Racers, start your engines!
Kelowna’s Knox Mountain was full on Saturday as spectators enjoyed the 64th annual Knox Mountain Hill Climb.
The motorsport racing event welcomed racers from all over the world and is the the longest running paved hill climb racing event in North America at 3.5 kilometres.
Garrett Mealing, the event’s head of promotion, also races in the event every year. This year was his 10th year in racing and his seventh time at Kelowna’s premier motorsport event.
“I look forward to this weekend every year,” said Mealing. “It’s more of a camping trip with a little bit of racing, it’s the best of both worlds.”
With it being the 64th annual event and with Mealing’s experience, he said Knox Mountain is a different kind of race.
“It’s scary cause it’s not a track,” said Mealing. “The pavement is old and it’s beat up and it’s dusty. Here there’s not a lot of grip, it’s very deceiving how slippery it is up there.”
On top of an already slippery course, when asked about the thunderstorms in the forecast for Kelowna this weekend and how it would affect the course, he emphatically replied, “100 per cent! Half way up my last run, I had a few drops on my windshield and it makes you think twice about turning at the speed you’re going so the weather is definitely a factor.”
Racer and the event’s promotional manager Garrett Mealing met with the media pic.twitter.com/zfo3UjrzUk
— Jordy Cunningham (@CunninghamJordy) May 20, 2023
The racers participated in time trials and some racers got the course down in under two minutes.
This year also set a record with six female racers, the most the event has ever had.
If you missed the action on Saturday, the event continues on Sunday, May 21.
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@cunninghamjordy
jordy.cunningham@kelownacapnews.com
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