A packed entry list is leading the excitement for a highly anticipated 2025 Supaservice Tyre and Auto Motorsport Australia Hill Climb Championship this weekend at Shell V-Power Motorsport Park’s East Course in Tailem Bend, South Australia.
More than 130 entries will take to the bitumen course in the first National Speed and Auto Test event of the year.
Running the East Course in reverse, each competitor will be allowed 10 runs over both Saturday and Sunday – five per day – with the quickest times to be determined as winners outright and within classes utilising the 1.9km course.
A Shootout will also be held after the last competition run on Sunday for a separate trophy, featuring a group of the fastest Libre, 4WD and 2WD automobiles advised by the organiser.
The number of Automobiles may be adjusted to enable the event to finish at approximately 5pm on the day.
The entry list is one of the largest on record, which makes way for 30 additional entries compared to 2023, and boasts an elite-level cohort of competitors including reigning national hill climb champion Dean Amos, who comes off winning his 10th Australian Hill Climb Championship in 2024 and the historic Leyburn Sprints in recent months driving the Gould GR55b.
Queenslander Dean Tighe is a favourite in the Dallara F395 Empire, having already secured the New South Wales and Victorian Hill Climb Championships in 2025.
Tighe will have lots of competition across the weekend in fellow Queenslander Warwick Hutchinson in his OMS28, the B.O.S.S. vehicle driven by David Whiteside, and South Australian Dan Day driving a Subaru STi who will all be in attendance. Mirko Grbic also returns to the fold in his Mitsubishi Evo.
Ahead of the 2025 Motorsport Australia Hill Climb Championship, Clerk of Course Kevin Raedel predicted a fun weekend of action for the hill climb community.
“It’s looking very positive, very positive numbers, a brand new track for a hill climb, but also a very different track especially for South Australia,” Raedel said.
“South Australia is best known for its steep hill climbs, The Bend has the elevation, but it’s different to what the classic hill climbs are like here in South Australia.
“With the Motorsport Australia Hill Climb Championship being held at The Bend for the first time, it adds a level playing field. A brand new venue, a new surface that no one has done in reverse since our practice day back in April, it’s quite exciting.
“What we did see during those practice days is that the under horsepower, cars with good tyres and suspension sat higher in positions outright because of their commitment to the corners and the elevation changes.
“When you take all of that into account, in terms of times, it should be a great spectacle to see so many people fighting for positions in the timing sheets.”
Raedel’s teams consists mainly of officials from Mount Gambier’s Legend of the Lakes Hillclimb and Hillclimb SA communities, blending together a mixture of newer and more experienced officials.
Official practice will take place on Friday before the competition begins from 9am ACDT on Saturday and Sunday.
Spectators do not need to purchase tickets to attend this year’s event, admission is free.
Get more information on the event, including the full entry list, via the Motorsport Australia Hill Climb Championship website.
The Motorsport Australia Hill Climb Championship takes place at Shell V-Power Motorsport Park on 10-12 October.
