MOTORSPORT: Race to the Sky reborn

Gold Coast business dynamo, race driver and race series owner Tony Quinn is reaching for the sky near Queenstown in New Zealand.

Having developed the highly-acclaimed Highlands Motorsport Park there, Quinn is now reviving the country's famed Race to the Sky on a hillclimb nearby on the South Island.

It will resume after an eight-year hiatus – but its April 17-19 scheduling is two weeks later than its traditional Easter slot.

Since America's even more famous Pikes Peak hillclimb in The Rockies was totally sealed, the NZ course will be the longest all-gravel competition hillclimb in the world at 14.5km.

It rises 1050m up the Pisa Range in central Otago's Cardona Valley near Wanaka, from 450m above sea level to 1500m, with 135 turns and an average gradient of 1:11.

Quinn – the man behind VIP Petfoods and Darrel Lea chocolates and who owns Australia's GT Championship and races in it – wants to attract 100 cars, bikes and buggies to compete for the title of 'King of the Hill'.

“The course will remain as true to its old form as we can make it,” Quinn said.

“Our goal is to ensure the action both on and off the course delivers an experience that encapsulates speed, skill, courage, determination, excitement, competition and sheer exhilaration.”

Already confirmed is Japan's charismatic and legendary Nobuhiro 'Monster' Tajima, who won the event in eight of its previous 10 years.

The only other winners were NZ's late rally great Possum Bourne in 2001 and hillclimb specialist Rod Millen in 2002. Bourne lost his life there when hit by an oncoming car in the lead-up to the 2003 event.

Tajima also is a multiple winner at Pikes Peak, where he was the first competitor to break the 10-minute barrier for the 20km.

Most recently he has run electric cars – and that is what he is expected to enter in the reborn Race to the Sky.

Although now 64, Tajima not only wants a ninth but a 10th victory in NZ.

“Of all the gravel hillclimbs this is number one, and now that it is the longest in the world it makes it even more special,” Tajima said.

“The course is fantastic – it is very tough, but the safety is great and the views are amazing.

“I've held the title of ‘King of the Hill' eight times, so I need two more to make it 10.”

Quinn said that “having ‘Monster' back is certainly a drawcard, but we also want to attract more of the world's best and some of the new up and coming talent”.

The event also will be branded with the ‘Highlands' name and Quinn's general manager there Mike Sentch said: “In the first year we want to grow the reputation and legacy of the event with the vision of it holding its own on the world stage and capturing the imagination and competitive spirit of some international stars.”

Former promoter Grant Aitken – who folded the event in 2007 in part because of difficulties with the land owners, the Lee family – has been retained as an adviser for the 2015 Highlands Race to the Sky spectacular.

“It's a very special road and I can see it now regaining quite a high status on the international motorsport calendar as the longest, toughest gravel hillclimb event in the world,” Aitken said.