FIELD OF 80 DRIVERS ANNOUNCED FOR THE 2021 SUBARU MT. WASHINGTON HILLCLIMB PRESENTED BY YOKOHAMA TIRE
North America’s Oldest Hillclimb Welcomes a Field of Highly Skilled and Talented Drivers
Subaru Motorsports USA’s Travis Pastrana from Annapolis, Maryland will return to the Mt. Washington Auto Road in Gorham, NH August 13-15, 2021 as the current record holder. Pastrana is shown here at Burke Mountain, VT during a recent Hillclimb test driving his new purpose-built 862 horsepower Subaru WRX STI that he hopes to set a new record time with at Mt. Washington surpassing his current record time of 5.44.72 he set at the 2017 Subaru Mt. Washington Hillclimb.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information, contact:
Paul Giblin — Sports Car Club of New Hampshire
E-mail: mktg-cttc@usa.net
Lincoln, NH — Officials with the Sports Car Club of New Hampshire, organizers of the 2021 Subaru Mt. Washington Hillclimb presented by Yokohama Tire planned for August 13-15, 2021 at the Mt. Washington Auto Road in Gorham, NH, announced today that 80 competitors representing 16 states from California to Maine will make up the field of this year’s Climb to the Clouds automotive Hillclimb taking place on the historic 7.6 mile Mt. Washington Auto Road.
“The Sports Car Club of New Hampshire is excited to welcome one of the most talented fields of competition drivers ever to this year’s Subaru Mt. Washington Hillclimb presented by Yokohama Tire”, stated Howard Roundy, Event Director of this year’s Climb to the Clouds.
This year’s impressive driver line-up includes not only a mix of road racers, rally drivers, circle-track racers, Hillclimb specialists and time attack drivers — all of whom bring many years of experience, skill and countless championships to the Nation’s oldest Hillclimb – but will also include a contingent of three very special vintage race cars representing many years of historic racing – both here in the United States as well as at other countries across the globe.
Topping the list of 80 highly skilled racers from across the country is 5-time United States Rally Champion and current Mt. Washington Hillclimb record holder Travis Pastrana from Annapolis, MD. A longtime factory-backed driver for Subaru Motorsports USA, Pastrana is currently leading the American Rally Association’s 2021 National Rally Championship. He also returned recently from the renowned Goodwood Festival of Speed in England where he finished 2nd overall in that event’s Hillclimb. Driving a purpose-built 862 horsepower Subaru WTX STI, Pastrana competed against some of the best drivers in the world including McLaren Factory GT driver Rob Bell, Emanuele Pirro, Jack Tetley and Toyota British Touring Car Championship driver Rory Butcher. Pastrana and Subaru Motorsports USA return to Mt. Washington this year with the same Subaru he raced at Goodwood recently where he hopes to beat his current record time at of 5 minutes 44.72 seconds on the challenging 7.6 mile Mt. Washington Auto Road course.
Also returning to this year’s Climb to the Clouds will be former Mt. Washington Hillclimb Record Holder and fan-favorite Tim O’Neil from Whitefield, NH (7:40 set in 1990). O’Neil will be driving a special AMX Rally and Hillclimb car he recently built to compete in the New England Forest Rally in Newry, Maine. Making the cross-country trek to New Hampshire from Salt Lake City, Utah will be professional car racer and businessman Cole Powelson. The owner of LYFE Motorsports and SIERRA Cars in Salt Lake City, Powelson will be driving a single-seat, open wheel racecar that he and his company designed and built. Powered by a 600 horsepower Suzuki Hayabusa motorcycle engine, Powelson has previously raced the SIERRA at the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb as well as in the America’s Rallycross series. Joining Powelson in another matching SIERRA open wheel racecar will be John McInnes from Eden, Utah.
