V.C. Hillclimb

[BillH]

Since we had a thread last month on Hillclimbs, the formally VC hillclimb's coming up, June 25-26.

Must be street licensed cars w/insurance and driven by the registered owner (no ringers). DOT tires.

http://www.spectre341challenge.com/

Notables: Araon Pfadt (Salt Lake City) will be there but not sure on what he's driving, his race preped Corvettes will be at VIR.

Lou Gigliotti will be flying in from the ALMS race at Mid-Ohio, driving his personnal Corvette ZR1.

Vivid racing is bring an 800 horse twin turbo Porsche (quite possibily the car to win).

Should be wild.

[AlexR]

I'm signed up too ;)

[dsmith]

I thought after those people in the Viper were killed they killed off the VC Hillclimb, guess not. Looks like there will be some scary-fast cars going up the hill.

[BillH]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzpDOFOvdek&feature=player_embedded

[Old Rallyist]

Looks like a very fast road for a hillclimb. Prehaps too fast. It would be fun in a relatively slow car, such as my Mazda, but not so in the over-powered vehicles they trying to attract.

[BillH]

Looks like a very fast road for a hillclimb. Prehaps too fast. It would be fun in a relatively slow car, such as my Mazda, but not so in the over-powered vehicles they trying to attract.

Yea, well, it's always been for the high dollar, fast cars. I was there in the early 80's when 90% of the cars were Ferraris.
They did sound nice going up the hill, though.

[Timothy5509]

Are there any good places for spectators? I would love to go watch.

[BillH]

Are there any good places for spectators? I would love to go watch.

There are good places, but you have to climb the hills to get to them.:D

If you go, go early to get a parking place.

[AlexR]

Well there's two groups that do the hill climb. i think this one did go away for a while and now its back. I'm not too sure which group has ran in what years. this one is "Spectre 341 challenge" i think the other one is the "Ferrari virginia city hill climb". i'm not 100%

Yes it does look like a very fast road for a hill climb. :devil: "Excellent!" going 35 mph up or down that road is a joke, and its a great road, really just begging for some real driving to be done on it!

:lol: I'll let you know if i see someone (else) doing some!

[dknv]

It is a neat event. When drivers have experience and the right hardware to participate, statistically it's likely safer than driving on the interstate. It would take a collision of equipment failure, driver inexperience and bad luck, to get off course.

For those who haven't been around awhile, you might be surprised at who in our club has done this in the past.

[AlexR]

For those who haven't been around awhile, you might be surprised at who in our club has done this in the past.

Who who who ?

Dean and Sue have... But i'm not sure who else ??

[dknv]

Who who who ?

Dean and Sue have... But i'm not sure who else ??Do you remember Jane and John in the Super 7? One year I was there, Jane was the fastest female up the hill in that car.
Eric in his corvette. A couple of mustang drivers. I've been a passenger.

[Dean]

I thought after those people in the Viper were killed they killed off the VC Hillclimb, guess not. Looks like there will be some scary-fast cars going up the hill.The Audi club stopped doing one on Fathers Day. Cobra/Ferrari club still did one later in the year.

Not sure who all are doing them now.

[dsmith]

Deb, you're braver than I am if you could ride as a passenger!

The hard part about spectating is - as stated - finding a place to park and then hiking up the road and then up a hill to get a spot to watch; I went back in the very early 70's to see a Ferrari Club event and though it was a pain to get to a good spot it was fun watching (and hearing) the cars go up the hill.

I believe the two Viper people have been the only fatalities over the years, and they went over the side and rolled down the valley, they were occasional soloists with the Reno Region, but I can't remember their names. That was an Audi Club event, if my memory serves me.

[dknv]

The best view I found, was from going to the top of that road (seems like there was a turnout shortly after the bridge) - park there and hike down a ways. Take a folding chair, water and binoculars -- and from one or more of the ridges up there, you can see 7 or more turns.

[AlexR]

Anyone going out to spectate it this year?

[Timothy5509]

Anyone going out to spectate it this year?

I will go out to spectate for sure. Gonna bring my brother and hopefully a few friends. Not sure if I want to sit somewhere on the hill or just stay at the bottom and check out all the cars on the grid and watch them launch.

