BLAST FROM THE PAST
OLLON-VILLARS HISTORIC HILLCLIMB, SWITZERLAND 26-27 August
FROM 1953 TO 1971, the eight-kilometre OllonVillars hillclimb course in Switzerland was considered a highlight of the European Hillclimb Championship, attracting famous drivers as talented as Jim Clark, François Cevert, Jo Siffert, Innes Ireland, Hans Herrmann and Jack Brabham. Regrettably, it then fell into disuse as a competition venue for almost three decades until in 1998 it hosted a revival event.
Despite its success, the local authorities were not particularly helpful when it came to permitting subsequent events, with the result that the OllonVillars Historic Hillclimb has been held only sporadically since – in 2001, 2003, 2007, 2010 and 2013. You should go this year, while you still can.
It’s an easy journey from the UK, with Geneva airport just a 90-minute rental car drive from Ollon-Villars, and, because the surrounding area is popular with skiers in the winter, hotel rooms are in good supply.
The picture-postcard course is surrounded by sunkissed vineyards and Alpine meadows, and the horizon is framed by the snow-capped Dents du Midi and Mont Blanc mountain ranges; there is no more idyllic motor sport venue in the world.
Part of the course has recently been resurfaced and widened (the work was the principal reason for the hillclimb’s absence from the calendar in 2016), but Ollon-Villars remains an entertaining handful for drivers.
None of the runs are officially timed, but that seems not to prevent the many cars, motorbikes, and sidecars being driven in most spirited fashion up the hill. That said, speed limits are enforced inside the villages that dot the route, ensuring that nobody will ever beat the course record of 3:47.05 set by Cevert in the original event’s heyday.
The field of pre-1971 competition machines is split into categories including prototypes, saloon cars, CanAm and GP cars, bikes and sidecars. The line-up in 2013 included Abarth racers and the four-wheel-drive Ferguson P99 F1 car. Expect the paddock in 2017 to feature some similarly fascinating stuff.