Also competing in the 2021 Subaru Mt. Washington Hillclimb presented by Yokohama Tire will be three amateur New Hampshire racers, all of whom have several things in common. One of which is that they are the only three competitors in the world to race in every Climb to the Clouds event held since 1990 – that’s a total of 15 Mt. Washington Hillclimbs. No other race car drivers in the history of this legendary race, which dates back to 1904, have competed in more Climb to the Clouds Hillclimbs than these three New Hampshire competitors – Drew Young from Loudon, David Patten from Dunbarton and Don Taylor from Claremont. These three “Masters of the Mountain” are also Life Members of the Sports Car Club of New Hampshire. Returning this year will mark their 16th consecutive time competing at North America’s Oldest Automotive Hillclimb!
Set for August 13-15, 2021, the Subaru Mt. Washington Hillclimb will serve as a 3-day motorsports festival filled with a variety of motorsports-oriented activities for all ages including a vendor and food area, historic car displays and an autograph session topped off by the return of the Subaru Mt. Washington Hillclimb presented by Yokohama Tire on the 7.6 mile Mt. Washington Auto Road Sunday, August 15, 2021.
For more information regarding the 2021 Subaru Mt. Washington Hillclimb presented by Yokohama Tire, including the event’s history, list of record times, spectator tickets to view the race from the base area or along the course or to volunteer, visit: mt-washington.com/climb-to-the-clouds/
Video Documentary from the 2017 Subaru Mt. Washington Hillclimb:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TrYseef8NE&t=176s
Includes complete in-car video of the record setting run by Travis Pastrana from Annapolis, Maryland.
About the Sports Car Club of New Hampshire:
Established in 1955 by a group of longtime sports car enthusiasts from throughout New Hampshire, the Sports Car Club of New Hampshire (SCCNH) is a 501C7 non-profit organization open to anyone interested in automobiles or automobile-related activities – whether they are a New Hampshire resident or not. Today the Sports Car Club of New Hampshire is proud to host a membership of more than 225 active motorsports enthusiasts from across New England with a variety of vehicles and varied interests in the sport. For more information, visit www.sccnh.org.
About Subaru of America:
Subaru of America, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. of Japan. Headquartered in Cherry Hill, N.J., the company markets and distributes Subaru Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive vehicles, parts and accessories through a network of more than 600 dealers across the United States. All Subaru products are manufactured in zero-landfill production plants and Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc. is the only U.S. automobile production plant to be designated a backyard wildlife habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. For additional information visit www.subaru.com.
“Subaru”, “WRX STI”, all model names, and the Subaru logo are registered trademarks of the Subaru subsidiary of Fuji Heavy Industries, Ltd, Japan. Other trademarks and trade names are those of their respective owners.
About Yokohama Tire Corporation:
Yokohama Tire Corporation is the North American manufacturing and marketing arm of Tokyo, Japan-based The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., a global manufacturing and sales company of premium tires since 1917. Servicing an extensive sales network throughout the U.S., Yokohama Tire Corporation is a leader in technology and innovation. The company’s complete product line includes tires for high-performance, light truck, passenger car, commercial truck and bus, and off-the-road mining and construction applications. For more information on Yokohama’s broad product line, visit www.yokohamatire.com and www.yokohamatruck.com.
Connect with Yokohama Tire Corporation:
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About the Mt. Washington Auto Road:
The Washington Auto Road is considered by many Hillclimb racers to be extremely technical with a narrow road surface that averages just over 20 feet wide. In addition to being very narrow with steep drop-offs that vary from side to side, the road is also incredibly steep, with an average 12% grade and gaining slightly more than 4,600 feet in total elevation change from the starting line to the finish line. The surface of the 7.6 mile Mt. Washington Auto Road is mostly tarmac with approximately one mile of gravel and contains well over 150 turns and switchbacks as the road winds its’ way to the 6,288 foot summit of the Northeast’s tallest peak — Mt. Washington.
First opened in 1861 as the Mt. Washington Carriage Road, the Mt. Washington Auto Road is the country’s oldest manmade attraction. Located on Rt. 16 in Pinkham Notch, New Hampshire, just north of the Mt. Washington Valley and minutes south of Gorham, NH, the Auto Road has a long and winding history, much like its 7.6 mile trip up to the summit of the highest peak in the Northeast. For more information, visit www.mt-washington.com.