Saturday’s edition of the 16th Limanowa Hill Climb – Przełęcz pod Ostrą was above all the 7th round of the Polish Hill Climb Championship (GSMP). For competitors classified in the 7th round of the FIA European Hill Climb Championship (FIA EHC), it was a training day.
The day belonged to last year’s Polish Champion, Grzegorz Rożalski (Mitsubishi Lancer), who is classified in both GSMP and FIA EHC. He was the fastest driver in both training runs and both GSMP race runs.
The event took place in beautiful, sunny weather, although just a day earlier everyone had been anxiously watching the sky and weather forecasts.
A total of 115 drivers appeared at the start of the first morning training run. Jan Kościuszko, former European vice-champion (BMW 2002 Ti), competing in the historic category, was the first to cross the starting line. Already during this opening run, a serious technical failure eliminated Sebastian Stec, the current GSMP overall leader. His Ford Fiesta had to be towed back to the service area, and the technical team went off to collect a new engine – the fourth this season!
The second training run was halted by a red flag due to a breakdown suffered by another event favorite – Ronnie Bratschi, a Swiss driver competing under the Czech banner. Oil leaked from his damaged Mitsubishi Lancer, which required cleanup and caused a significant delay.
In both morning sessions, the fastest driver overall was seven-time Limanowa winner Christian Merli, driving a Nova Proto NP01. He was followed by Joseba Iraola Lanzagorta from Spain (Nova NP01) and French debutant Kevin Petit (Nova Proto NP01), both also in prototypes.
In the afternoon, GSMP drivers faced two race runs, which at the same time served as additional practice for the European Championship drivers. Once again, the same top three drivers from the morning occupied the leading positions.
In the Polish Championship classification, Rożalski was the fastest in both race runs, setting a time of 2:04.215, beating his own course record in Category 1 (closed-body cars) by 0.0102 seconds.
In the first race run, second place went to Robert Sługocki (Mitsubishi Lancer), returning after a break caused by a technical failure in earlier GSMP rounds. Karol Krupa (Skoda Fabia CT) recorded the third-fastest time. In the second run, the order changed slightly, with Krupa beating Sługocki by 1.6 seconds.
In the final results of Round 7 GSMP, Category 1:
- 1st place: Grzegorz Rożalski – 4:10.535, average speed 158 km/h
- 2nd place: Robert Sługocki – 4:20.944
- 3rd place: Karol Krupa – 4:23.982
For comparison: Christian Merli completed the 5,493-meter course about 8–9 seconds faster per run than his competitors using closed-body vehicles.
The second GSMP race run was significantly delayed following a serious-looking crash involving Grzegorz Kluza (Renault Clio). The driver was transported for a precautionary check-up at the Limanowa hospital. Fortunately, his injuries were found to be minor.
In the National Category, which includes cars that have lost international homologation, the victory went to Teodor Kocur, driving a Speedcar Wonder crosscar. He beat Cezary Turek (Renault Megane RS) and Krzysztof Kurasz (Honda Civic).
Among historic cars, the winner was Marcin Przybyszewski (Honda Integra), with Arkadiusz Borczyk (Honda Civic CTi) in second, and Adam Garbacz (Honda Civic EK4 rallye), representing the organizing Auto Moto Klub Limanowa, in third place.
The Ladies’ Cup went to its current leader, Natalia Kluza (Renault Clio RS III).
Sunday will bring the most important racing of the season: following one training run, two race runs will determine the fastest drivers of the 7th round of the FIA EHC.
You can follow the event live on the official website: www.wysciggorski.pl, which also links to a dedicated YouTube channel, Race Radio (broadcasting at 90.8 FM), and live results at www.wyniki-online.pl.
The Strategic Partner of the event is the Małopolska Region.
[Press Release]