I could also subtitle this as "Two Days at Rob Roy" The Rob Roy hillclimb dates back to 1938, you can read some of it's history HERE. After spending two days at the venue I can truly say that it is probably little changed since those early days. The entry road is a rutted dirt track and the pits are a slightly grassed sloping paddock that turned from dust bowl to mud at the slightest drop of rain. The track though is a narrow challenging strip of bitumen that is far steeper in reality than any pictures or video could show. Get it right and it is very rewarding, get it wrong and there are is a large collection of trees to catch you. This was the second venue in the Victorian Hill Climb Championship and where I spent last Saturday and Sunday along with my trusty crew of Mikey and Jack. Saturday started with practice runs in the morning followed by two timed runs in the afternoon. The number of runs is limited by the fact that returning cars have to use a section of the track (the bridge) to get back to the pits, so a certain amount of delay is encountered. I had never competed at Rob Roy before so I took every opportunity to practice that I could and managed to fit in 3 runs before the track was closed and the serious timed runs commenced. The heat and sun from the morning had slowly been replaced by black clouds and a cool breeze as the Formula Libra cars (open wheelers) took to the track and by the time they got down to my group (J) it had started to drizzle and the track was wet. Everything I knew from my morning practice such as where to brake and when all went out the window. I slipped my way round the track and was relatively happy with the result considering the conditions. Here is a video of that run. Run 1 After that the rain really started to come down and most competitors packed up and went home. I figured I would have my last run since I was there but I probably shouldn't have bothered. The start line was like ice, it took around 6 seconds just to get off the line and my lap time was ten seconds slower. It really was that slippery. Sunday started dry and while it did threaten rain for a little bit in the mid morning it managed to stay dry and even got sunny by the end of the day. By now I had just about given up trying to learn the track since just about every time I got on to it the conditions were different, making it very hard to learn. I lined up for my first run and just "had a go". The overnight rain had managed to wash off any rubber that had been put down the day before, and also spread a nice layer of dirt onto the track from the top of the hill so traction was hard to find. I wheel spun and sidestepped my way up the hill and while not totally happy with the result I wasn't last, so that was good. I lined up at the front of my group for my second run but unfortunately the last car in the clubman group (4 cars in front of me) damaged their sump after the bridge and dumped oil all the way from the bridge to the top of the hill. The safety crew got out the concrete dust and dutifully covered it all up but it still made for a very slippery run as I found out when I went over the finish line sideways at just under 140 kilometers an hour. That is definitely not something I want to repeat, but at least I got it all on video so you can all see it. If you look carefully you can make out the concrete dust on the left side of the track at the rise just after the bridge. Funnily enough that was my fastest run of the day, so go figure??. Here is the video of that run. Run 4 For my last run I tried a different approach to getting off the line, which helped with the wheel spin but unfortunately resulted in a .4 second slower time. I was very disappointed by that as I like to keep improving my times over the day and my last run should be my fastest. I shouldn't be too disappointed though as the two guys who came first and second are the current class record holder and the guy who held it before him, tough competition indeed. A big thank you to my two crew members who shared the weekend with me and help fill in the boring bits between runs. Another big thank you to the member's wife who bought along her two special visitors on the Sunday for a look at the action. I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did, and thanks for saying Hi. Here are the results. http://vichillclimb.com.au/2010/Results%20Round%202/RESULTS%20VHC%20Round%202.pdf
Piccy time .... At the start line on one of the wet runs. Trying to get traction early in one of the wet runs. After T1, leading onto the bridge, on one of Saturday's practice runs. Through T1 from the outside of the track on Sunday's fastest run. Another NDSOC member (Stuart Davies) ran his Stanza to 2nd in class, beaten by a BDA powered Escort Mk 1. This 260Z with a 280 motor was doing his best to impress in the short tyre warming facility ... Another cool Nissan powered car was Dale Hocking's Dalrick clubman. Powered by an SR16VE motor when most other clubmans are going with Ford or Toyota twin cam fours, this unit did the job on the day with a class win in the 22 sec bracket. One of the most impressive looking and sounding cars on the day was this LS2 powered Cobra Daytona replica. 370kw in 1150kg resulted in a high 22 sec class winning run. The interior is spartan, but purposeful. Didn't get a pic of the outside, but there is a short vid below.
