Has anyone heard of the Virginia City Hillclimb? It is in Virginia City Nevada outside of Carson City. 5.2 miles of 2 lane starting at 5,200 ft and finishing at 6,400 ft. Steep drop off on the left and rock wall on the right, no room for error. I am running it this weekend to see how it is but I'm not sure if I'll really go for it knowing if you crash your done, maybe dead. Crazy, maybe but we'll see. A guy in a Ferrari F40 is going to try and set the course record. I ran with him at the OTC (Open Track Challenge). I will be running street tires the stock F1s for this event. I'll post when I get back to let everyone know how the Z06 did. Later.
Hey Lonnie, you be real CAREFUL this weekend. Sadly, I've heard of a case or two where the Hill Climb took it's toll. This event is definitely a hoot for "the daring" among us. As long as you don't over do it, and throw caution to the wind, the Z06 should do well on a road like. IT IS INCREDIBLY DANGEROUS NEVERTHELESS.
As a "safer" alternative, I highly recommend the open road race events, also held in NV. They have a reasonably good safety record . . . only 3 fatalities in 15 years over multiple events scheduled per season. The Silver State Classic is the most well known, but my favorite is called the "Pony Express 100". I've done a total of 12 of these events altogether but considering early retirement to avoid doing a 13th.
Not superstituous, but when driving 180 mph in a "passenger car", you kind of need to drive with a "no fear" mentality.
Actually I've seen little old ladies types in many of these events. It's kind of family affair for many participants.
I'm thinking about taking a long weekend and going up for the upcoming PE100 next month. I think I'll volunteer to help out the organizers of the event. I did the same last year, and got to operate a "flag and high speed radar trap station". It was a lot of work but also a helleva lot of fun to watch all the cars making their high speed passes on the long straight.
Anybody interested in tagging along this year? I guarantee you will have a good time whether you enter the event or not. Please send me a PM if you are interested and hail from the SF Bay Area.
The next race (PE100) is coming up July 28th. A word to the wise, better to make motel reservations early unless you don't mind staying 50-70 miles away from the event site. Afterall, it is located in essentially an overglorified truck stop just off I-80 half way across Nevada. A great place to visit nevertheless.
Dennis, I ran the Nevada Open Road event in May of 2000 for the first time and entered the 125mph class. We didn't think we had a chance but ended up taking second place in our class. I ran my 95 LT1 and teched for 165mph, we hit 163 in the speed trap with the windows up and the AC on. I had room to go but did not want to DQ because of speedo error. I had an indicated 162 on the speedo.
Lonnie I'll get the video from the top end of the Hill Climb. You cross a train bridge, it has a bump. A lot of cars bottom out over the bridge. Working on the TR today. Rup is on the way, it's party time, just like the OTC, I am the "Designated" driver, next stop Thunderhill June 27th, drive safe see ya tomorrow. Mike
Lonnie I'll get the video from the top end of the Hill Climb. You cross a train bridge, it has a bump. A lot of cars bottom out over the bridge. Working on the TR today. Rup is on the way, it's party time, just like the OTC, I am the "Designated" driver, next stop Thunderhill June 27th, drive safe see ya tomorrow. Mike
Mike you had better not show up to Thunderhill on June 27th because you will be a day late! We are there on the 26th, get your dates straight buddy. I'll straighten you out this weekend. I'm going to borrow your Testarosa for a couple of runs up the hill. Bump? oh yea I'll be one of the ones bottoming out.
Are you guys talking about the NCRC event at Thunderhill? Are you already signed-up? (They're filling up fast). If you guys are in, i'll sign-up too...
