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UNDER 40's CLUB
The Under 40's Club was officially recognized at the 2007 AHC at Mt
Cotton when Australia’s Delegate to the FIA World Council of
Motorsport, Garry Connelly, attended to make special presentations
to the members of the Club. Before the AHC, there were 9 members; by
the end of the first day of competition, there were 11.
Each member received a beautiful specially-designed and engraved
medallion in a presentation box, a framed certificate and a cloth
patch.
At the 2009 QHC, two more drivers achieved sub 40s times for the first
time. Local driver, Rod Johns, was the first of the two to join the Club
with his 39.94s run. He was soon followed by Douglas Barry (NSW) with his
run of 39.77. Scroll down to see photos of the drivers and their cars.
Then, on 29 Nov 2009, in his first year of competition in his new car,
Warwick Hutchinson achieved a sub 40s with a 39.82sec at the final round of
the Tighe Cams series.
The fifteenth member of the Club joined on 18th April 2010 when Bill Norman
did a 39.75 run. As this was in a sports car, Bill also became the first
sports car driver to break the 40s barrier. |
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Bill Norman and his time
Photo by Steve Johns |
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The Club members are:
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Name |
Car |
Date |
Time |
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Kym Rohrlach |
VW Special |
31.05.1987 |
39.90 |
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Ivan Tighe |
Kaditcha |
27.10.1991 |
39.95 |
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Bill Norris |
Hawk MK II |
04.06.1995 |
39.80 |
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John Davies |
DBF |
04.06.1995 |
39.50 |
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Peter Gumley |
Wortmeyer SCV |
04.06.2000 |
39.19 |
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Eric Barnes |
Farrell
F2 |
30.09.2001 |
39.97 |
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Peter Finlay |
March 77B Cosworth |
30.09.2001 |
39.87 |
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Alan McConnell |
Van Diemen 87 |
06.10.2002 |
39.39 |
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Andrew Howell |
Gould
GR55B |
03.06.2007 |
38.32 |
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Greg Ackland |
Ninja GA7 |
03.11.2007 |
39.90 |
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Tom Donovan |
Pilbeam
MP82 |
03.11.2007 |
39.65 |
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Rod Johns |
Norris Hawk Mk 2 |
14.06.2009 |
39.94 |
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Doug Barry |
Lola T8750 |
14.06.2009 |
39.77 |
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Warwick Hutchinson |
RPV 02 |
29.11.2009 |
39.82 |
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Bill Norman |
GEK Sports |
18.04.2010 |
39.75 |
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An overview of the path to the Under 40s Club
The initial barrier to be broken at the hillclimb was the minute
barrier but this was quickly broken at the first hillclimb on 18th
February, 1968, by both Ray Jorgensen (58.39s) and Jim Reuter (58.74)
on their practice run. Brian Tebble, in Ann Thomson’s Lotus 15,
recorded the first official sub-60s run with a 58.59 on his first
official run while Tim Harlock (Cooper Ford) also went under the
minute with a 58.74. On the second official run, R Robson (Morgan
+4) 59.89 and R Atkinson (Formula V) 58.77 joined the ‘Under the
minute’ group. By day’s end, both Kerry Horgan (Sprite, 57.53) and
Will Charlton (MGB, 59.91) had increased the number of ‘Under 60s’
to seven. Fastest time for the day was Ray Jorgensen’s 54.54 making
him the first to break the 55s barrier and leaving people wondering
how long it would be before the 50s barrier would be
broken.
It wasn’t long before it happened; in fact, only four months. At the
Qld Hillcimb Championships held in June, Peter Holinger (Holinger
Vincent) came very close to being the first to break the 50s barrier
when he did a 50.00 on his first run but it was Glynn Scott who, on
his second run in his Lotus 23, achieved it with a 48.9s. By the end
of the day, the fastest time had been lowered to 47.4s by Peter
Holinger.
The next goal was to break 45s and Paul England, at the 1970 AHC,
came close with a best time of 45.6s. In August 1971, Murray Bingham
got closer with a 45.2 in his Cobra PAC II but it wasn’t until the
first round of the 1974 AHC that it was finally broken.
