Time to tackle the hill

The running of the 16th Legend of the Lakes

The 16th Legend of the Lakes Hill Climb Champion will be presented with the Lionel Stingers Memorial Trophy as a reward for the run up the picturesque Valley Lake Course in the quickest time over the Saturday and Sunday competition this weekend.

There have only been three competitors to receive the coveted Legends trophy, Kevin Mackrell, Peter Gazzard and Dan Day, and two of these drivers are again taking on the hill this year.

Turning a dream into reality, the late Lionel Stingers kept gnawing away at the problems that locals kept throwing at him against running a car race in the Valley Lake reserve, until all the hurdles had been cleared and the first Legends Hill Climb had been put together and run, as a one-off event.

It proved to be an overwhelming success for both Lionel Stingers and the South Eastern Automobile Club with the full field of Competitors sending Congratulations to all involved. This gave Lionel the ammunition that the Club needed to go back to the council and plea for a second Hill Climb.

When the council surveys had been scrutinised and the monetary value of all the visitors that came to run or watch the event totalled a massive input in Dollar terms to the City of Mount Gambier Tourism and Businesses, the economics also helped to get another event to run, and, the rest is history.

Over the weekend and the following few days, the tourist drive that people use to access the Valley Lake and its picnic areas, is turned into a 1.6 kilometre race track that has been reportedly ranked as one of the best in the Australian Hill climbs by the participants that eagerly await the entry details being posted on the internet and filling the three days to over capacity in a matter of hours.

With a small dedicated committee putting the event together, led by Kevin Raedel, the massive weekend takes many hours of behind the scenes meetings to get all the necessary officialdom sorted and approved.

Track setup is again another huge effort on mostly volunteers attending and assembling the safety barriers at each side of the race track, with power cables, camera wiring, timing, safety lighting all having to be placed and connected for this event to be run with the required Safety levels that the governing body – Motorsport Australia – have in place.

As the first car leaves the start line on Friday morning, the committee as a whole can breathe easier, knowing that the 2022 event is under way. Sunday afternoon, when presentations have been done, the track has to be dismantled and transported back to SEAC Park, where it is used or stored for the rest of the time.

Technology has been used to give people the chance to enjoy the event on the internet via live streaming, but trackside action can be yours by getting up to the Valley Lake Area this Friday, Saturday and Sunday to see the action.

THE NEED FOR SPEED: (Left from top) The Legend of the Lakes start line & Kevin Raedel in action.

ON THE COVER: One of the strongest local hopes – Damien

DARREN ARCHIBALD (TURN 8 PHOTOGRAPHY)