Up to 50 drivers have taken part in the Cooma Car Club’s annual ‘festival of the mountain’ as Daniel Burton claimed the ultimate King of the Mountain crown.

With three separate hill climbs taking place across the weekend, the Honda S2000 pilot blew the field apart as expected, posting an incredible time of 40.98 seconds, making him the only driver to break the barrier. 

Finishing just a second behind the crowd was junior driver Nick Coote in the Subaru WRX Impreza, while fellow Impreza pilot Tony Anthony secured third, his fastest time falling almost two seconds short of Coote.

The battle for fourth was a tighter affair compared to the outright podium, with only one second separating three drivers as Jackson Frew’s time of just over 45 seconds junior driver Tom Donahue.

It was a case of what could have been for Bryan Fitzpatrick, with the Renault Clio pilot only completing two out of six runs. 

Despite missing out on a top-five finish, Fitzpatrick didn’t go home empty handed, claiming a class win in the process.

In the lead up to the main event, Daniel Matthews in the Ford Escort won the Classic hill climb, while Simon Smith took out the Come and Try .

While Matthews posted the fastest time for almost every run in the Classic field, he only beat eventual Rogan Corbett by less than half a second.

Finishing behind the Valiant Charger pilot was Nick Besestri in the Fiat 124 Coup AC. 

The battle for the Come and Try hill climb title was the closest all weekend with only of a second separating Subaru WRX drivers Smith and runner-up Darian McGarry-Watson. 

In times that were on par with the outright top-ten, both Smith and McGarry-Watson were outstanding all day, picking up times within the 50-second barrier.

Behind the wheel of the Holden Astra, Jack Hills comfortably secured the final step on the podium for 2WD cars, finishing more than two seconds ahead of the Anthony Barfod in the Skoda Fabia VRS.

Click here for full results from Sunday’s Open Hill Climb.