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FRIENDS OF MT COTTON
BENEFITS BEGIN TO FLOW:
With Friends of Mt Cotton now
established, albeit with a smaller (but growing) membership than
was hoped, this group has already begun to make their presence
felt.
Already, FOMC has provided a lap top computer to enable the
timekeepers to
fully utilize the Alge Timing System at Mt Cotton, as well as a
6Kva generator which will provide power for both the timing
facility and the canteen.
Mt Cotton Hillclimb will be much easier to operate with these
new additions,
and more assets and projects are "In the pipeline."
Watch this space for more news of the achievements of FOMC, and
consider
joining so that you too may see Australia's premier hill climb
continue to
grow.
Friends of Mt Cotton
Many years ago in the mists of time the idea of the MGCC of Qld
building a permanent hillclimb venue was raised. The hillclimb has
proved enormously successful and its success grows stronger with
every meeting and every development – a cyclical success story.
However, more funds are needed to continue the improvements and thus
the idea of “Friends of Mt Cotton” was born.
People with an
association with the Hillclimb have been invited to become a “Friend
of Mt Cotton” by taking out either a Gold of Silver Membership. Gold
membership is for five years duration and Silver membership for
three. While routine maintenance of the Hillclimb will continue to
be funded from the MG Car Club budget, funds raised from membership
will be used for selected upgrade initiatives to continue with the
improvement of the facility.
Patron of the
“Friends of Mt Cotton” is longtime competitor and the winner of
multiple Queensland and Australian Hillclimb Championships, Ivan
Tighe.
Current members
include a number of competitors from the very early days, people who
have won FTD, a number of current competitors and some people who
just wish to be “Mt Cotton Friendly”.
If you are
interested in knowing more about Friends of Mt Cotton or if you are
interested in becoming one, please contact the initiator of the
concept, Dino Mattea, on 3263 2625 or apply via the
downloadable
application form.
A
brief history of Mt Cotton Hillclimb:
Forty years on ………. Yes, unbelievable it may
seem, but it is over forty years since the idea of the MG Car Club
providing the first permanent hillclimb venue in Queensland was
first conceived. Club records show that as early as January 1962
the Club had started to look for a suitable site.
Admittedly, the first
hillclimb was not held until six years later and much work and
planning, both physical and financial, went on in those six years.
Progress really began to happen in September 1964 when the land at
Mt Cotton was ‘discovered’.
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Friends of Mt
Cotton Logo |
A
brief history of Mt Cotton Hillclimb
(cont.)
The March 1967 deadline was
unable to be met but two further dates were allocated for later in
the year. However, no hillclimbs were held on either of those days
as progress had been halted, this time by bad weather which delayed
construction. Meanwhile pleas still went out for funds and it was
announced in the June Octagon that over $600 had been donated or
invested by Club members.
In July 1967 Ray Lovejoy
previewed his prototype of the timing gear to be used at the
hillclimb and it was announced that tenders had been called for the
construction of the road. By December the track was surfaced, a dam
had been built and held 5 feet of water and the Mt Cotton Hill Climb
Co was doing a good job of raising finance for the jobs which
members just couldn’t do themselves.
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An
'ad' for the very first
hillclimb which was held in Feb 1968. |
1968 was the year! The February
Octagon featured an advertisement for the very first hillclimb to be
held on Sunday 18th February! This was a closed hillclimb
and FTD went to Ray Jorgensen who set the pace at 54.54secs in his
RJ Repco Holden. It was noted in the Octagon report of the hillclimb
that only 8 drivers beat the 60 sec barrier and one of them was the
Ann Thomson Lotus 15 driven by Brian Tebble who won the 1101-1500 cc
Sports Car Group A class. |
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The Redland Shire Council
advised that they had no objection to the land being used as a Motor
Sporting Hillclimb and Brian Tebble and the MG Car Club (through
three trustees) each purchased adjacent blocks of land.
1965 saw more progress with
the Hillclimb site being surveyed and the certificates of title
being finalised for the two purchases. A shed was built to house a
tractor and it was reported that the cost of bitumising the track
would be ₤1 per yard, a total cost of ₤1000!
Access to the hillclimb
site became available for the first time from (the then unnamed) Gramzow Rd. Previous to this, access was via Fabian Rd which was
reached via Wuduru Rd from the unsealed Mt Cotton Rd.
The latter part of the year
saw the formation of a Committee of Management for the hillclimb and
the Editor of the Octagon proudly announced on the front page that
the MG Car Club members were “Builders of the first permanent
hillclimb in Queensland.”
The big F word – FINANCE –
reared its ugly head in 1966; the Club had come up with the final
plan for the track and so knew what needed to be done but needed the
money to do it. A plea for donations as well as help at working bees
went out.
Interestingly and
prophetically, the Secretary of the Club in the 1966 Annual Report
said that “a couple of hard years work was needed” to complete the
circuit which, at that point, had progressed to 10 yards from the
first corner thanks to a series of working bees starting at 6 am!
Finances were still a
problem – aren’t they always?? – and it was proposed that the Club
form a company independent of the Club whilst at the same time under
its control. It was reported that the Climb ‘must be finished by
March 1967’ and a forward step was the track inspection which took
place on 31 October, 1966. The company, known as Mt Cotton Hill Climb
Ltd, was registered on 28 December, 1966, with eight club members as the
Board of Directors. |
Dates for eight hillclimbs
appear to have been set for that year and there is proof that seven
of them took place; these included 4 closed and 3 open hillclimbs
including the Qld Championships on June 2nd at which
Peter Holinger achieved FTD with 47.4 secs.
Three people who
competed in 1968 are still competing and each has won FTD at some
time. They are Peter Rayment (11 FTDs in his Cooper Ford between
1973 and 1981), Vern Hamilton (4 FTDs in his Centaur Clubman in
1968-69) and David Miles (FTD in his Centaur in 1972).
Other interesting early
‘snippets’ include the information that –
·
the 50 sec barrier was first broken
by Glynn Scott
·
there were over 2000 spectators at
the first Qld championships (2 Jun 1968)
·
practice days were set aside at Mt
Cotton as part of the Club schedule of events
·
the first person to break the 40
sec barrier at Mt Cotton was Kym Rohrlach at the Australian
Hillclimb Championship held on 31st May 1987.
·
eight people have now gone under
the 40 second barrier with others very close to increasing this
number quite soon.
The ‘coming of age’ of the hillclimb could be said to have occurred
on 14 June, 1970, when the first round of the Australian championship
was held at the hill. It was won by Paul England in a time of 45.6 secs. Other rounds of the Championship were held in 1974 and 1975.
In later years, the Championship was decided at a single event and
Queensland hosted this event in the years 1979, 1983, 1991 (won by
Ivan Tighe), 1995 (won by John Davies) and 2001.
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In 2000, the Management Committee requested submissions in
writing from members to provide directions for the development of
the Hillclimb site. The resulting improvements to the track, its
surrounds, the return road, the pits, the spectator area etc can be
seen when you visit the hillclimb.
However, there is still a lot to
be done, so, as with many things, everything old becomes new again
and the Club is once again – or still – seeking funds to further the
progress of the improvement of the facility … thus the Club has
initiated the “Friends of Mt Cotton”.
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