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It was raining on Saturday when practices began and, as usual, we couldn't see all of the competitors on the course. The weather forecast promised sunshine in the afternoon, and the promise came true. By the second heat, near-record speeds were already posted. Setting a new record for the course had already become likely after Patrik Zajelšnik’s drive. Zajelšnik, a new member of Club V-racing, was the first to come close to the record of the favorite, Austrian Hermann Waldy. The latter and Vladimir Stankovič, a Slovene, both at the wheel of Formula 3000 race cars, came very close to the record as well. On Sunday there were also three heats for qualification in the race. The drivers were competing for overall classification as well as for the classifications in individual classes and championships. All of them showed perfect runs, and this time the battle for the overall winner was something special. Apart from Vladimir Stankovč and Hermann Waldy, the two favored competitors in Formula 3000 cars, Patrik Zajelšnik in a prototype CN class race car was also a serious candidate. He came very near to a record in the first run, but Waldy was the first to set a new record. But immediately after him came Stankovič, last year,s winner, who beat Waldy's new record. In the second run, Patrik Zajelšnik became too aggressive; after recording the highest speed of 240 km/h, his car spun out. Nevertheless, Zajelšnik managed to make it to the finish line. Because he had lost too much time, he decided not to take part in the third run. The third run was the opportunity for both of the two fastest drivers, Vladimir Stankovič and Austrian Hermann Waldy. Each beat the record again, and the new record holder is Vladimir Stankovič (time 1:33:172, the average speed 143.7 km/h!). But the overall winner was Hermann Waldy - and that by a margin of only 21 thousandths of a second.


The battle for third place and the other top spots was exciting as well. German Georg Plasa won third place. He competed on Rogla for the first time and beat a series of Austrian drivers in the most powerful category, modified stock cars, some of them with engines of up to 700 HP. A nice surprise was Marjan Smrdelj, the second Slovene in a Formula 3000, who took ninth place. This was only his second race with this demanding race car! In the battle for points for the Slovene Championship, the somewhat surprising winner was Milan Bubnič, who drove an excellent race in his Lancia Delta HF.
He was better than the last year’s winner, Igor Dekleva, and Hungarian Laszlo Hernadi (who has a provisional place of work in Slovenia).


Andrej Skrbinšek took fourth place, while rally expert Darko Peljhan was fifth. In the fifth division, the best driver was the same as last year, Sašo Horvat (Renault Clio Williams), yet Mitja Slejko (Renault Clio RS) and Primož Kostanjšek (Opel Astra Gsi 16V) are getting better and better. The local trump, Mitja Strožič, has had a lot of bad luck – an engine breakdown on Saturday and failure of the half-axis on Sunday combined to prevent him from capturing what seemed sure to be a very good finish. In the third division, Matej Grudnik (Renaul Clio RS), the number 2 driver from the race organizer's club, V-Racing, won second place after the winner, Aleš Prek (Honda Civic type R). Both of them were beaten only by Austrian Michael Auer in the N2000 class. In both of the smallest divisions, the brothers Miklavčič prevailed again. In the second group Tadej Miklavčič (Suzuki Swift Gti) beat his friend Igor Cotič (driving the same kind of car), and the Triestiner veteran, Guglielmo Vallisneri (Citroen AX Gti). In the first group the young Vasja Miklavčič drove Luka Kropivšek and Nejc Juhant into a corner.


The colours of the V-Racing Club were also admirably represented by Sandi Boh (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8) in the sixth place of our Championship, by Simon Lenko with the old age Lada Samara, and by a newcomer, Janja Anželak, who for the first time in her life took part in a car race. We shouldn't forget the fastest girl of the Hill Climb on Rogla. This was 26 year-old Italian Gabriella Pedroni, who won eighth place overall with her Formula 3000.


The fifth performance of the Hill Climb on Rogla obviously won the hearts of the spectators, who came in record numbers. In spite of the changeable weather, more than five thousand spectators lined the course, among them many from abroad. The Hill Climb also attracted numerous reporters from local and foreign media houses, and many TV cameramen as well.



The organizer of the Hill Climb, the AK V-Racing Velenje Club, organized the car race in cooperation with the company Unior Turizem. The event was a great success, as proven by the many congratulations coming from all sides. The event will probably again be a serious candidate for the title of the best race of the Austrian Championship, which was the case last year as well. In spite of the formidable efforts needed to organize a spectacle like this, the effort is well worth it to repeat this exciting event in the future.