FIA Hill Climb Championships

[jonners]

Just had a look at the FIA website for no particular reason and couldn't help noticing that the FIA runs the following championships

FIA European Hill Climb Championship
FIA European Hill Climb Cup
FIA International Hill Climb Challenge
FIA Historic Hill Climb Championship

Am I missing something here? At the very least you'd think there'd be a round of the Historic championship at a British venue.

Why don't these championships visit Britain?

Don't our venues come up to scratch?

Are they too short?

Is the sort of hill climbing we practise in Britain unusual?

Are we missing out?

Discuss??

Incidentally, the FIA cals it hill climbing rather than hillclimbing so maybe they're talking about something different...

[Steve Wilkinson]

Originally Posted by jonners

Just had a look at the FIA website for no particular reason and couldn't help noticing that the FIA runs the following championships

FIA European Hill Climb Championship
FIA European Hill Climb Cup
FIA International Hill Climb Challenge
FIA Historic Hill Climb Championship

Am I missing something here? At the very least you'd think there'd be a round of the Historic championship at a British venue.

Why don't these championships visit Britain?

Don't our venues come up to scratch?

Are they too short?

Is the sort of hill climbing we practise in Britain unusual?

Are we missing out?

Discuss??

Incidentally, the FIA cals it hill climbing rather than hillclimbing so maybe they're talking about something different...

Jonners old bean, they are talking about the same discipline - Hillclimbing! The main reason for no rounds in the UK is that apart from the Lhergy Frissel hill on the Isle of Man all ours are way too short. At LF they were able to lay out a 5 Km hill which was fantastic; however several of our hillclimb cars had to give it a miss as they would have run out of fuel, such were the limited capacities of their fuel tanks!

As to missing out one of the European guys came over to Shelsley a few years back and was way off the pace.

[hillsprint77]

Mind you Steve when you see the Euro hills it's no wonder.

I think Shelsley was also part of the Euro Championship pre war, which is why Stuck came over in the Auto Union

Jonners

The single seaters are F3000 cars limited to 3 litres using FIA approved chassis, so are heavier and less powerful. The courses are all public roads, which are as Steve says longer and wider that the typical English hill. No offence but he probably thought he was still on the approach road to the start

Look here at Videoconcept to get a flavour

http://www.videoconcept.com/magasin/index.php

Or look up Lionel Regal ( the Euro version of Junior ) or Alain Castellana on Utube

Heres' one to blow your mind

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzgvKBt9wkk


And turn the sound up !!!


Looking forward to seeing the BHC boys at Craigantlet ( the next best thing ) And the sprinters at Kirkistown as well ofcourse

[jonners]

Originally Posted by Steve Wilkinson

Jonners old bean, they are talking about the same discipline - Hillclimbing!

Er - yeah, I know!! Looks like the irony was a bit too gentle...!!!

It's a shame the situation is as it is. Years ago I remember hearing that there was no chance of public roads being used for anything let alone motorsport but we've since had various marathons, the Tour de France and even F1 cars round the corner from me on Regent Street.

Those videos are tremendous. I think we're missing out.

We need to renew the search for a new extra long private hill!

[Steve Wilkinson]

Originally Posted by jonners

Er - yeah, I know!! Looks like the irony was a bit too gentle...!!!

It's a shame the situation is as it is. Years ago I remember hearing that there was no chance of public roads being used for anything let alone motorsport but we've since had various marathons, the Tour de France and even F1 cars round the corner from me on Regent Street.

Those videos are tremendous. I think we're missing out.

We need to renew the search for a new extra long private hill!

To run on PUBLIC ROADS you need to get a Road Closure Notice plus the suspension of the Road Traffic Act. Both are very difficult in England, Scotland and Wales.

Mind you in Ulster it is another thing altogether. The Irish have some wonderful hills to compete on; Benbradagh - 1.5kms, Cairn Castle - 2.65kms and Craigantlet - 1.335kms to name but three.

The problem with running a European Hillclimb round in either the Isle of Man or Ulster is the European competitors are faced with two sea crossings to get there. The costs of travel plus ferries would see very few making the trip.

[Westysprinter]

[quote=Steve Wilkinson]To run on PUBLIC ROADS you need to get a Road Closure Notice plus the suspension of the Road Traffic Act. Both are very difficult in England, Scotland and Wales.

Auto66 close the roads 4 times a year in Scarborough and Middlesbrough motor club shut down Saltburn once a year. Perhaps we are just lucky oop north

[Steve Wilkinson]

[QUOTE=Westysprinter]

Originally Posted by Steve Wilkinson

To run on PUBLIC ROADS you need to get a Road Closure Notice plus the suspension of the Road Traffic Act. Both are very difficult in England, Scotland and Wales.

Auto66 close the roads 4 times a year in Scarborough and Middlesbrough motor club shut down Saltburn once a year. Perhaps we are just lucky oop north

If these roads come under the Local Authority Control (i.e. they are owned and maintained by the Local Authority in their emtirity) then all that is needed is a Road Closure Notice from them. This situation is relatively rare as most Local Authorities cannot afford the up-keep of private roads. Trouble is a lot of local authorities who have such powers are not as sympathetic to motor sport.

[JimW]

Originally Posted by hillsprint77

. . .
Look here at Videoconcept to get a flavour

http://www.videoconcept.com/magasin/index.php

Or look up Lionel Regal ( the Euro version of Junior ) or Alain Castellana on Utube

Heres' one to blow your mind

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzgvKBt9wkk

Just look where some people are standing (and vehicles are parked). Serious lack of imagination. But great fun if you survive.

Regards

Jim

[hillsprint77]

At one point they considered running an event in Southern Ireland, and might even have run a trial event if I recall correctly. But the Euro hills are usually very smooth, which if you've been to Ireland you'll know that a lot of the roads are anything but.

There are also restrictions on which roads we can close and certainly no A or B class roads can be used, except where there is a historic precedent ( eg some of the motorcycle tracks like the NW200 and Dundrod). This in the main leaves you the poorly maintanied country roads and lanes and finding 5 k of decent hill roads is a real problem.

Interestingly we can't close roads for sprints, only hillclimbs, there has to be a 10% average climb over the length of the hill. It's to stop folks trying to run a road race under a hillclimb road closure

Yes Jim, the time keepers will also be clutching their chests, as you'll notice that they're not too fussy on the start line lining up. Just a bloke with a stick !! But then over 5ks a couple of hundredths ain't going to matter

See if you can find the video of Mont Ventoux, 140 + past unprotected trees and rocks. Muchos Ballackos

[JimW]

I seem to recall being told that start procedures were different, not just casual.

I think it was something like the car's nose (not needing a strut) being within a meter(?) long box behind the beam. As you say, over 5km it is not going to matter very much.

Regards

Jim

[hillsprint77]

Yes, and the 5 k is only the minimum, Trento in Italy is 17k and goes through 3 villages on the way to the top