When I heard that there would be a Hillclimb race not far from where I live, I knew I had to be there. It has been on the to-do list for a while now so this was the perfect opportunity to get that one off the list. After seeing several videos from different races around Europe, I knew it would get crazy with some hardcore cars. The only thing that hampered the race throughout the day was the bad weather. I have never shot an event with so much rain, let alone a Hillclimb before. I tried my hardest to bring you the coverage I wanted to show you so here goes …

I travelled together with a contributor at the Dutch Autoblog. When we arrived, we headed out to the media center that was located at the start of the course that you can see here. Cars were returning back down the hill to let the next classes have their run. After we got our credentials settled we headed out to the track.

While we made our way towards the first corner we could see the cars through the tree lines, but most of all we could hear them. These cars literally screamed on the first straight when they took off from the start line.

It was pretty hard to get to the other spots alongside the track. Every path was covered in mud so it was more like a slip and slide and try to get where you were going without falling.

But I was still amazed to see so many people had come to watch despite the rain.

The first corner was this uphill hairpin. It looked like the Opel Kadett was the most popular car amongst these hill climbers.

They were out in force and in many different looks. This teal version was the most extreme with DTM style fenders and canards.

The Golf was also a pretty popular car. This MKII went exceptionally fast despite the rain. Most of the other competitors went easy around the corners just to be on the safe side and not crash their cars.

We are in Germany after all so there was no shortage of beer and bradwurst!

While looking behind me I saw this little family enjoying the cars and sounds with their raincoats on.

When I walked a bit further down the track to the second straight the rain started again. So I grabbed my umbrella to keep myself a little dry while shooting. It wasn't easy but I still managed to get some shots despite the rain drops on the lens.

The cars started pretty fast one after the other so there was no shortage of entertainment.

The Mercedes 190E is a personal favorite of mine.

After some more shots it was time to make our way through the mud and see what was happening in the next corner. These brave soldiers were still standing during the rainstorms that lasted all day.

In between the races it was time for the VIP's to have a go. This Ferrari F430 Scuderia Spider 16M looked awesome on the track.

But there were more Ferrari's including this 360 GT3 that went very slow because it was on slicks. I guess they hoped for better weather but unfortunately it wasn't meant to be.

The next corner was a blind one and we had to walk on the track to get there so it was quite scary. But the fire marshal said it was okay but still I was glad I was on the other side and behind the armco!

After several classes raced up the hill it was time for them to go back down. This was when I caught the Opel Kadett I shot in the hairpin. The aero was pretty wild but it all serves a purpose.

While we waited we heard that cars were coming back up the hill. I honestly thought some wild cars were coming because of the high pitched noises and high revs but it was these small Fiat 500s.

Most of them were Abarth versions. It was a pretty funny sight to see these small cars go up the hill. In my next installment I will show you more of the cars whilst they were parked in the roadside paddocks.

-Jeroen Willemsen

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