JOHNSON IMPRESSES IN MT LEURA HILL CLIMB

The EZI Up & Go Motorsport Australia Victorian Hill Climb Championship has welcomed a new driver to the winners’ list for 2023 after Douglas Johnson took out the fifth round of the season.

Run by the Ballarat Light Car Club at Mt Leura in Camperdown, the twoday encounter offered up plenty of entertainment for attending fans.

A strong field of 81 entrants got up to nine runs each across the weekend in mixed conditions as they attempted to post the fastest time in their respective classes.

A wet and rainy Saturday session saw Patrick Malanaphy set the benchmark early with a time 32.46 seconds in his second attempt, which also served as his final run of the whole weekend – an impressive time considering the wet conditions.

Sunday then offered up prestige conditions and allowed Johnson to steer his non-championship classified Subaru WRX into the lead with a 31.64-second attempt on the seventh run, before going sub 31 seconds in his final two runs – his final attempt of 30.69 seconds earning a maiden outright win for 2023.

Not far behind in second place was one of the four open-wheel entrants in Keith Wilson, who set an impressive 31.48 second time in his NINJA BH1 on his last run.

With Johnson behind the wheel of a non-championship-logged Subaru WRX, it meant Wilson walked away as the official winner regarding championship points – elevating him to third on the overall standings.

Ending the weekend second on the standings was Malanaphy, whose 32.46-second run in his Yacar Cross was enough to secure the final podium place.

A pair of Subarus rounded out the top five with David Harris and Derrick White enjoying a thrilling battleHarris snatching fourth place on his final run to beat White by just three hundredths of a second.

A just as dramatic battle took place in the Prod Sports up to 2000cc class with Mick Goossens edging out Mazda MX5 driver Ian Speight in his Toyota MR2 by two hundredths on his final run.

There was another tight tussle in the Sports Sedans over 2000cc class with Steve Grinstead taking the win in his Holden VL Commodore ahead of Adam Stoddart in his recently restored Mini Clubman Turbo.

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A time of 35.35 seconds in his final run proved good enough for Warren Health to convincingly claim the Improved Production class ahead of Glenn Morris and Luke Paterson.

Other class winners included Colin Newitt in the Sports Car, Scott Markby in the Sports Car Open/Closed, James McNiven in Sports Sedans under 1600cc, Stuart Haverkort in Sports Sedans over 1600cc, Jordan James in Sports Sedans 4WD, Drew Widgery in Improved Production 2WD, David Harris in Improved Production 4WD and Mark Pitman in Historic.

The next round of the Motorsport Australia Victorian Hill Climb Championships will take place at One Tree Hill in Ararat on 10-11 June.

The full results have been posted on the Victorian Hill Climb Championships' website