Drivers were greeted with some fog and a wet track on Saturday morning but as expected, times improved throughout the first day of racing as the racing line dried out with the heavy traffic usage.

There were some familiar faces who competed in the two-day event including Ararat Car Club president Daryl McRae.

Mirko Grbic recorded the fastest time of the weekend with a blistering run of 41.08 seconds up the 1.2km track in his Mitsubishi Evo.

It was Grbic’s second time at the climb after visiting last year.

Clerk of the course Chris Harwood said it was another strong event with a lot of competition between the drivers.

“It was a cold day on Saturday but the times got down to about 42 seconds,” he said.

“Sunday was also a good day with the sun out and conditions good.”

There were a few incidents where drivers pushed a bit too hard on Sunday with safety procedures put into practice twice.

“There was a couple of people who had altercations with rocks along the way but there was no serious injuries except for bruised egos and a few dents to the cars,” he said.

As usual, the event attracted a wide range of cars including a Hillman Hunter, a Jag and the usual sports cars like Subaru, Mitsubishi, Holden and Ford.

The Ararat Car Club also welcomed back the Beat the Heat group for what is becoming a regular appearance at the hill.

“We had a really good contingent from the Beat the Heat program with six or seven entrants competing this time around which was great to see,” Harwood said.

“They are enjoying this variety of motorsport after initially starting out with drag racing.

“We support them as much as we can and we hope the partnership will continue to grow and get bigger and better.”

The annual round of the Victorian Hill Climb Championships was a good practice run for the club ahead of two more major events this year.

The club will host an MG club event next month which will include a come and try motorkhana and come and try hill climb event before turning its focus to the King of the Hill event which will be contested on the longer track on November 17 and 18.

The club is also in the planning stages of its next motorkhana event which is expected to be announced soon.

For more information on any upcoming car club events, contact president Daryl McRae on 0417 051 713.