Surer tops packed Mountain 'Grand Prix'

The third running of the Ollon-Villars hillclimb retro attracted a magnificent entry of over 200 cars and bikes headed by an Ensign N180 Formula 1 car, which was reunited with former grand prix driver Marc Surer.

Although not a competitive event, a field of more than 120 cars tackled the 8km hill as the venue celebrated its 50th anniversary.

First used in 1953, the so-called Swiss Mountain Grand Prix meeting was a round of the European hillclimb championship. In 1971, Francois Cevert set the record at 3min 47.04sec in his Tecno Formula Two car. That just eclipsed the previous mark set in 1969 by Peter Schetty’s Ferrari 212E, which took part this year with David Franklin at its wheel and ran up the hill in tandem with Siggi Brunn’s Porsche 908/3.

A strong field of pre-war cars included the ERAs of Jost Wildbolz and Martin Morris, and a big contingent from the TOPS Club, headed by the Alfa Romeo 8C of Trisha Pilkington. Historic racer Urs Eberhardt switched from his Lotus 27 to a 1964 Norton 750cc motorbike for the event.