ALL ROADS will lead to La Union anew as the 2010 Philippine Hill Climb Series starts its new season this coming March .
Carlos Anton, the 2009 overall champion in the Hill Climb series will make a comeback for title retention bid in the series which pits the country’s top racers in the hill climb competition.
Anton will anchor Baguio’s hill climb racers’ cause starting March 14. The team includes Alfie Concepcion, Dennis Aoyong, Frankie Domingo, Gerby Sohu, Jason Dipasupil and Gary Loy. They are all expected to make decent finishes.
“We’re not expecting that we’re all going to land in the podium because there are top racers coming from Manila, Dagupan and La Union who have a hometown advantage but we’re expecting a good finish,” Anton said.
Baguio’s top car racer is expected to return to the race with his Mark Young Yokohama of the Auto Shack team.
A month later, Anton and the rest of Baguio racers will head the second leg of the first series in April before winding up the series in May. The second series will open Aug. 4 for the first leg and closes Oct. 16.
Hillclimbing (also known as hill climbing, speed hillclimbing or speed hill climbing) is a branch of motorsports where drivers compete against the clock to complete an uphill course.
Events are usually held on courses which are several kilometers long, taking advantage of the available hills and mountains.
It is one of the oldest forms of racing, since the first known hillclimb (at La Turbie near Nice, France) took place Jan. 31, 1897. The Hillclimb held at Shelsley Walsh, in Worcestershire, England is the world’s oldest running motorsports event still staged on its original course, having been first run in 1905. (Roderick Osis)