Racing for the rest of us: when fast fun doesn’t have to mean fat wallet

Most people don’t care for motorsport, but why is that? Is it because of the overly loud cars and crowds? The ‘bogan’ element? Flashy sponsorship or the exorbitant costs? I set out to find out if there was anything out there for the rest of us.

As the saying goes, to make a small fortune out of racing start with a big one. But what if there was another way? What if you could drive down to the track in the car you drive to work in, tear around without expensive bills and then drive it back home again after? Well actually, you can.

As I walk through the gates of Canberra’s very own Fairburn Hillclimb circuit, the sound of roaring engines and squealing rubber is clearly audible. Little boxy hatches and sleek coupes hum and burble gently, while a few snarling V8s and whooshing turbos rumble and cough menacingly in the crisp morning air.

Clustered around are groups of people, all ages and persuasions, chatting and laughing as they admire some of the machinery on display in the pits. Over by the starting gate one of 42 competitors is busy dropping his clutch and igniting tyres to shoot twin plumes of smoke toward an appreciative crowd.

A burgundy nineties Skyline gently moves back toward the line as the last competitor rolls off the track to a time of 86.4. The crowd looks back to the starting line in expectation. They don’t have to wait long as the light flashes green and with a jet engine growl the car shoots off up the hill toward the first corner.

For those who haven’t heard of it before, it’s called hillclimb: a discipline of racing in which drivers compete on a timed course up a steep hill. Alongside kart racing, track days, and a few single manufacturer series in Australia like the Australian Swift Series or HQ Racing Series, it provides one of the best budget pathways into racing. Drivers as young as 14 can get their licence and compete in events, driving alongside mum or dad in what also happens to be one of the oldest forms of motorsport.

In fact the oldest races in the world is the Shelsley Walsh Hillclimb in Worcestershire, England; held on the very same course since 1905. Today the sport makes up one of the most accessible ways onto the track, and events — often for charity — are held regularly around the country by car clubs for drivers novice and expert alike. Importantly, the cars competing range from cheap nineties imports to fully fledged open wheeler race cars, with everything in between.

Strolling through the pit area nearly anyone would be struck by the sheer variety of cars on offer. Open-wheeled clubman-style racers sit side by side with classic muscle, Japanese imports, a smattering of austere Germans, and just a few outright race cars.

“I bought the car for three grand and put about a thousand dollars of suspension into it, that’s about all I’ve done to it,” says Matt Howard who sits with his friend Ben Ward under a portable pergola beside their nineties Skylines with faded duco. “Doesn’t look too fancy but it goes pretty good.”

Ben points out a Subaru WRX, luridly painted with tiger stripes using spray cans.

“I heard that one he paid a thousand bucks for,” Ben grins. “Few little problems but it’s here now, right?”

Amongst the mish-mash of vehicles are some that really stand out, like Mick Rankin’s Rage 180, an off-road buggy on slicks that runs a 180hp motorcycle engine. Weighing just 400kg means that this buggy goes fast. Really fast.

Not that you need to have all the gear or anything, though, Mick says.

“I’m not in a race suit, all you‘ve gotta have is wrist to ankle clothing, natural fibres, and a fire extinguisher which you can get at Supercheap or Repco for about $25. A few stickers on the car to mark out fuel and tow and you’re good to go.”

With all these different cars competing at events like these, some might wonder how the racing could be competitive. The answer lies in a strict set of rules that divide cars into five types, each under four classes.

The types reflect how modified a car is. For example, type 1 is for standard two-wheel-drive production cars, with the level of modification increasing until we arrive at type 5 for open-wheel race cars.

Within each of these types are the engine classes, ranging from 0-1600cc up to over 3000cc. Rotary engines like those seen in Mazda sports cars and turbochargers are worked into the system by using them as multipliers of engine size. For instance a turbo 2L is actually considered a 3400cc engine for the purposes of classing the vehicle. By doing this everyone can compete on a pretty even playing field, even if you do rock up in Mum’s Volvo hatch.

“You compete basically according to engine size and then modification category, so you get factory standard, then slightly modified and then ridiculously modified,” says David Leaney, a competitor who helps out with competition administration. “It’s the safest, cheapest and wimpiest version of motorsport: one car on the track at a time. Not racing anyone but yourself and your ego. You can choose to be as risky or fast as you want.”

Getting behind the wheel of one of these cars does take a little bit of effort, but licensing and costs certainly aren’t too prohibitive. Prospective drivers need to have a current CAMS level 2 licence, which you can get once you turn fourteen.

“It’s about $120 and they’ll send it out to you in a couple of weeks,” says Ben Ward. “It’s all online so it’s easy. Then it’s eighty dollars a month for your actual event fees and $140 for club membership per year. In motorsport terms that’s super cheap.”

This level of licence allows drivers to compete in timed events, track days and other basic events, but not multi-car racing. Still it’s a great way to learn to drive says Mark Wyatt.