[Dean]

When we had access to the restaurant 1/2 way up the return road, you could hike out on the ridge behind it and watch quite a few turns from there. Don't know what the status of that property is though.

[AlexR]

The house across from the sheriffs office is for sale and wasn't occupied when i went to look at it like 7 weeks ago. you might be able to park there (or the rail road museum on a weird little dirt road just before that house)

there's also a little road called "homestead bld" a smooth dirt road that goes from 432 to 431 up on a ridge and would provide not only good views, but you could leave at anytime you wanted with out having to wait for a window between runs. then again when i'm on that road i'm not really trying to see what kind of view of the paved road i have......

Spectre 341 Challenge [spectre341@fm3marketing.com] is the email , probably best to drop him a line and ask where is ok and where isn't. ?

[xteraco]

At first I was tempted to sign up. Need to do a few more autocross first though. Wouldn't want to throw myself off the side of a mountain.

[jmanfoo]

If I had $341 I would do this...

[silvios203]

If I had $341 I would do this...

me too, and if had that i would be running fernley tomorrow

[Dave Deborde]

Members of our club are invited to view the Hillclimb and get paid. Check out the invitation from Jimi Day. Respond directly if interested.

Dear Northern Nevada Car Clubs,

FM3 Performance Marketing is producing an event near Reno later this month called the Spectre 341 Challenge - an open road time trial on NV Highway 341 between SIlver City and Virginia City. Our event is very similar to the Virginia City Hillclimb, however, it is an invitation only event and we are limiting it to 50 cars. We will have american muscle, new camaros, corvettes and mustangs, exotics, Vipers, Evo's and many other marques. The event is on Friday June 25th and Saturday June 26th and we are looking for 15 workers to help us with spotting and flagging for the event. We are not asking for volunteers, we will make a donation to your club or we will pay each worker $75 per day and provide breakfast, lunch and water throughout the day. The workers would start at 7am and be finished by 5pm.

Car & driver, Road & Track, Autoweek, and The New York Times will all be on hand to capture this great event.

You can find more detailed information on the event website, www.spectre341challenge.com (http://ssomail.charter.net/do/redirect?url=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.spectre341chal lenge.com)

Please feel free to have any of your interested members contact me at this email or at the phone number listed below. Thanks so much for your help.

Jimi Day|President
FM3 Performance Marketing, Inc.
1369 Port Washington Road|Suite 346| Grafton, WI 53024
Ph: 414-702-4939|www.fm3marketing.com (http://ssomail.charter.net/do/redirect?url=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.fm3marketing.c om)

"Share of mind ultimately leads to share of market"

[silvios203]

I think I am going to sign in as a volunteer for it (since cant afford driving even if I was invited)

[Timothy5509]

I think I will sign up to work, planned on being there anyways.

[AlexR]

Awesome looking forward to seeing you guys out there!

[solonut]

I think I will sign up to work, planned on being there anyways.

I'm already signed up to work...I'm going to camp out up there as its 50+ miles

[BillH]

I did a test :D run yesterday. Drove the whole way down and back up, didn't see one car the whole time.

I think I'll go Sat. morning for a while.

[Timothy5509]

I went for a casual test drive too. Last sunday there was only one car on my way back up. Looks like great weather for the weekend.

[tom1977]

WoW What an event!

[solonut]

http://www.ktvn.com/Global/category.asp?C=170899&clipId=&topVideoCatNo=90460&topVideoCatNoB=170902&topVideoCatNoC=108651&topVideoCatNoD=170903&topVideoCatNoE=170904&clipId=4899629&topVideoCatNo=90460&autoStart=true

Alex is towards the end of the video

[BillH]

I was at the bottom Saturday morning, talked to Lou G. for a while.

Here's his winning run.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IHI8P_LXao&feature=player_embedded

[dknv]

I was at the bottom Saturday morning, talked to Lou G. for a while.

Here's his winning run.Nice video!

Wow, that engine sounds so smooth, and his driving looked like it too. So smooth, I couldn't tell that he must have been hitting 100+ mph in some straights. Well-done!

[dknv]

http://www.ktvn.com/Global/category.asp?C=170899&clipId=&topVideoCatNo=90460&topVideoCatNoB=170902&topVideoCatNoC=108651&topVideoCatNoD=170903&topVideoCatNoE=170904&clipId=4899629&topVideoCatNo=90460&autoStart=true

Alex is towards the end of the videoAlex is a star - Good job Alex! Looking forward to reading your write-up.

