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Central Queensland Motor Sporting Club’s CQ Crane Hire Gold Rush Hill Sprint, cancelled in 2020, seemed to return with a vengeance over the 10 -11 July weekend in absolutely perfect conditions, it's growth spurt undeterred by the interruption. The sprint course up the mountain, already the longest in the country, was extended even further to 3 kms with the start line moved back down to Poison Creek bridge, and the addition of two chicanes before the first hairpin at the foot of the edifice. Climbing 200 metres to the finish line through the now 26 turns, this year 170 competitors from all over the country lined up to experience this unique event and were all effusive in their praise of the track, as surpassing anything they'd ever encountered. From a drivers point of view, generally there's only one disappointment associated with hill sprinting, it's all over too quickly. - Not so here! Spectators this year were contained to a newly cleared viewing area adjacent to the start line accessed through the open pit area, but it was a very well supported position. New additions included a huge screen fed by numerous cameras positioned throughout the course, keeping everyone up to date on all the action and competitors times through each block of competition, an extremely welcome innovation. There was a second large screen set up in another new addition, a bar area, though this agreeable temptation wasn't greatly indulged, with most people unfortunately restrained by their need to drive home later. The corporate viewing stand was moved down to the midway lookout area at turn 12 providing an astonishing view for miles on such a beautiful weekend, all repeated on the screens below, and both positions were supported with food and drink stalls manned by some of the the countless volunteers who virtually lived on the mountain for days. Bus services from the parking area at Bouldercombe were incessant throughout the weekend though I had a feeling numbers were down on 2019's comparison. Commentator for the event, Don Mcglauchlan, did his usual entertaining and extremely professional job throughout the weekend, expounding his detailed knowledge of the variety of entries from extremely rare vintage racers from the 1930's, through road registered, and modified types, to the ultimate speed machines presenting at the start line. There was even a Robinson R22 chopper providing joy flights over the course for those seeking the ultimate in an objective point of view! - Cars, released from the line at 30 second intervals for four timed runs across the two days competed for trophies in seven categories, dividing road registered and pure race cars, and 2 and 4 wheel drive types, but mostly arranged around engine displacement, with 70% per litre added for turbo and supercharged units to compensate for their increased power output. For example; two litre turbo engines would be classed as 3.4 litres and compete in an 'up to 3.5 litre' category. The bulk of entries, Subaru WRX turbos and Mitsubishi Evo turbos, actually fall into these categories, so popular for their very high performance on a budget, opening opportunities for many talented drivers to test their skills in the otherwise cost prohibitive world of competitive motor sport.

Day one arose presenting an unforeseen complication with the big screens. It seems some kind of animal chewed its way through a cable overnight, and sourcing and repairing the damage delayed the start for about an hour, time that had to be made up by starting day two an hour earlier. There's just no accounting for some critters dietary preferences! - But the meeting was soon under way providing all the sound, spectacle, and excitement we've come to enjoy. One early competitor blew a power steering line at the start and didn't get far past the first chicane before needing the tilt truck to return to the pits.

Above: Shane Hill’s V8 powered Silvia S13 featured on screen. Sadly it misfired all weekend, but when he gets it sorted he'll have a rocket in his hands with huge potential here. Above: The R22 chopper. A great idea

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Continued on Page 3 The new hay bail chicanes proved something of a tricky challenge. Bruce Decker, last years 'burn out king', locked the purple Falcon utes rear wheels and skidded to a sideways halt in the middle of the first one, somehow managing to miss every bail, and faced a frustrating five point turn around to get going again. Another driver late braked and sailed straight past the lot, and with nothing much else he could do, just pedalled on. But not all drivers negotiated them without some minor damage. As the weekend progressed quite a few cars developed suspiciously scratched wing mirrors in their 'gold rush' for quick times. As the faster cars completed their early runs the effect of the lengthened course became clearer. Ross Mackay posted a 1minute 50 second run in his amazing little escort later in the day, and true to form, Ray Vandersee, two times mountain king in the Skelta G force, shaved a little off it. The new course had added an average of about 20 seconds to 2019 times. It was early on day two this year that I got to award my coveted crown for burn out king of the mountain to Ross Dalton in his purple 392 V8 VF Valiant, (There's something about these purple cars!), who generated such a cloud of acrid blue smoke, he actually slightly delayed the launch of the next car due to obscured vision! - What a beauty ! - It was after this that some drivers of the more powerful entries were asked to minimise tyre smoke in the interests of preserving an already compressed time table.

