2017 Mattara Hillclimb on at Ringwood Park Motorsports Complex

Seventy-two racing enthusiasts took part in the 60^th annual event at the Ringwood Park Motorsport Complex on Sunday and Monday. The numbers were up on previous years, with 69 entrants completing the event. Four records were broken in front of a crowd of about 600, Rick Vincent, from the Newcastle MG Car Club, which hosted the event, said.

The MG Car Club Newcastle took out outright first place, followed by Noosa Sporting Car Club, then Northern District Car Club and Kempsey Sporting Car Club.

The hillclimb was previously held in King Edward Park, Newcastle, but was moved to Ringwood in 2016.

The first hillclimb was held in King Edward in 1951 but was forced into a six-year hiatus in 1957 when a government crackdown on motor sport undid it. It was reborn in 1963 and was held in the park until 2015.

Changes to the roads and pathways in the park made them no longer suitable for the hillclimb, and forced the car club to move it to its home base at Ringwood Park.