Forster resident and self-professed car enthusiast Ron Gallagher has made a perfect start to his 2018 CAMS NSW Hillclimb Championship in the two to three litre class.
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The 79-year-old has been a feature in the division over recent years, taking out the 3J Improved Production 2001-3000cc class State title last year in his 1970 V6 Ford Capri.
Ron has since retired his beloved vehicle and has joined this year’s Production Sports over 1600cc class in a 2015 Toyota 86.
The series kicked off with the first two rounds at Bathurst’s Mount Panorama in March.
Ron blitzed the field on The Esses course, posting 39.45, 39.22, 38.29 and 38.99 seconds in his four runs.
The following day on Mountain Straight, Ron’s times of 69.6, 67.81 and 66.01 seconds were enough to take out the round and earn valuable championship points.
On May 12 and 13, Ron travelled up to Kempsey’s Mount Cooperabung for round four of the championship. Not only did he continue his superb run of form after taking out the round, but he also broke the two litre class record.
He showed blistering pace to post a run of 35.350 seconds, breaking the previous time of 36.72 seconds that was set by Billy Jones.
“It has stood for eight years,” Ron said.
Ron was pleased with how his car handled the opening stages of the championship.
“For a two litre car, it goes really well,” Ron said.
Ron was excited about his “new gadgets” of launch control and stability control since his change to the Toyota 86.
The devices are useful for hillclimb events as launch control allows the car to accelerate rapidly from a standing start while stability control reduced the danger of skidding or losing control from over-steering.
The next round of the hillclimb championship will be held at Grafton on June 10.
The final will be at Dapto on September 16.
Ron is hopeful he will continue his run of form and once again win the State title.
He’s also got his eyes set on a tilt at the National Championship, when it is held in NSW in 2019 and 2020.
Ron thanked his family for their ongoing support of his racing.