Tasmania has ended its speed event calendar with a huge finale in Highclere as Stephen Mott won an entertaining battle to claim the North West Car Club’s 2019 BJR Highclere Hillclimb.
In what was the first official state competition at the popular hill climb in 14 years, Mott proved to be the fastest out of an impressive 40-entry field, which featured a number of big names from around the state.
As the course’s class and outright records were constantly challenged and beaten in some cases, the fight at the pointy end of the field saw Mott take on the dynamic duo of Craig Brooks and Targa star Jason White.
With Brooks and White both behind the wheel of the modified Molly Taylor driven Subaru WRX from the 2019 CAMS Australian Rally Championship, the duo started strong, each holding the lead at one point throughout the opening four runs.
Mott then managed to charge to a slight lead over Brooks on his fifth run, only for White to get to the front with a huge effort on his second last run for the day - breaking the 30 second barrier and becoming the first driver in history to do so.
Then on his final effort for the day, Mott steered his home-made Quoll MB01to a lighting quick run to edge past White’s time and post a brilliant time of 29.44 seconds, ending the event as the winner and the record holder.
Following his memorable final run, a speechless Mott was ecstatic to come away with a victory over White and Brooks who had settled for third place.
“It’s been a few days and it’s still sinking in really. It was unbelievable. I didn’t think I was going to do it,” Mott said.
“It was special to be against some real talented guys like Craig and Jason. These guys don’t muck around and are very serious when they race. I knew they had been spending a lot of time on the car. It certainly gave me the motivation and it was a good feeling to finish ahead of them.
“I knew the last run was special, but I didn’t know how far Jason was in front of me and obviously my time was good enough to take the win, which was an added bonus. It’s still sinking in.
“There were lot of spectators and everyone was hanging on to my last run. I was oblivious to the situation, but I gave it everything I could on the last run and everyone was so excited for me when I got back.
“It really was an unbelievable day.”
Mott and White weren’t the only drivers to leave the event with their names in the record books as the fourth placed Eddie Maguire claimed the Class E record.
Other class victories saw Stephen Turner claim Class C, Kyle Peters win Class B, Darryl Bennett wrap up Class A and Phillip House take out Class D honours.