Vid time ... and a correction - the Dalrick clubman had a best of 23.07, not in the 22 sec bracket as quoted above. Ran out of editing time! One of Pete's dry practice runs early on the Saturday - still learning the track. http://s153.photobucket.com/albums/s208/redzedmikey/Mikey Vids/?action=view¤t=DSCF4267.flv On Sunday, when times count. Getting the start line right still requires practice, more than Pete was able to get given how inconsistent the runs were. http://s153.photobucket.com/albums/s208/redzedmikey/Mikey Vids/?action=view¤t=DSCF4294.flv The Formula Libres were pretty aggressive and quick in the dry. Most didn't bother running in the wet. Brett Hayward (1st and 2nd clips) set a new class record of 18.87 on his last run. The majority of these cars run chain driven motorcycle engines in purpose built chassis - they are not retired circuit cars. Other classes such as Formula Ford and Formula Vee do run to logbooked CAMS circuit classes. Note the cement dust trail off the bridge and up around the bend. I saw one clubman go off, spat backwards into the trees by trying to run wide to the right of the cement. At least he missed everything, but some bodywork or exhaust suffered and was scraping on the road on his run back down. http://s153.photobucket.com/albums/s208/redzedmikey/Mikey Vids/?action=view¤t=DSCF4287.flv http://s153.photobucket.com/albums/s208/redzedmikey/Mikey Vids/?action=view¤t=DSCF4307.flv Another 2 vids of Libre cars: http://s153.photobucket.com/albums/s208/redzedmikey/Mikey Vids/?action=view¤t=DSCF4306.flv http://s153.photobucket.com/albums/s208/redzedmikey/Mikey Vids/?action=view¤t=DSCF4308.flv The Daytona off the start line. Love the note .... http://s153.photobucket.com/albums/s208/redzedmikey/Mikey Vids/?action=view¤t=DSCF4290.flv The videos don't really skow how steep the track is after the bridge. Bryant Park has "Oh Shit corner", and Rob Roy has "The Wall", which is what they call the section immediately after the bridge. I don't think I need to walk it again unless the calves and glutes really want a workout!
Good stuff. When and where is the next round? Nice vids too. What camera have you got? My Gopro camera is no good for in car videos but good for exterior shots, was looking for something new.
It's very very narrow and looks like an average surface at best but it also looks much faster than I imagined, heaps faster than Haunted Hills
hey pete ,, whats the go with that dip, did you bottom out .. ,, i think its just after the first bend .. when i seen your car go over it , im thinking ooooowwwwwwww nnnnnooooooooo....
It is just a cheap Samsung handycam that records to SD cards. The next round is in April and is at Mt Leura, near Camperdown.
Here is Grafton for a compare. Had fun at Grafton hillclimb on Sunday I need to find another five seconds to get down to the evo thats in the clip. Clicky Need to mount a camera for the next round.
That looks incredibly tight in the early stages and confusing when it gets to the top as it crosses over itself. Doesn't look like a lot of run-off at the end either. I have an awsome comera mount so let me know if you want photos or would like me to ask Max to make up another one.
Could you please post up some photo's of the camera and mount? Scrutineers do not like my gopro camera being stuck to the outside of the car (except for DECA and non speed events) and I can't get good footage in the cabin with it. your vids look pretty good, saw your vids from sandown too.
Definitely tight, and you don't want brake fade as you cross the finish line. Is your camera mounted to the roll cage? No cage in mine, so thinking of making a brace, with bracket, mounted in place of the rear cargo blind. Figure the zoom on the camera will get the view OK between the seats
