Australia’s newest promoter of closed road motorsport events, Auto Corsa Group, has launched this week along with its two exciting new events for North East Victoria’s alpine region.
The Melbourne-based company has worked with the Mount Hotham Alpine Resort Management Board to design and deliver the events; the world’s longest hillclimb and an all-new tarmac rally.
Auto Corsa Group, has signed a three-year deal with the Board to deliver the two events. The inaugural events will be held over the weekend of 14-15 November this year.
Auto Corsa Group co-director, Stuart Benson, said a ‘blank sheet’ approach was used in developing the 29-kilometre Alpine Cup International Hillclimb and the Hotham Auto Corsa Alpine Tarmac Rally.
“We really went back to the basics of what makes a great motorsport event,” said Mr Benson, who is the former event director and clerk of course for the international tarmac rally, Targa Tasmania. “We spoke to a large sample of seasoned motorsport competitors about what they wanted to see in any new event propositions.”
Mr Benson said market sounding had confirmed there was a strong appetite for a long course hillclimb event in Australia; similar to the infamous 19km Pike’s Peak in the US which was the world’s longest.
“We knew by outdistancing Pikes Peak we’d be on to something pretty special,” said Mr Benson. “We had been actively scouting new event locations when were approached by the Mount Hotham Alpine Resort Management Board.”
The 241-corner Alpine Cup International Hillclimb starts just outside of Harrietville and features an elevation gain of some 1,300 metres, finishing at the top of Mount Hotham. Each driver will travel the course six times over the two days.
When designing the course for the 11-stage Hotham Auto Corsa rally, Auto Corsa Group’s main focus was the closed road competition element.
“We really wanted to maximise competition and minimise touring lengths,” said Auto Corsa Group co-director, Darren Fogarty.
“By making each competitive stage longer and minimising touring sections, we’ve condensed 250 competitive kilometres into a two-day event; making it more accessible to those competitors with busy work commitments,” said Mr Fogarty.
“The safety of our competitors is a priority for us, and so careful consideration was given to selecting well maintained technical roads that will produce low average speeds.”
The Hotham Auto Corsa rally will take in Mount Hotham, Falls Creek and closed roads around nearby towns including Harrietville, Mount Beauty and Omeo.
Both events will be based on Mount Hotham with pre and post event celebrations taking place at the Hotham Heights village.
Auto Corsa Group continues to look for new opportunities to provide motorsport competitors with new and exhilarating event options across Australia.
For more information contact:
Stuart Benson
+61 (0) 412 868 797
stuart@autocorsa.com.au