Interestingly, it came down to a contest between Paul England and
Murray Bingham with both being the winners! Murray Bingham was the
‘moral’ victor with a 44.4s run in practice but that didn’t count as
an official time so Paul England’s event-winning 44.7s went in the
record books as the first under 45s time posted in competition.
It took some time before that 44.7s time was bettered and it was
local driver Gary Cossor who did a 44.1s in winning the QHC in his
Wortmeyer SCV in June 1978. However, it was just one year later at
the AHC that Peter Holinger (Holinger Repco) achieved a 43.3s.
This time held as best until 1982 when Kym Kym Kym Rohrlach (VW Special) got into
the 42s with a 42.48s and the following years saw the times tumble
as Roger Harrison (Elfin 600C) did a 41.8s in 1983, Ivan Tighe
(Chevron) 41.32s in 1985 and a tantalizingly-close 40.29s in 1986.
As official timing was given to the nearest tenth of a second this
was recorded as a 40.3s.
It was on 31st May, 1987, that the 40s was finally broken
by Kym Rohrlach (SA) on his second run with a 39.87s.
With official timing being only a tenth of a second, this went down
in the record books as 39.90s.
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Garry
Connelly addressing the crowd |
Four years later, in June 1991, Ivan Tighe (Qld), this time
in his Kaditcha, lowered the record further to 39.86s when he became
the second person to break the 40s barrier. Later that year he got
the time down to 39.33s.
In June 1995, two more drivers achieved the feat of breaking the 40s
barrier when Bill Norris (Hawk Mk II) and John Davies
(DBF), both of Qld, achieved times of 39.8s and 39.5s respectively.
It then took until June 2000 for someone else to join this exclusive
club and it was Peter Gumley (NSW) who, with a 39.19s in his
Wortmeyer SCV, also beat the ‘best ever’ time of 39.21s set by Bill
Norris at a Club hillclimb on 11 October 1998.
At the AHC in September 2001, New South Welshmen Eric Barnes
and Peter Finlay both ‘joined the Club’ with 39.97 and 39.87
respectively.
Then, the following year, Alan McConnell (Qld) with a 39.39,
became the 8th driver to achieve a sub-40 run.
Despite a number of drivers going tantalizingly close to breaking
the 40s barrier, it then took until the QHC in June 2007 for another
to actually do it when Victorian Andrew Howell (Gould GR55B)
posted a 38.32s on his first official run.
At the AHC in November, two more quickly joined the Club with
Greg Ackland (Vic) doing a 39.90 in his Ninja GA7 and Tom
Donovan (NSW) a 39.65 in his Pilbeam MP82.
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Pictured are Doug Barry (left) and Rod Johns (right) with the
medallions presented to them on their achieving their first sub
40s time at Mt Cotton at the Qld Hillclimb Championships held on
14th June 2009.
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Warwick stops the clock at 39.82
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Warwick shares his happiness after his
first sub 40 run.
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Bill
Norman, GEK Sports - Photo by Steve Johns |
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Warwick Hutchinson, RPV 02 - Photo by
Russell Witt. |
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Rod Johns, Norris Hawk Mk 2
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Photo by Wayne Reed |
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Doug Barry, Lola T8750 -
Photo by Wayne Reed |
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PHOTOS BELOW ARE FROM THE PRESENTATIONS AT THE 2007 AHC
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Some of the
crowd |
The group with
Gary Connolly |
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Kym Rohrlach |
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Kym Rohrlach
VW Special - Photo by Alan McConnell |
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Ivan Tighe |
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Ivan Tighe -
Kaditcha, photo Wayne Reed |
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Bill Norris |
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Bill Norris -
Hawk, photo John Clatworthy |
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John Davies |
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John Davies -
DBF |
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Peter Gumley |
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Peter Gumley -
Wortmeyer SCV, photo Wayne Reed |
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Alan McConnell |
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Alan McConnell
- Van Diemen, photo Wayne Reed |
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Andrew Howell |
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Andrew Howell
- Gould GR55B, photo Wayne Reed |
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Greg Ackland |
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Greg Ackland -
Ninja GA7, photo Wayne Reed |
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Tom Donovan |
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Tom Donovan -
Pilbeam MP82, photo Wayne Reed |
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Eric Barnes - Farrell F2, photo club archives |
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Peter Finlay - March 77B, photo club archives |
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