MEDIA RELEASE
4 OCTOBER 2007

Excitement In Kaitangata Ahead Of Hillclimb Revival

There is plenty of excitement in the small South Otago town of Kaitangata this week as preparations gather pace for the Kaitangata Promotions Bob Scott Memorial Hillclimb on Saturday 6 October.

The event has attracted a very strong field of forty-five cars with the winner likely to come from the 4-wheel-drive class.

The hillclimb will take place at Whites Road, City Forests, Kaitangata using a 1.2 kilometre gravel road used in the 1960's and 70's to host a National Gold Star event. The event will pay tribute to Bob Scott, the winner of the Kaitangata Hillclimb in 1967 and a three time South Island Grass Track Champion in his Scott Special. Scott, along with his wife Margaret, was the owner/operator of Scott's Garage in Kaitangata during the 1950's and 60's and he had two terms as Mayor of the town.

Kaitangata farmer Duncan McCrostie is one of the favourites for the event in an ex-Emma Gilmour Mitsubishi EVO. The car was especially built for the Race To The Sky and McCrostie has already tasted success with the car at his only outing to date.

One of McCrostie's toughest opponents will be Outram driver, Glenn Frew in another Mitsubishi EVO. Frew won the Bluff Sealed Hillclimb last year, an event that forms part of a mini-series with this one. Frew also recently won the Ashley Forest Rallysprint near Christchurch.

Other prominent competitors in 4-wheel-drive vehicles are Invercargill brothers Shaun and Mark McMillan in a Subaru Impreza and Subaru Legacy respectively. Both have been very successful in rallying and are highly respected competitors.

Others who will mount strong challenges are Gore drivers Andrew Graves, Craig Abernethy and Paul Cross, all in Mitsubishi EVO's.

Another driver competing in an EVO is one of Bob Scott's sons, Brian. Brian has had a very successful speedway career while another of Bob's sons, Robert will actually compete in his father's Scott Special. Robert who has driven machinery such as a Formula 5000 Lola and a Reynard Formula Holden's says driving the Special has increased his respect for his father's driving ability. Robert actually competed in the last Kaitangata Hillclimb held thirty years ago in a Consul 315.

There are many other interesting entries in the field including several drivers who have competed here before despite the fact the event was last held in the 1960's.

The record for the hill was set by Maurice Stanton in his Stanton Corvette on 18 March 1962. His record of 58.59 seconds, the first sub-minute time recorded, still stands.

The 2007 hillclimb is a joint promotion between the Kaitangata Promotions Group and both the Otago Sports Car Club and the Eastern Southland Car Club and will comprise part of the Eastern club's annual club championship. The community has got right behind the hillclimb and much work has been carried out to get the road back to the standard required to host the event.

The event is the first in the new Southern Twin Peaks Challenge which offers a cash prize to the competitor who records the fastest combined time at both this event and the Bluff Sealed Hillclimb on 26 January next year.

Scrutineering will take place on Saturday from 9.00am with the first run expected at 11.30am.

Competitors will receive four official runs with the fastest counting towards a drivers overall placing in the event. There will be five classes with 2 wheel drive classes for 0-1300cc, 1301cc - 1600cc and 1601cc and over. There is also a class for 4 wheel drive cars and a sports and racing car category.

Television coverage of the event is scheduled for Suzuki Speedweek at 7.30pm on Sky Sport 2 on Thursday 8 November and Alfa Romeo Speedmachine on Prime Television at 2pm on Saturday 10 November.

Kaitangata lies 67 kilometres south-east of Dunedin and 10 kilometres south-east of Balclutha on the banks of the Clutha River. Known to the locals as Kai, the township was first settled in 1853 and today has a population of of 810. Coal mining was a mainstay of the town's economy from the 1870's until 1972 when the last State-owned underground coalmine closed. However one open cast mine still operates, the Kai Point Coal Co Limited which supplies coal to two of the main industries in South Otago - Fonterra Stirling and PPCS Finegand.

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