Outram driver Glenn Frew is the new Southern Twin Peaks Challenge Champion after winning the Bluff Hillclimb on Saturday.
Frew scorched up the course in his powerful Mitsubishi EVO in a record time of 56.99 seconds to win the 2010 event supported by Bluff Promotions, the Bay View Hotel and Pub Charity.
Frew had last won the Bluff hillcimb in 2007 while Kaitangata driver Duncan McCrostie in his Mitsubishi EVO had dominated the 2008 and 2009 events. However Frew, the runner-up in both those years, was on the pace from the very beginning of proceedings on Saturday and led throughout. His best time came in his second run when he recorded the fastest time ever at the event. McCrostie set his best time in the third run but his 58.04 was over 1 second shy of Frew's best.
Frew blew a diff on his final run and failed to reach the top but victory was his by virtue of his earlier time.
McCrostie had won the Kaitangata Hillclimb one week earlier. His margin over Frew, the runner-up at Kaitangata, was .77 of a second on that occasion so the fastest elapsed times from each event gave the Southern Twin Peaks Challenge title to Frew, the first time anyone other than McCrostie has won it.
Frew was pleased with his result and confirmed that conditions were best during the second run of the day when most drivers set their quickest times. High temperatures as the day progressed meant conditions were not ideal for faster times later in the day.
McCrostie admitted Frew "had the wood on me." "I was hoping to get a bit closer but Glenn is very quick on tarseal."
Phil Winter of Allanton was consistently quick and recorded the third fastest time overall in his Subaru WRX. Invercargill driver Steve Heffernan was fourth overall and the winner of Class E for Sports & Racing Cars in his Van Diemen Formula Ford. Heffernan also became the inaugural winner of the Keith Douglas Memorial Trophy, honouring the late Keith Douglas a stalwart of the Southland Sports Car Club who had much input into the Bluff event. The trophy will be awarded to the best placed Southland Sports Car Club member each year.
Andrew Graves of Gore in another Mitsubishi EVO was fifth ahead of Dean Bond of Balclutha (EVO), Dave Wilson of Ashburton (Toyota Celica GT4) and Winton driver Darryl Batt who put in a fine performance to finish eighth overall in his Subaru RX.
The top ten was rounded out by the leading Class C competitors, Murray Marshall of Kaitangata in a Nissan Bluebird Turbo and Paul Gouman of Balclutha in a Lexus V8 powered Mazda RX7. Their class for 2-wheel-drive cars of 1601cc & over was hard fought, Marshall recording a 65.09 and Gouman a 65.30. The defending class champion and a regular top ten finisher in the event, Chris Hey of Mosgiel, battled a misfire in his turbocharged Nissan powered Toyota MR2 in the early runs and could not peg back his rivals later in the day. He finished third in the class ahead of early class leader Steve Cleverley.
Class B (1301-1600cc) was also close, Wallacetown driver Carter Strang winning the class in his Toyota in a time of 68.10 from Arrowtowns Hadley MacKay in a Citreon Saxo who recorded a time of 68.63. Balclutha driver Michael Gunn took third spot in a car he shared with Blair Thompson after his own developed a gearbox oil leak. Gunn's last run saw the replacement car also expire.
Invercargill driver David Robertson repeated his class win at Kaitangata seven days earlier when he took his Suzuki powered Hillman Imp to Class A honours (0-1300cc). Robertson's time of 70.93 seconds headed off Tony Adamson of Queenstown in a Suzuki Swift and Gore driver Kevin Laird in another Swift.
Andrew Graves, Dean Bond and Dave Wilson were awarded the top positions in Class D as the top three overall finishers are ineligible for the class prizes.
While Frew took the overall Southern Twin Peaks Challenge title class winners in the Twin Peaks series were also decided over the two rounds. David Robertson won Class A after winning at both Kaitangata and Bluff while Hadley MacKay took out Class B with runner-up spot in the class at both events. The dominance of Chris Hey at Kaitangata combined to his third place at Bluff allowed him to take the Twin Peaks title for Class C.
Forty-eight entries, a new record, fought out this years hillclimb.
The event utilises the sealed road to the summit of Bluff Hill (Motu Pohue). The road climbs to a height of 264 metres above sea level. The event is a joint project between Bluff Promotions, the Eastern Southland Car Club and the Southland Sports Car Club.
BAY VIEW HOTEL / PUB CHARITY BLUFF "where the journey begins" SEALED HILLCLIMB
1.6km course
2006 - Ross MacKay (Ashburton) Mitsubishi EVO - 1 minute 03.403 seconds
2007 - Glenn Frew (Outram) Mitsubishi EVO - 59.895 seconds
2008 - Duncan McCrostie (Kaitangata) Mitsubishi EVO - 59.188 seconds
1.8km course
2009 - Duncan McCrostie (Kaitangata) Mitsubishi EVO - 1 minute 00.733 seconds
2010 - Glenn Frew (Outram) Mitsubishi EVO - 56.99 seconds
SOUTHERN TWIN PEAKS CHALLENGE
2007/2008 - Duncan McCrostie
2008/2009 - Duncan McCrostie
2010 - Glenn Frew
