Closed Road Hillclimbs

[grahamb]

I really think the main problem is going to be finding a road surface of suitable quality to allow the ground clearance for most 'racing' cars.

Potholes, manhole covers, drains, cats eyes, ruts, white lines, none of these are ideal, and I'd rather stick to a proper 'circuit' to be honest with you.

Now if the committee wishes to arrange an event in Fuerteventura, where the last time I was there, the island was covered in miles and miles of EU funded shiny black tarmac, that'd be far more appealing than a top dressed, country lane.

[MikeBeattie]

Always interesting to read the musings on this subject. In the other thread on this topic I put down some thoughts on my experience of closed road hillclimbs in NI, and some may be worth repeating here.

Here is a link to the Road Closing Order for Craigantlet, it may be of interest to see what is entailed

Craigantlet order

In this instance it is a Hillclimb Order, it closes the road for the time specified and we can have as many of these as we want in a year ( the current nr is 9). These RC Orders are different to Road Racing orders which are used for the likes of the Circuit of Ireland, Ulster Rally and the 6 motorcycle road races, which in the main are multi day events. Incidentally we can't close the roads for a sprint, as the course can't be a loop and must have a certain variance in height between the start and finish !!

Next when you are looking at your favourite venue, remember you have to have room for a paddock at the bottom and a collection paddock at the top, so for a 1 mile hill you need 2 miles of road.

With the Road Closing Order you only get the road, you don't get the surrounding ground, so unless you have understanding landowners they will object to spectators tramping over their fields, gardens, etc.

Generally the Clubs need 60 entries at £90 entry fee to break even running an event.

[camalot]

Didnt the Isle of Wight have a closed road hillclimb, I remember going over there a few years back to watch ?