[BillH]

Nice video!

Wow, that engine sounds so smooth, and his driving looked like it too. So smooth, I couldn't tell that he must have been hitting 100+ mph in some straights. Well-done!

Yea, I've played it a bunch of times just to listen to the engine. Supercharged V8 with Lou's long tube headers and a few tweaks, probably close to 700 HP.

Lou's smooth from experience, he's been racing forever, AMLS, Rolex,etc.
He did say that he was taking it easy especially in the big sweepers to keep from spining.
Nitto street tires BTW.
He was easily over 100.
http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=2nret7a&s=6

[dsmith]

I just saw in the paper today that a driver was killed Saturday during the hillclimb. Very sad. I would think that this - coupled with the other two deaths - might force more safety precautions to the course if they ever do it again.

[sperry]

I just saw in the paper today that a driver was killed Saturday during the hillclimb. Very sad. I would think that this - coupled with the other two deaths - might force more safety precautions to the course if they ever do it again.
What happened? I haven't heard anything, and a google search for it ironically turns up the SECCS thread about the event before any news.

Edit: found it.

http://www.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2010100628023

:(

Also... looks like he was in a totally unprepared car. No cage... just his helmet. IMO, they should be running with at least roll bars and full driver's gear, if not full cages required the way SCCA does their hill climbs.

[dknv]

What happened? I haven't heard anything, and a google search for it ironically turns up the SECCS thread about the event before any news.

Edit: found it.

http://www.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2010100628023

:(

Also... looks like he was in a totally unprepared car. No cage... just his helmet. IMO, they should be running with at least roll bars and full driver's gear, if not full cages required the way SCCA does their hill climbs.
I just read this. It makes me sad, I'm glad I wasn't there. He was on that news video too. RIP.

[dsmith]

What happened? I haven't heard anything, and a google search for it ironically turns up the SECCS thread about the event before any news.

Edit: found it.

http://www.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2010100628023

:(

Also... looks like he was in a totally unprepared car. No cage... just his helmet. IMO, they should be running with at least roll bars and full driver's gear, if not full cages required the way SCCA does their hill climbs.

Watching the news video tonight I could see he did have a roll bar, but it didn't look like a full cage. Still, seems to me cars on a course like that should be fully race prepped - safety wise - along with the driver (fire suit, HANS, full harness, fire suppression, etc.) May not have made a difference here, who knows. But, I suppose the organizers rely on people wanting/being able to drive their street cars in these events, and requiring the needed safety gear would limit their numbers of participants substantially. What were the safety requirements for this event, anyone know? Alex???

[Kevin M]

Alex drove his STi, so there wasn't any requirement for roll bars of any sort.

[AlexR]

So after hearing about the Virginia City Hill climb for a number of years and always wanting to take part a new event sprung up this year that's a bit more affordable.

http://www.spectre341challenge.com/

$341 and by invitation only i felt really honored to be extended an invitation to attend.

The rules? basically none my style of event. Street legal , registered , insured car. with street legal tires (required 100 tread wear) very rally like!

The event started with registration Thursday night. this was fun as a few of the cars were already in the parking lot with numbers on the side. Lou Gigliotti former World Challenge GT Championfrom from LG racing was there! along with Steve Millen Targa Rally driver in a GTR ! VR Alexander in a Porsche turbo 996 (making 900 ish hp) and some other noteables!
http://www.spectre341challenge.com/entries/

Lou was very friendly was was Steve (though Steve was trying to keep his
car under wraps for as long as possible)


My car is my 2005 Subaru Impreza WRX STI in SCCA Stock class trim (29mm FSB, Ofeal revalved struts, custom 3" cat back exhaust, Khumo Escta XS 255/40/17) 300hp/300 tq. Looking around the paddock i was a bit worried as my car was seriously outgunned, with at least 3 cars pushing over 700 hp, 450+ from the GTR , white evo, and the blue 911 turbo


I went home very excited and found it very hard to sleep. Saturday started with a drivers meeting right at 9:00 am on the dot. the drivers meeting was very informational both about how the event would be ran and a bit about the history of the hill climb. the event was put on by speed by spectre who does world speed challenge events. think they are trying to set a record of over 400 mph in their crazy missile type car. hehehe

Very cool folks there! after the drivers meeting we had time for classing which never seemed to happen. think due to a bit low of a turn out just over 20 people had signed up and paid. there was news on hand taking little clips that they compiled into a short story.

