The South Eastern Automobile Club (SEAC) ran the 9th Twin Peaks Hill Climb at the picturesque Port MacDonnell Coast earlier this month
A full field of 70 eager participants enjoyed the two testing road layouts that form the hill climb at the Bay.
Similar in length, the first track was quite complex with many corners, some off camber and double apex, with a mix of wind-blown sand in the bitumen road surface that continually changes the available grip level, whereas the second track has a wide open straight with a corner at each end and a chicane placed between them to control the speed of the vehicles a little.
To be crowned Twin Peaks Hill Climb champion, drivers must have the fastest time for each day and that keeps the pressure on for those at the top end, right through both days.
Last year’s winner Doug Johnson would have gone into this event quietly confident of a repeat performance in his own prepared Subaru WRX, with any one of four or five of the hard charging 4WD Subarus or Mitsubishi Evo’s that had made the return in the hope of getting to the top step of the podium.
Add to those Peter Gazzard who put in an entry for his first run for quite a while at any motorsport event and his first run at the Bay.
Saturday opened with some cool weather and then a bit of wind to keep the track temperature down, resulting in a loose track with not a lot of grip on offer and most of the drivers used this run to settle in and find out how the car reacted to the surface.
Always some have to be different and Doug Johnson, Peter Gazzard, Sean Day and Damien Brand got down and dirty right from the start, pushing each other, along with Derrick White, Ashley Blanchard, David Harris and Brenton Byfield the quickest group on both tracks for the 4WD group.
Luke Day, Philip Wilson, Chris Hortop and Shaun Williamson were at the pointy end of the sheets for Saturday’s run in their 2WD cars.
Juniors having a drive for the first time at the Bay Henry Sims, Max Viitanen, Harrison Bliss, Alexander, Lukas and Zachary Byham were all enjoying the challenges that arose through the day and all kept the car on track.
Sunday’s track suffered from the heat and with confidence from the previous day’s efforts causing the odd error or two in the last attempt at a better run, some had a moment along the way that may have been captured by the drone in action on the weekend, or by the on track live broadcast that put this event on show to the entire world for all to see when tuned in online.
Outright Top 20
1st – Douglas Johnson – Subaru WRX – 3:25.17; 2nd – Sean Day – Subaru STI – 3:30.66; 3rd – Peter Gazzard – Mitsubishi Evo IX – 3:30.76; 4th – Damien Brand – Subaru WRX – 3:33.00; 5th – Derrick White – Subaru Liberty – 3:39.39; 6th – Ashley Blanchard – Mitsubishi Evo V – 3:40.05; 7th – David Harris – Subaru WRX – 3:41.01; 8th – Brenton Byfield – Subaru WRX – 3:42.02; 9th – Paul Keen – Mitsubishi Evo VII – 3:42.06; 10th – Patrick Hitchcock – Subaru WRX – 3:52.76; 11th – Martin Radford – Mitsubishi Evo VII – 3:52.84; 12th – Luke Day – Nissan Skyline – 3:58.50; 13th – Philip Wilson – EA Falcon – 4:00.03; 14th – Shaun Williamson – Baby Grand Chev – 4:00.26; 15th – Kenneth Rowland – Subaru WRX – 4:00.69; 16th – Russell McKenzie – Pulsar GTI-R – 4:03.45; 17th – Chris Hortop – BMW Mini – 4:04.57; 18th – Tania Langcake – Subaru WRX – 4:05.10; 19th – Marc Lyell – VW Polo GTi – 4:05.59; 20th – Murray Height – Toyota Corona – 4:05.97.
Class Placings:
Improved Vehicle 4WD: Sean Day 1, Derrick White 2, Ashley Blanchard 3.
Modified Vehicle 4WD: Douglas Johnson 1, Peter Gazzard 2, Damien Brand 3.
Standard Vehicle 2WD 2501cc-4000cc: Chris Hortop 1, Cohen Hamilton 2, Justin Devlin 3.
Improved Vehicle 2WD up to 1800cc: Jason Sims 1, Michael Ruff 2, Guy Chet 3.
Improved Vehicle 2WD 1801-2500cc: Joshua Munn 1, Luke Lamont 2, Dillan Young 3.
Improved Vehicle 2WD 2501-4000cc: Luke Day 1, Mark Lyell 2, Damien Hurst 3.
Improved Vehicle 2WD 4001cc and over: Alex Bohner 1.
Modified Vehicle 2WD up to 1800cc: Shaun Williamson 1, David Cantwell 2, Katelyn Bowering 3.
Modified Vehicle 2WD 2501-4000cc: Philip Wilson 1, Murray Height 2, Bruce Hamilton 3.
Modified Vehicle 2WD 4001cc and over: Jason Jordan 1, Steve Grinstead 2, Glenn Latter 3.
Junior: Max Viitanen 1, Henry Sims 2, Katelyn Bowering 3.
Ladies: Tania Langcake 1, Zoe Rule 2, Susanna Brauer 3.
Masters: Brenton Byfield 1, Russell McKenzie 2, Chris Hortop 3.
