Officials with the Sports Car Club of New Hampshire, organizers of the 2017 Subaru Mt. Washington Hillclimb planned for July 6-9, 2017 at the Mt. Washington Auto Road in Gorham, NH, announced today that 80 competitors representing 17 states in the United states as well as the countries of Canada, Wales, Australia and Romania will make up the field for this year’s Climb to the Clouds automotive hillclimb taking place on the historic 7.6 mile Mt. Washington Auto Road.
“The Sports Car Club of New Hampshire is excited to welcome the most international field of competition drivers ever to this year’s Subaru Mt. Washington Hillclimb”, stated Howard Roundy, President of the Sports Car Club of New Hampshire and this year’s Event Director.
This year’s impressive driver line-up not only includes a mix of road racers, rally drivers, hillclimb specialists and time attack drivers – all of whom bring many years of experience, skill and countless championships to the Nation’s oldest hillclimb – but will also include a contingent of five vintage race cars representing many years of historic racing on the Mt. Washington Auto Road which started in July 1904.
Included in the list of recently accepted drivers are five highly skilled racers very familiar with the Pikes Peak Hillclimb in Colorado Springs, Colorado as well as other western states hillclimb events. These drivers include Todd Cook from Tempe, Arizona; Rodney O’Maley from Colorado Springs, Colorado; Spencer Steele from Denver, Colorado, Dan Novembre from Colorado Springs, Colorado and Rocco Bocchicchio from Glendale, Arizona. Both Cook and Steele will be driving similar versions of the famous Wells Coyote open wheel race cars which were built specifically for racing at Pikes Peak. Dan Novembre will be driving a twin turbo, Nissan powered open wheel race car he calls the Novembre Special, while O’Maley will be piloting his open-wheeled O’Maley Special. Rocco Bocchicchio will be driving a highly modified BMW E30 sedan he raced to an SPO Class record at the 2016 SCCA Clifton Hillclimb in Clifton, Arizona. All five drivers will compete against each other in the Open Class at this year’s Subaru Mt. Washington Hillclimb.
Returning to this year’s Climb to the Clouds will also be current Mt. Washington Record Holder (6:09.09 set in 2014) and 8-time Rally America Champion, David Higgins, from Wales. Joining Higgins at will be his Subaru Rally Team USA team mate, multi-time Rally America Champion, X Games legend and Nitro Circus creator, Travis Pastrana from Annapolis, Maryland. Both will be driving Vermont SportsCar prepared 2017 Subaru WRX STI’s for Subaru Rally Team USA in the Unlimited Class at Mt. Washington.
When asked recently what winning Mt. Washington would mean to Subaru Rally Team USA’s Travis Pastrana, he stated, “Having the unofficial record up the mountain in 2010 was one of my greatest accomplishments on four wheels. Missing the win by less than 5 seconds and consequently losing the record to David in 2014 was tough to take. With faster cars and better knowledge of the road, I think it will take nothing short of a record run to take the win. Regaining the Mt. Washington Hillclimb record would be huge for me.”
Representing countries outside the United States at Mt. Washington this year, other than David Higgins from Wales, will be Doug Mepham from Ontario, Canada driving a 2006 Mini Cooper S in Class P2; Vincent Sylvain from Terrebonne, Quebec, Canada driving a Subaru Impreza in Class P1; Andrei Mitrasca from Romania driving a 2005 Seat Ibiza in Class P2 and Jeff Denmeade from Sydney, Australia who will pilot a left-hand drive 2004 Mitsubishi Lancer in the hotly-contested Unlimited Class. 2017 will make Denmeade’s 6th appearance at the Climb to the Clouds, while Sylvain Vincent finished 2nd overall in 1996. Doug Mepham also competed at Mt. Washington previously in 1998, 1999 and 2000.
“I’m thrilled with the field of racers we’ve attracted this year with not only a wide selection from throughout the US, but also a truly international representation with drivers from the Wales, Canada, Romania and even Australia” stated Howie Wemyss, General Manager of the Mt. Washington Auto Road.
Set for July 7-9, 2017, the Subaru Mt. Washington Hillclimb will serve as a 3-day motorsports festival filled with a variety of motorsports-oriented activities for all ages including a vendor area, historic car displays and autograph sessions topped off by the return of the Subaru Mt. Washington Hillclimb along the winding 7.6 mile Mt. Washington Auto Road on Sunday, July 9, 2017.