Vintage cars, bikes and frocks will crowd the waterfront this weekend for Geelong Revival Motor Festival.
Eastern Park will transform into a course for more than 80 classic cars as the Victorian Hillclimb Championships come to Geelong for the first time.
The festival will host round one of championships with competitors racing against the clock in the challenging 900-metre course.
“We have had an astounding amount of interest in the new hill climb this year,” organiser Scott Pigdon said.
The event team worked for months with State Government, Geelong council, Confederate of Australian Motorsport (CAMS) and emergency services to plan the course.
“It paves the way for Geelong to host the National Hillclimb Championship in future years,” event director Nicholas Heath said.
Hillclimbs are one of the oldest forms of motorsport, where drivers test their skills on a winding, uphill course.
The first known hillclimb took place at La Turbie near the French Riviera in 1897, while the first Australian version was on 13 June, 1938, at Rob Roy, Victoria.
The Revival Hillclimb will run during Saturday and Sunday from 11am to 3pm, and competitors will get two runs each day.
The festival will also celebrate the 60th anniversary of its historic quarter-mile sprints, featuring some of the original cars which raced in 1956. The sprints have brought some of the world’s best drivers to Geelong over the years including Sir Jack Brabham, Stirling Moss, Dick Johnson, Jim Richards and Alan Jones.
Tourism Minister John Eren said the festival had been flagship on “Geelong’s world-class calendar of events for many decades”.
Event organisers expect 60,000 visitors across the weekend, with over 1000 cars and bikes on display and 300 vehicles competing.
