Kaitangata Hillclimb Revived

MEDIA RELEASE
28 AUGUST 2007

Kaitangata Hillclimb Revived

A motorsport event with a very proud history is about to be resurrected near the small South Otago township of Kaitangata.

The Kaitangata Promotions Bob Scott Memorial Hillclimb will take place on Saturday 6 October at Whites Road, City Forests, Kaitangata. The venue, a 1.2 kilometre gravel hillclimb used in the 1960's and 70's to host a National Gold Star event will be signposted from Kaitangata.

The resurrected event will also be used to honour the achievements of local man, the late Bob Scott. In the late 1950's and early 1960's Scott was the owner/operator of Scott's Garage in Kaitangata. Race cars were hard to come by in those days so Scott built his own and went on to much success. Driving the Scott Special, Bob won three South Island Grass Track Titles watched by the massive crowds that attended grass track events during that era. Despite the fact that the Scott Special was powered by a 4 cylinder, 1500cc engine Bob's driving ability allied to a well built car meant the combination more often than not came out on top against V8's and 6 cylinder vehicles. Scott also raced at the major South Island race circuits of Ruapuna in Christchurch, Levels in Timaru and Teretonga in Invercargill, winning many events against factory built race cars.

Bob also tasted much success in the Scott Special in various Otago and Southland Hillclimbs and Standing Events, accumulating numerous trophies for his efforts.

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.

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

Competitors will receive four official runs throughout the day with the fastest run 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.

Entries close on Saturday 15 September. Entry forms are available on both the Eastern Southland Car Club site www.escc.co.nz or the Otago Sports Car Club website www.oscc.co.nz

The town of Kaitangata that will host the event 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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