This is the line up of cars performing that day. I am in the front row, second from the right beside the bright blue Jag F pace
Petrol Heads’ Corner The Hahei Leadfoot Festival David O’Neill*
We are all suffering from over-work, overconsumption from the holidays and over lockdown (well, that’s my excuse). Consequently, I haven’t been able to lay my hands on a car to drive. Driving cars and car reviews has, seemingly, been the sole property of mainstream media outlets and not humble barristers writing for the NZBA magazine “At the Bar”. So, you are going to have to put up with delivery of a missive about a recent event that I attended. I didn’t go in my rally car. It wasn’t a race, but it was something just a little bit special.
hill climb to the summit of Pikes Peak in Colorado, USA. The track is 19.99 kilometres long. It has over 156 turns and climbs 1.44 vertical kilometres from start to the finish. It used to be gravel and paved but now is fully paved. It has been run since 1916 and is probably the premier hill climb event in the world. Rod Millen raced for Mazda (Rotary) in USA, winning national titles over there. When he broke the record up Pikes Peak in the 1990’s, he broke the old record by 40 seconds. His all-wheel drive Toyota Celica developed 2000 pounds of downforce. This may not seem so remarkable, but the car only weighed 2000 pounds and, as he said recently, you could drive it on the ceiling upside down.
Let me give you some background to this “little event.” Rod Millen is probably one of the best rally drivers New Zealand ever exported. He won just about every conceivable rally in New Zealand back when (some of us) were young, and then went to live in USA to ply his trade on the big stage. He was well known in New Zealand but became famous in USA because he took on and beat the best of the world at the famous Pikes Peak Hill Climb. The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is also known as the Race to the Clouds. It’s an annual
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This is in Rod Millen’s car barn and this is his brand new Corvette – it has only done 90 miles on the speedo
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