It pits competitors against the clock for a raucous punt up a 1.5km track
For some, the Noosa Hill Climb is arguably the toughest Hill Climb in Australia. The three-day bi-annual event pits competitors against the clock for a raucous punt up a twisting 1.5km track, with only concrete walls and the occasional tyre barrier preventing wayward drivers from sending their pride and joy down the side of a hill. And in years gone by there have been plenty of competitors who’ve had to watch their most prized possession receive an unceremonious lift down the hill on the back of a tilt truck after a disagreement with said walls.
We caught up with the Lotus Club Queensland at the event a – bunch of gentlemanly characters with a passion for the open wheel British icons, sprint events and the camaradarie that comes with racing the clock.
For many, this is how it works: Arrive early, get your favourite spot in the pits if you can, set up shop for the three days, attend the drivers briefing, check your car over, double check, then check again. Then you wait for your category spot to be called, wait in a line in the staging lanes and hope like hell no one crashes before your turn.
Count down time, and you’re off up the mountain as fast as you can. Get back to the pits, analyse your time, chat to other competitors about track conditions, relax for a while, stir up your fellow hill climbers then rinse and repeat while continuously chasing that PB (personal best) or slightly quicker time than your arch rival, otherwise known as ‘your good mate’.
The camaraderie and sportsmanship at the event is quite noticeable with the mood very casual, even with the sound of open wheel purpose built race cars bashing their rev-limiters in the background.
With 125 registered competitors for the weekend there was a huge range of cars in attendance, from a Brabham BT 24 Replica, Mustangs, Toranas, all sorts of Euros, a smattering of JDM cars and a handful of EVs. Some arrived on trailers and some drove to the event ready to race.
MEET SOME OF THE DRIVERS:
Jon Young
1988 Caterham
Queensland Lotus Club member and Caterham custodian Jon Young made the almost two hour journey from Brisbane to Noosa in his 1998 Caterham to compete for the weekend. ”I’ll always drive it to the events and drive it home.
“This car is absolutely a bulletproof and beautiful little machine. Some little tiny problems, but in a car that is 30 years old you expect something going wrong.
Suspension is very simple, Spax coil over shocks. Ford Kent 1600cc, nice little push rod thing. That would’ve been developed for the Escorts, 1960s technology. There’s a couple of 45mm side draft Webers. The gearbox is a T-nine, same as the gearbox in the Sierra, running through to a low ratio limited slip diff that I swapped out a few years back. It has been absolutely magic in transforming the handling of the car.
“I love the visceral experience of the Caterham and like to get it out to Noosa, Mount Cotton and the short track at Lakeside, absolutely magic.
“The only thing you have to do to put it into a real race condition is change the settings on the absorbers to stiffen it up a little bit and swap over the tyres. I’m running Yokohama AO48s at the events and AO50s otherwise, simply because of the diameter of the wheels and what’s available.
“It is the only car that I’ve owned, which will do everything you ask it to do, even if it’s something wrong.
“But at the same time If you are popping down to the post office, you can drive it like a Corolla. The only thing that you would notice at low speed is that you need a paddock to turn around in. Here or anywhere else on the track, drive it like you stole it.”
Max Stevenson
1933 Aston Martin
Max Stevenson’s 1933 Aston Martin Le Mans long chassis is a beautiful open wheel classic which you would not expect to be running up the hill, pushed to its limits. It looks far more like something you’d see in an automotive museum, but upon closer inspection the rally computer adorning the dash is a dead give-away.
“I’ve had this car since 2010. I acquired it as a bag of bones and rebuilt it and restored it. 17 of them were built in 1933 and there are two of them in Brisbane. It’s got a 1500cc four-cylinder engine with twin SU carbies. It was a four-seat touring version of what ran at Le Mans as a two seat car in 1933. ”I love this car for the hill climbs and street sprints like Leyburn, Gold Rush Hill Climb and of course Noosa. When you go for a drive in it, everyone looks at it. Quite a few people don’t realise it’s an Aston Martin until they ask you.”
Jason McGarry
2014 R300 Caterham
On the slightly more extreme end of the scale at the club you’ve got set-ups like Jason McGarry with his 2014 Factory Built R300 Caterham race car, running a 2.0L Duratec engine and a six-speed sequential Sadev box.
“This particular car raced for one year in the UK. And I actually drove one similar at Silverstone before I purchased it and imported it back here to Australia. I’ve been racing for about 11 years now. Hill climbing is where I first started to learn to race cars. And I’ve always loved the lightweight 7 style cars, because they’re like big go-karts.
“I also do targa racing in a Lotus Exige with my older son who’s 18, and also did some circuit work with this car as well. It’s just so much fun and you meet so many great people and I just love it. I only started when I was 40. I wish I’d started earlier.
“I love the Noosa Hill Climb. It’s just a great track in a great location. There are so many corners. The weather conditions are always changing. It’s either hot and steamy or in winter, it can be cold and windy. You also get to experience all the local restaurants and venues when you’re actually hanging out with all your mates after each day’s racing is over.”
Shane Murphy
1968 Lotus 7
Shane Murphy, owner of an extremely well kept example of the Lotus 7, picked up his 1968 Series 2 about eight years ago, joined the club and started doing hill climbs shortly after. ”The Noosa Hill Climb is one of the prime meets of the year, it’s a fantastic event. I do the hill climb events because there’s a great sense of community, and it keeps me feeling young competing with all my compatriots and friends. It’s a great social atmosphere, everybody tries really hard in their own sort of way, trying like hell to go as fast as we possibly can. ”My Lotus 7 is close to how I bought it, but I’ve put a roll cage on it and I’ve changed the wheels.
“Lotus founder Colin Chapman was reputed for making bits out of cars and cars out of bits, so this one, like all of them in that series, has a 1500cc Cortina motor in it. It’s a 50-year-old cross flow set up which I recently rebuilt myself and it still goes pretty good.”
From Unique Cars #461, Jan 2022