“Mel will be entering soon in her car, just to learn to drive and all that,” he says, pointing at his daughter who sits smiling in a stripped-out Celica. “It goes from people just learning to drive, to people like Malcolm Ostler who worked in the Formula One industry and just won the NSW State Hillclimb championship. But that’s great. You can always ask people like that for help and hints, everyone is so helpful.”

The Fairburn Hillclimb Circuit itself is 1km long with timing facilities, a cafeteria, and a large open-pit area for people to look at the cars in between runs. Seats run along the bottom edge so that people can sit about 10m off the track and watch the cars hurtle past, to the squeal of protesting tyres and fluttering exhaust notes.

Out on the track driver after driver tests their car and mettle, pushing them to the limit against the clock and each other. “You can see some awesome cars and some amazing driving but it doesn’t matter who you are, you can come out and race, that’s the good thing about it,” says event organiser Daniel Cummins.

“Because it’s time trial you race against yourself. If you want to, you can race against people in your category. It really depends on you.”

More than that, though, hillclimb is about a level playing field. “One of the things about hillclimb is it’s supposed to be a real leveller,” says David Leaney.

“As far as you don’t have a lot of experience, you don’t get a chance to practice, and you start pretty much with cold tyres and a cold engine. So, new people can set a time as good as people who’ve been coming for years. Even rules like if you’re ninety per cent of the way through your run and a roo jumps out in front of you, they give you a rerun. But you have to wait at least five cars before you do, so your tyres cool down and you don’t get an unfair advantage.”

At the event I attended, the FTD (Fastest Time of the Day) ended up going to David Pattie in a very quick Lotus-style clubman racer, but as far as I could tell everyone else still seemed to have the time of their life anyway. After all, it’s about having a great day for a great cause.

The Heartkids Hillclimb raises money for the NSW-based charity of the same name, dedicated to helping families dealing with childhood heart disease. Sarah Henderson-Smith, mother of ten year old Heartkid, Thomas, says that the event is a great way to raise money and give the kids a good time.

“A lot of our kids can’t do physical activities, so this is something they can do,” she says. “I first got involved when Daniel did his first event back in 2009. Since then we’ve been coming out every year and Thomas has been doing laps. He’s been counting down till he’s fourteen and he can get his licence.”

Since 2009 when organiser Daniel Cummins started the event in honour of his own brother who sadly succumbed to a heart condition, $45,000 has been raised for the charity. They hope to raise another $14,000 this year. Not only that, but the event gives kids and parents a chance to forget about their problems and have some fun.

A few times a day the cars all take a break at runs for a parade. It’s a chance for the kids and any curious onlookers to get in a car and get their adrenaline pumping a little. Everyone lines up near the start line to jump in a car, so I chose Matt’s Skyline to see what a budget “race car” feels like.

Ten cars sit there revving their engines to excite the little boys and girls in the passenger seats, but just as importantly the little boys and girls inside all of us. Up ahead the light flashes green and one by one we’re off. Every car does a little burnout to warm up the tyres and then we roll out onto the track complete with safety cars.

Matt and I chat a little about the engine and the car before the speed picks up and the growling noise becomes too loud to talk. Up ahead a newish Mazda RX8 is hugging the apex and is close to the car in front, so we slow a little before Matt gives it a bit of a mash and we fly forward. Behind us the safety car is a little sideways through the turn, complete with smoke.

“How fast do you think you get around here?” I ask.

“Maybe 120 or something,” says Matt chuckling. “I’m too busy driving to check.”

A few laps in the car has me convinced that for only four-grand Matt bought fun. Oodles and oodles of fun. Especially since he drives it home afterwards.

It’s worth noting that no events like this are run without the district associations and car clubs which organise, facilitate and run the track days and events on the hillclimb calendar. In the ACT and regionally this role falls on the Southern Districts Motorsport Association, or SDMA.

“The SDMA donates the track for the event, which is a lot of money, and all their officials and everything,” says Daniel Cummins. “It really shows how good the motorsport community in Canberra is, coming out and supporting these events.”

Not only that, but the SDMA is also constantly involved with improving the circuit and its facilities.

“The club’s very well run, finances are good and improvements are constantly being made, “says David Leaney. “We’ve had all of the concrete around the starting area re-done, the starter’s box is new and the cafeteria shed has been fixed up, all in the last year.”

Even with the help of SDMA, though, events like these can’t work without volunteers, and on this Daniel wanted to thank the role his friends, family and other volunteers played in running the event for such a good cause.

But back to my original question: is racing ever really cheap? In answer, I’m still not sure if it is. But there is an easy way into the sport, full of fun and great people, open to anyone with a good attitude. What I took away from my day at the track was exposure to grassroots motorsport the likes of which I never expected. Like many people I assumed that motorsport of any cheaper kind might involve some ‘bogan’ element, yet I was pleasantly surprised.

Overall, my day at the hillclimb track was a great day of family fun, fast cars and nice people. And all for a good cause.

By Samuel Kromar