Well that Hillclimb was pretty freaky. I was in the first run group of the day and sent up on my first run around 3:55 for the 5.2 miles. I hit a jackrabbit in turn 2 on the first run. The road was pretty slick. I ran the second run of the session at around 3:50. Then our first morning session was over. We went to the staging area to walk up a hill to watch the second run group go. We got up the hill and had a vantage point where we could see the last 6 corners. We watched a few cars come through and then I was looking at this black Viper coming up the hill. It looked like he early apexed corner 16 and was going to go off, then he got into the power to try and save it. Then his car pointed straight off the road and he went off. He was above the tops of the trees when he went off, flew right over a couple of them. The car then hit the tops of the trees and started to cartwheel. He first hit the ground from about 40' in the air. He went down about 150'. The car was not even recognizable. It was a small twisted hunk of metal. We watched the parmedics go down the hill and check on the people, we heard there was also a passenger in the car. The paramedics took about 30 seconds checking on the condition of the people in the car and then they all just stood around. It was then just a matter of waiting for the coroner. This was the craziest, most spectacular wreck I have ever seen, even from TV or movies. I could not even believe it was real while watching it. That was it for me for the event, I quit and will never run in this kind of event again. That is just my personal opion. When you are on a racetrack and go off you have an excellent chance of just messing up your car and not yourself. I am still freaked out by what I saw. I am not sure what the rest of the event was all about because we just hung out with some friends in town and didn't go back to see what was up.
Here is a story I found about the incident. I guess it was 250' down the hill. I also do not believe the part in the story that the people were not wearing seat belts.
June 16, 2002
Two dead in hill climb race accident
by Brian Corley
VIRGINIA CITY -- Two people were killed Saturday when their vehicle plunged 250 feet over the edge of the Virginia City truck route during a car rally practice run.
The victims were identified as driver Patrick Jemison, 42, of Incline Village, and his passenger, Virginia Davis, 43, of Show Low, Ariz.
Officials said the accident occurred at 10:22 a.m. when Jemison misjudged a corner and went over an embankment at moderate speed, clipped a tree, then landed 250 feet down a slope, according to Storey County Sheriff's spokesman John Tyson.
Jemison, driving the Viper, and Davis were trapped in the car as it tumbled down the hill.
By the time it came to rest, the Viper was unrecognizable and both people had to be cut from the car. The race was stopped and the road was closed for four hours while rescue personnel pulled the victims from the Viper.
Neither of them was wearing seatbelts, but because they weren't thrown from the vehicle, it appears seatbelts would not have helped protect the victims, according to the Nevada Highway Patrol.
Both the Patrol and Storey County firefighters responded to the accident.
Dean Benz, chairman of Audi Club International which organizes the event, said it is very rare for a fatal accident to occur during the race.
"Accidents like this are extremely rare," he said. "We've only had three fatalities in this race. The last accident was in the early 1980s."
Tyson confirmed it has been some time since the last accident.
"We all understand the risks and as a racing family we feel the loss deeply," Benz said. "We belive the participants would have wished us to go on and continue the race and hope the communities will consent to it."
Benz said racers have experience on closed and road courses like Thunderhill and Sears Point.
This is the 31st Virginia City Hill Climb, which follows Alternate Highway 341 from Silver City to Virginia City. The road has an elevation climb of 1,210 feet, 20 turns and a cliff area.
There was an article in the sunday paper about the accident.Virginia City is a short drive from Reno..the roads travel thru a mountainous region..not much room for any mistakes..tragic loss of life
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2002 Z06 Electron Blue Mod SOLD
2005 C6 MR/CH 1SB Auto 3.15 SOLD
Lonnie, sorry to hear the tragic news. I'm also sorry to say, in such a dangerous venue, another tragic loss of life was only matter of time. Several years ago, I went to VCHC hosted by the Audi Quattro people and just watched for an hour or two. Heck I almost went over the cliff just trying to park in the area. I truly couldn't believe how brainless some of the drivers were in the hill climb. Yes, I can well believe some drivers are wearing T-shirts and bermuda shorts, and don't bother with "extra" safety gear other than a "motorcycle" helmet. This event is just not safe, plain and simple.
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