Above: 2021 Burn out king, Ross Dalton in the 392 V8-VF Valiant. I have to confess to actually missing a good portion of one session on Sunday, being in the pits at the time, heavily engaged in drooling all over the most desirable supercar I've ever been close to. A dream machine that I had pasted on my bedroom wall throughout most of my youth. It was John White’s fabulous GT40. - An absolute gentleman, John was not only forgiving of my childish ogling, but couldn't have been more accommodating, raising the rear engine cover to reveal its full alloy chassis, a worked Windsor 363 V8 that screamed like a banshee, the inverted Porsche gearbox, and the trans-axle unit, all polished to within an inch of its life and encased in a body with more curves than Sophia Loren! - Despite any results, this was my choice for dream car of the meeting, and I can only hope that dribble doesn't stain! Above: John White's fabulous GT40 - A dream on wheels! It was after this, on my return to the viewing position, that the R22 chopper hovered directly overhead spectator area for a full 30 seconds, spraying dirt and sticks into everyone's faces causing discomfit to the onlookers. Anyway, with that said,- back to the fun! All competitors tend to push a bit harder on day two, having fine tuned their cars and familiarised themselves with the course and conditions, but pushing harder comes with its risks, and the humour of race drivers can come to the fore. When the thundering lavender AC Cobra that everyone was so enjoying all weekend skidded into the rock wall right in front of the corporate stand and the driver was asked what happened, he simply retorted “I run out of talent !”- Similarly when a beautifully finished gold Mark 1 Mexico Escort nudged the wall crumpling up the front corner I sought the owner out in the pits to offer some sympathy and got - “Ooh - it'll buff out!” - Both cars avoided serious damage, the Cobra will re emerge to thrill another day, and the Escort was taped up and ran the next stage. There's just no daunting these fellows. They're doing what they love to do, and fully accept that setbacks are all a part of doing it. - Thankfully I was aware of no injuries over the weekend. But as day two progressed, the times inched down and it became evident that there were more than the usual number of outright contenders. In this writers humble opinion, the addition of the two chicanes in the new section provided two more acceleration opportunities, and slightly shifted the goal posts to better include the bigger more powerful cars. What

Above: Brendon Wrigley's bruised Cobra, off to the clinic for some cosmetic surgery. Continued on Page 4

Cop that Covid...From Page 3 time the bigger heavier cars used to lose in the complex twisty sections up the mountain, they can now make up for in these added patches of rapid acceleration to high speeds below, where the smaller engined cars aren't as comfortable. This change has certainly thrown the big cats into the outright contention cage! The excitement built as one by one competitors completed their last passes through the afternoon, gradually revealing the final results of the event, and the competition was tight. Ross Mackay didn't quite manage to break into the top three outright. (I heard a rumour that he was milking the last gasp out of a well loved set of tyres this weekend?) - Reining

Above: Keith Callinan's lovely old Monaro. A reputed 800 horse power! mountain king Ray Vandersee came out and fairly wrung the Skeltas neck to record a 1 min. 46.7 sec. charge, achieving third fastest. Second fastest time was recorded by an entry that I have to confess I wasn't paying enough attention to, Cody Davidson leapt in to split the difference by a hair in his Impreza WRX at a time of 1 min. 46.5 sec.

Above: Cody Davidson's Subaru Impreza WRX. Outright runner up by one second! An impressive result in this company. - But it's time to reveal that this year we crown a new mountain king! On his last run of the meeting, Dylan Cothill recorded a 1 min 45.5 sec. run in the blue Nissan R35 GTR with a flying drive that was a pleasure to watch on the big screen. It was one of those smooth tidy runs on the limit that is always quick. When I later caught up with him in the pits I was staggered to learn that the car was actually set up for endurance racing, and Dylan was more surprised than anyone at just how well it performed in this kind of event. When I asked, he said he felt an obligation to return and try and defend the title. I offered him my congratulations on a great drive and as I left him packing up, my impression was of a modest, capable, and very personable young man, with a big future! But what will happen next year? - passionate engineer/drivers like Ray Vandersee and Ross Mackay don't sit around on their hands, and will be secretly beavering away in their workshops to regain their ascendance, and return all the better prepared for the longer course. It must be remembered that in 2019 these two drivers shaved a full five seconds off

Above: Max Stevenson at the wheel of the 1933 Aston Martin long chassis Le Mans. This classic is rarer than an honest man in parliament! their 2018 times.- They are very determined chaps! That's why motor sport is so endlessly engaging. It hones all skills and pushes the envelope at all levels. Wish I could see into the future, and I also wish I had room to share more details with you, but the best we can all do is keep delving into CQMSC's website at www.cqmsc.asn.au , or google 'goldrushhillsprint. com.au' for cascades of appetising info to sustain us in the interim. Deepest gratitude to CQMSC, CQ Crane Hire, and all sponsors, - to all the competitors, many of whom travelled great distances to be here, - and especially to all volunteers who give so much of their time, energy and enthusiasm to create success, and a wonderful weekends entertainment. So; - ' COP THAT COVID!'

Gavin Taylor's VW Golf GTI at turn 12. - Mega fun on a minor budget.