Silverstone Race to the Sky

The Race to the Sky is an annual automobile and motorcycle gravel hillclimb to the summit of a mountain in the Cardrona Valley of New Zealand. The race was held every year from 1998 to 2007 for two days over the Easter weekend as the Silverstone Race to the Sky, and will return in 2015 as the Repco Race to the Sky.[1][2]

Circuit
A car in a jump during the 2007 event

The event has attracted major international drivers to compete to see who is the fastest to ascend the hill.

Location

The race was located at the Snow Farm ski area in the Cardrona Valley, a 45 minute drive from Queenstown, New Zealand and 20 minutes from Lake Wanaka. The hillclimb was held over a 14.5-kilometre (9.0 mi) gravel course, with an average gradient of 1:11. The 135 turn course climbs from 450 meters (1500 feet) above mean sea level to 1500 meters (5000 feet).[3][4]

The qualifying session for the race was held on Saturday. The race itself was held on Sunday. The top 10 fastest qualifiers raced in the reverse order from tenth to first.

Future

2007 was the last year of the Race to the Sky. Event organizer Grant Aitken had given up the rights to the event to the Lee family in order to run the 2007 event. The Lee family were the former owners of the access road for Snow Farm resort, the route used for the event. Aitken noted several factors which led to his decision to surrender his right to run the event. They include marginal finances, changes to the tenure of the land used for the event, his team of helpers suffering burnout after a decade running the event, and the need to renew resource consents to continue with the event in the future. Aitken also had a troubled relationship with the Lee family who still own part of the access road. There was difficulty securing Silverstone as the title sponsor of the event, as Silverstone was signed for 2007 at the eleventh hour. Although it was hoped that the event would continue,[5] the 2008 event was cancelled when new organisers could not be found.[6] The event's official website was expired as of 14 October 2007.

It was confirmed on August 13, 2014 that Race to the Sky would return in 2015 under new management, being taken over by Highlands Motorsport Park and Tony Quinn. The 2015 race will be known as the Repco Race to the Sky presented by Highlands, and has a new claim to fame as the longest gravel hill climb in the world following the paving of Pikes Peak.[7]

Overall winners
Year Driver Car Time
1998 Nobuhiro Tajima Suzuki Escudo V6 Pikes Peak Special 8:13.60
1999 Nobuhiro Tajima Suzuki Escudo V6 Pikes Peak Special 8:33.13
2000 Nobuhiro Tajima Suzuki Escudo V6 Pikes Peak Special 8:40.91
2001 Possum Bourne Subaru Impreza WRC 8:37.01
2002 Rod Millen Toyota Hilux 8:43.76
2003 Nobuhiro Tajima Suzuki Aerio Hill Climb Special 8:10.02
2004 Nobuhiro Tajima Suzuki Escudo Hill Climb Special 8:17.85
2005 Nobuhiro Tajima Suzuki Escudo Hill Climb Special 8:10.8
2006 Nobuhiro Tajima Suzuki Escudo Hill Climb Special 8:01.17
2007 Nobuhiro Tajima Suzuki Escudo Hill Climb Special 8:03.95
2015 Alister McRae Subaru Impreza WRC 8:17.616

Other notable competitors

Current classes

The competitors were loosely divided into five groups: bikes; quads; cars; buggies and 4WD’s.

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References
  1. New Zealand's iconic Race to the Sky to return in 2015; New Zealand Herald; 13 August 2014; New Zealand Herald;
  2. "Repco backs iconic Race to the Sky event", motorsport.org.nz
  3. Race To The Sky Motorsport Hill Race Archived 2007-09-23 at the Wayback Machine, Travel New Zealand, Retrieved 15 October 2007
  4. Silverstone Race to the Sky, Retrieved 15 October 2007
  5. Last hurrah for Race To The Sky?; David Thomson; 9 April 2007; RallySport Magazine, Retrieved 15 October 2007
  6. Haggart, Matthew (6 February 2008). "Race to Sky grounded after decade". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  7. New Zealand's iconic Race to the Sky to return in 2015; New Zealand Herald; 13 August 2014; New Zealand Herald;
  8. NZ Herald: Peggy Bourne enters Race to the Sky event; 6 Mar 2005

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