Victorian Hillclimb Championship rolls into life

The Trydel EZIUP AND GO Victorian Hillclimb Championship will be back this Sunday marking the start of the new 2024 season.

It all fires up with a hillclimb at the familiar Rob Roy layout in Smiths Gully this weekend.

A massive 100-plus cars are ready to take on the fast layout and event organisers are thrilled with the amount of interest for the first round.

On track action will kick off around 9.00 AEDT with drivers hoped to have at least four cracks at the hill.

Victorian Hillclimb Championship secretary John Read is delighted to have such a strong turnout for the season opener.

“Entry numbers have just cracked over a 100 which is huge for an opening round. We are very happy with that,” he said.

“In the last few years we were very happy to get between 70 or 80.

“There is a solid core of 60-70 that participate in the championship and then on top of that there will be a lot of MG Car Club members.

“The championship finished back in August last year so there has been a decent gap and all the competitors now are fairly keen to come back.

“It is a great indicator of how keen they are.”

Read said the Rob Roy Hillclimb layout is always a popular one with the drivers, while the recent resurfacing of the circuit will provide another challenge.

“It is a pretty popular track that is close to town,” he said.

“It had that huge refurbishment program in 2022 so the facilities are first rate and the track has been resurfaced so it’s a highlight.”

Rob Roy is the first round of the 2024 championship with the season slightly reduced from seven to six rounds.

It will be the first of two trips to Rob Roy with a follow up being the penultimate round in May.

The difference between the rounds will be the addition of the chicane for the opener, which will not be seen in round five.

Before then a trip to the twisty Bryant Park follows in February and the first two-day event awaits at Mount Leura in March.

The second round at Bryant Park is in April immediately before the second Rob Roy round on May 19.

The season wraps up with a two-day event at One Tree Hill on August 10-11.

The 2023 season was held over seven rounds, but Read explained releasing financial pressure from the teams was the reason behind the shortened season. 

But he also made it clear the VHC hopes to return to a seven-round structure in 2025.

“We had a good look at the calendar and thought with the economic downturn that is pretty evident right now we will try to reduce it by a round to save competitors a little bit of cost,” he said.

“We put it to them before we finalised the calendar that it probably wasn’t a bad idea.

“Two of the rounds are two-day affairs so people will have to purchase more accomodation so we are just trying to keep costs down.

“If the outlook improves in 2025 we would like to go back to seven rounds.”

Once again the season will be backed by Trydel EZIUP AND GO which is the continuation of a long lasting partnership.

“It is the 11th year and it is a fantastic relationship,” Read said.

“Both parties are keen to stay involved which is terrific.”

2024 Victorian Hillclimb Championship calendar

Round 1: Rob Roy January 21

Round 2: Bryant Park February 17

Round 3: Mt Leura March 16-17

Round 4: Bryant Park April 21

Round 5: Rob Roy May 19

Round 6: One Tree Hill August 10-11

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