The year 2000 saw SDMA run it’s first ever Hillclimb at the Fairbairn Park Hillclimb Circuit. The Hill is located within the Fairbairn Park Motorsport complex with access off Sutton Road which runs off Pialligo Avenue between Queanbeyan and the Canberra Airport. The track has an asphalt surface of approximately one kilometre in length. The Q shaped track loops back onto itself which allows events to be run as hillclimbs over one or two laps. It is regarded as one of the better hillclimb venues in NSW/ACT and was purpose built in the 1970’s.
The challenge of Hillclimbing lies in each driver’s battle against the clock as they attempt to cover the course in the shortest possible time. So that similar cars may compete against each other, the entries are divided into Types and Classes. Each driver enjoys their own personal race against the clock and also competes against other drivers in cars of similar performance who are also eager to get around the Hill in the fastest time! The ultimate achievement at each event is to establish the Fastest Time of the Day “FTD”. FTD is for a single run, not an average of all runs completed. The fastest time has been achieved by a variety of vehicles, depending on what is being driven on the day. Open wheel racing cars, Mitsubishi Evo’s, Mazda RX7’s and even a Kart have achieved FTD at events. Skill and courage are essential to pilot one of the big horsepower racers up the Hill.