s. The Kiwi’s are crazy! Very few of the vehicles entered were “standard” – this includes the bikes and Quads. One of the Quads had a 1300cc Suzuki Hayabusa engine installed then had a Nissan Skyline turbocharger added – giving the machine a reported 400bhp!! This monster of a Quad has been given the name “Quadzilla”.

A number of cars had V8 engines installed – including an RX7 and a Toyota Corolla. Someone had even entered a Speedway Saloon 6 litre V8. It was interesting to watch someone working with a groove cutter on a two-foot wide tyre!

Entries:
Possum Bourne entered his Subaru WRC Special which he built and won in last year. Rod Millen – former winner of five Pikes Peak races - brought a Toyota Hi-Lux monster. The five litre twin cam V8 powered truck puts out 625bhp and is unbelievable to watch!

Three time winner, Nobuhiro ‘Monster’ Tajima was a late withdrawal, due to a conflicting date with the Junior Rally Championships which he is competing in, with a Suzuki.

There were a number of Australian entries including Australian Safari winner Bruce Garland (Holden Jackaroo), Former Australian Rally Champion Ross Dunkerton (Datsun 240Z), and two Victorians – Steve Riley and Brett Hayward who built a Suzuki special 4WD buggy. There was a lot of interest in the buggies, which had been specially designed for the race. Most of the experts stating that if they were going to build a vehicle specially for the event, then they wouldn’t have built “THAT”.

The oldest competitor was “Rocket” Ron Kirkman, a 65 year old Kiwi, riding a 150bhp Quad. Ron won his class last year and has also competed at Pikes Peak.

Format:
The event is held over the Easter weekend, with two timed practice runs on Saturday and a Qualifying run on Sunday morning. The top ten qualifiers compete in a “Top Ten Shootout” with the winner picking their starting position for the race. The race itself is held on Sunday afternoon.



Qualifying:
Qualifying began at 9.00am on Sunday with the bikes and quads running first. Due to a cold snap, the first few bikes had to contend with snow and ice on the road for the last three kilometres. This melted away as the morning worn on. After all of the bikes and quads had run, they were brought back down as a group – due to there only being one access road.

The cars, buggies and 4WD’s then qualified. Possum Bourne was quickest with a time of 8.41.84 but faced a 10-second penalty for starting out of order. Rod Millen was second fastest with a time of 8.51.66.
The top ten qualifiers were a mixture of cars, quads, Rod Millen’s truck and surprisingly, the Suzuki buggy of Steve Riley. Ron Kirkman and Mike Shackleton (the rider of “Quadzilla”) were placed well inside the top ten. The Top Ten Shootout was held on the flat track in front of the main spectator area and included a six foot jump in the middle of the main straight.

The top Ten were run in reverse order – slowest to fastest. Steve Riley (Qualified 7th) almost crashed after getting a lot of air on the jump. He damaged the front end of his buggy, but managed to finish, though he set the slowest time. Luckily his pit crew were able to repair the buggy before the main race – Steve was also competing in the motorcycle class.

Possum set a quick time of 1m 17sec for the shootout, but Millen won with a time 2 seconds faster. Rod threw his Hi-Lux around the course and thrilled the crowd with the huge air he achieved over the jump. The front of the Hi-Lux kept climbing after the jump and the 4WD landed on its back wheels first! The top ten drivers then chose their starting positions. Millen elected to start in front of Bourne, who was starting second last.

The Race:
The race was run in reverse order – with the slowest qualifiers going first. Steve Riley managed to get a ride back down the mountain in one of the many helicopters filming the race, this allowed him to drive his repaired buggy.

The race has a high attrition rate, but the biggest applause was for a buggy driver who crossed the start line, and broke a steering arm going around the first right hand corner and ended up in the creek – right in front of the spectators. A small group of spectators decided to make him feel worse than he already did, and started chanting “You stuffed up! You stuffed up! You stuffed up!”

The final start order for the final ten competitors was - 'Rocket Ron' Kirkman (Homemade Honda, qualifying time 9.29.89) Ian Ffitch (Quad BRM 1100, 9.11.17) Steve Riley (Suzuki Special 9.24.22), Greg McNabb (Mitsubishi Evo 3, 9.39.18), Mike Shackleton (Quadzilla, 9.22.04), Tony Etheridge (Suzuki Supa-Quad, 9.37.91), Mike Turfus Mitsubishi Lance Evo 6, 9.11.10), Rod Millen (Toyota Hilux, 8.51.66) Possum Bourne (Subaru Impreza, 8.51.44),Ben Charles (Quad Bombadier, 9.24.40).

Kirkman set a time of 9.32.47, Ffitch then set a time of 9.13.69. Riley set the course alight with a time of 9.08.64, and as the rest of the top ten arrived it looked as if the Victorian could be the winner. A number of the top ten failed to reach to top, notably Possum Bourne who punctured a tyre on the flat track at the start, and pulled up on the first incline in full view of the spectators.

Rod Millen has the only driver able to beat Riley with a time of 8.51.66. Millen had competed in all five Race to The Sky’s – being runner up for the last three years. Mike Turfus of Dunedin in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6 was third in a time of 9.11.26.

65 year old Ron Kirkman finished 9th overall, and vowed to return next year with something a little faster!

The event was extremely well run, had a great atmosphere, and I for one, can’t wait to return next year.

Information on the event can be found at www.racetothesky.com