There are two ways to view the distinctly European setup of a hillclimb event. There is the version that has more to do with a group of classic roadsters and is equally about conversation and tea as it is about vehicles in motion, and then there is the scene like what went down at the 2017 Rechberg Hillclimb. If your only knowledge of hillclimbing comes from Pikes Peak events, then you will feel right at home. These guys only know the brake pedal as the one that is labeled “For Emergency Use Only”. They launch off of the line with the same gusto most drivers take off from the Christmas tree with. They hit apexes like a pissed-off touring car driver that has their enemy in the sights. And they push as hard as they can to clip tenths of a second off of their time, like every other racer does.
The cars at Rechberg caught our eye as well. Yes, it’s mostly European stuff, but it’s good European stuff: Porsches that squat and shoot off like bottle rockets, early Escorts that sound like a ripsaw on nitrous, and even touring cars like this old Ford Mondeo carve up the corners as they race to thinner air. Come to think of it…why isn’t this more popular here in the States? We have plenty of curving mountain roads!
Wow, whatta blast to watch. We allthink we are some kind of great “drivers,” be it land speed or road courses or roundy-round or what have ya. That right there requires an immense amount of skill and concentration, what they are doing.
It makes me wish for some paddle shifters and a car that light with so much horsepower that will wind up so high that quickly….let me PROVE I can kill myself in an instant on a race track.
What a way to go, having that much fun. I wonder if the guys can actually “enjoy” that, or if they are under pressure from financial directions to perform well, or what?
Overall, how can anybody even THINK that fast, think and react so quickly? I guess that’s called racing, even when you’re not apparently racing anybody else on the track. What a blast to watch.