The Motorsport Australia South Australian Hillclimb Championship has been run and won with David Mahon securing his fourth victory in a row – edging out two-time 2022 Motorsport Australia Speed and Auto Test champion Dean Tighe.
 
With Tighe entering the event having just won the Motorsport Australia Hill Climb Championship, the confident Queenslander was looking to add the South Australian state championship title to his growing resume.
 
More than 70 competitors were entered in the event at the Collingrove Hillclimb, however it was the 70-year-old veteran in Mahon who took out his fifth state title in thrilling fashion after an entertaining battle with Tighe.
 
Mahon posted his fastest time of 27.98 seconds during his second run of the weekend, and despite not breaking the 28-second mark again, six out of his eight total runs would have been enough to take victory. 
 

Behind the wheel of his popular Empire Wraith, Tighe had no answers for Mahon and could only get as close as eight tenths behind Mahon despite completing 11-runs across the weekend to Mahon’s eight.
 
Tighe’s fastest run of 28.79 seconds came on his fourth run as both he and Mahon were the only two drivers to break the 30-second mark.
 
Rounding out the podium was David Whiteside, who was the third fastest driver with a competitive time of 30.72 seconds in his third run.
 
Angus Mitchell impressed with what was his fourth fastest time of 31.63 seconds despite participating in the least amount of runs of anyone in the top 30 competitors, while Paul Healey was able to improve on a ninth-place finish in 2021 by rounding out the top five in his Mitsubishi Evo 8. 
 
Click here to view full results from the event.

 
Despite the weather looking worrisome across South Australia last weekend, competitors were able to produce the entirety of the twelve runs with minimal disruptions – Compared to the 2021 event where the Sunday was heavily affected by wet weather conditions. 
 
Spectators were treated to a range of different manufacturers on show, from open wheelers to Holden, Porsche and even Mini’s and Daihatsu’s taking the track across the weekend, there was a little bit for everyone.