We were taken on a tour of the course in Amir Rosenbaum's RV (current VCHC Record holder with a 3:10.53 Ferrari F40) we stopped at a few points to note where the road did unsual things you won't see at a race track. crowning, twisting, elements designed for drainage. we also noted where others have crashed in the past, most of whom survived uninjured but we also saw turn 7 where the driver and passenger died in when they slid off the road. in all of the Virginia City hill climbs since 1974 there have been a number of fatalities. (maybe over a dozen)

Here's a video of a CTS doing a 3:50 in 2006. I'll have some videos from my runs in a few days. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6XDpFibFd8

After we got back it started drizzling a tiny bit of rain and the organizer decided to delay the event. While I and the two evos didn't mind the idea of running with some water coming down, all the High HP , RWD cars didn't really. and it was a good call considering the nature of the event. after 30 minutes which seemed to last for ever .

We lined up along the left hand lane of the road for staging and got ready to take our first runs. but just before the first car could leave the fire department got a call and had to leave. there was a motorcycle accident south of where 341 splits to 342 as the main route and 341 as the "truck route" so we had to wait again what seemed like for ever but was only 40 minutes. so we got to take our first runs at about 2:45 pm instead of 1pm. not bad at all considering what the organizer had to press on through.

The event so far was really fun and almost surreal! My main goal was to stay on the road, have fun, and beat a 4:00. I was dreaming of doing a 3:41 and join only 47 other drivers who have been able to run that time or faster over the 36 years people have been racing up this hill. after day 1 I was at 3:49.942 .

The 2nd day got off to a nice early start . first runs began about 8:30 ish am. their permit closed the road at 8:00 am but they had to position fire and ems above and below and do a sweep or two of the road to ensure no locals were on it, one local needed to drive down at about 8:02 am so we waited for that. there's about 12 houses along the bottom portion of the highway. We actually had someone pull out in front of one of the racers during his run, which caused us some concerned. the locals had all been warned and given radio access but this one decided just to leave when he wanted to. hehe Can't really blame the guy for wanting to drive out his own driveway on a whim, but there's been hill climbs on this road since 1972 , so its not exactly a secret this could happen to a resident 1-3 days a year.

Its hard to really explain how making the runs felt. a whole lot of adrenaline is coursing through your veins. its very intense, high speed fun of the track , but on a natural road. you are always aware this is no race track, no run offs, safe barriers. nor is there a slew of instructors who have the course memorized. only a few guys really know this road (at speed) Amir and the grigs team was availble for chatting about the course. Jeremy in the evo also knew the course from his September running of the course.

At the end of day 2 i was able to get down to a 3:43.831 just 2.8 seconds off the mark . the road is very challenging as parts have good camber, parts are crowned, blind corners, sheer drops, changing grip levels. and your car is gasping for air climbing up from 5000 to 6200 over 5 miles!

That was good enough for 7th place. the 700hp Corvette got first with a 3:21.7 , GTR in 2nd with a 3:22. the E85 , 450hp evo got 3rd, Griggs racing mustang in 4th , 911 turbo 5th, 996 turbo in 6th, then me

there was a few corners i could have moved my throttle application point up by about a car length , and i could have braked later in a few spots (1 with a very very steep drop) Getting a tire would have helped out a lot. all the fast guys seemed to be on Toyo R1R (100 trear wear rating)

Despite that this awesome event ended on a sad note I plan to come back next year to run a 4:31 , and i want the challenge of doing it with my car in stock configuration. though i will be using a better tire.

If you're interested in competing you are allowed to use as much safety equipment as you'de like, but you're still racing on the side of a cliff. this isn't the type of event for everyone, but i'm glad that i live in a country where i'm free to choose to do something like this. :)

[newbie911]

According to a reliable source, the person killed was in a well equiped car with full cage. His "mistake" was on his last run, not wearing his full harness, but lap belt only. He was partially ejected during the crash and medical responders thought he surely would have survived, had he worn his full harness???