The Ringwood Park track record was bettered by four drivers at the weekend’s Australian Hillclimb Championships.
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Malcolm Oastler, Brett Hayward, Greg Ackland and Bill Norman all finished inside the old mark of 35.13 seconds as the national title was held at the Raymond Terrace venue for the first time.
Oastler, a former designer of F1 cars based in the Southern Highlands, was the stand-out in claiming his maiden national crown after finishing third last year.
Oastler, who built his own car, smashed 2.27s off the previous record when he stopped the clock at 32.86s.
Former champion Brett Hayward and title holder Greg Ackland, both of Victoria, rounded out the podium in times of 33.46s and 34.36s respectively. Bill Norman (34.82s) of Northern NSW was next best in fourth.
The pick of the locals in the open competition was Medowie’s Keith Hammond (37.36s) in 14th.
Newcastle duo Ben Morley (39.08s), who won the Former Ford class, and Bill McBride (39.51) were 19th and 21st respectively while East Maitland father-daughter combination Peter (39.61s) and Elizabeth (39.80s) Robinson were 23rd and 25th.
Mindaribba’s Cooper Calman (40.22s) also finished in the top 30.
There were 104 competitors who took part across three days of racing, which finished on Sunday.
