Interclub Challenge MGCCQ – Hillclimb Round

The 2020 championship has regained traction in the second half of the year.

In quick succession we have had the LCQ DTC round, the MGCCQ Hillclimb Round and the HSCCQ Khanacross round, all on successive weekends.

The Mt Cotton Hillclimb track is one of the most challenging and always promises to deliver a thrilling “seat of the pants” experience. In a COVID environment all but a few spectators adorned the venue so the fans were few and far between.

Representing Lotus were the usual stalwarts, Jon (Smokin’) Young, Dick (Lumpy Cam) Reynolds, Shane (Ace) Murphy and Jonathan Jones in his beautifully presented Europa.

Fellow traveller Phil Hart was a Lotus ghost in the background representing Porsche, in his flat 6.

The format was super efficient with a pre-registration system and minimal contact with officials. Well done to the MGCCQ for thinking though a simplified entry system, making the day run extremely well.

Competition kicked off with the usual red mist and reasonable times were recorded, albeit well below everybody’s personal bests. But soon the times began to tumble, as we inched towards the track limits.

Check out Jonathan’s snazzy bit of driving on the Club’s Facebook page… Jonathan as he exited the first loop, generally and unintentionally at a nearly ninety-degree angle to the direction of the blacktop, a great save.

Dick decided that his engine rebuild was not delivering on the uphill pulls, so with a bit of basic manipulation he advanced his timing by 5 degrees and immediately started to get his times to somewhere respectable.

Jon plugged away all day delivering a steady performance, however much to his annoyance his times were slightly below par, as reported at previous events he was jammed up.

Shane, in the usually reliable green machine managed to break down coming out of the second loop. The problem correctly diagnosed by Phil was a broken axle, so after two runs the day was over for number 68.

The hot conditions proved to be to the competitor’s advantage – as the track warmed, times dropped.

With so few of us competing, we probably did not bag enough points to challenge the championship. A great day again.

Oh, did I mention that in the final analysis Dick posted a faster time than Phil.