Gestion des compétitions et fédérations de Hillclimbing

Hillclimbing, also known as hill climbing, speed hillclimbing, or speed hill climbing, is a branch of motorsport in which drivers compete against the clock to complete an uphill course. It is one of the oldest forms of motorsport, dating back to the first known hillclimb at La Turbie near Nice, France, on January 31, 1897. The hillclimb held at Shelsley Walsh, in Worcestershire, England, is the world's oldest continuously staged motorsport event still run on its original course, first run in 1905.

Hillclimbs in continental Europe are usually held on courses which are several kilometers long, taking advantage of the available hills and mountains, including the Alps. The most prestigious competition is the FIA European Hill Climb Championship.

An Austrian venue: Gaisberg. A historic course is at Semmering.

The French hill climb championship, or Championnat de France de la Montagne, has been one of the most competitive of the European national series, attracting many new F2 and 2-liter sports cars during the 1970s and early 1980s. Notable champions from this period include Pierre Maublanc (1967 and 1968), Daniel Rouveyran (1969), Hervé Bayard (1970), and Jimmy Mieusset (1971, 1972, 1973, and 1974). The best-known Course de Côte are Mont Ventoux and Mont-Dore.

Germany has a long hillclimbing tradition, with some car and motorcycle manufacturers fielding factory teams until ″Bergrennen″ became amateur events in the 1970s. Two states, Nordrhein-Westfalen and Baden-Württemberg, no longer allow hillclimbing racing events, mostly for environmental reasons. Thus, the probably most famous event, the Freiburg-Schauinsland race in the Black Forest, is not a competition anymore like almost 100 years ago, when the fourth International Schauinsland hillclimb at Freiburg was held on August 5, 1928: "A car made the fastest time of the day, Heusser's Bugatti putting up 74.009 km/h, the fastest motorcycle being Stegmann's DKW at 69.6 km/h." Caracciola (Mercedes) won the over two-liter racing car class.

In the 1930s, during the era of the famous "Silver Arrows" from Auto Union and Mercedes-Benz, Hans Stuck (1900–1978) dominated European hillclimbing, which earned him the nickname "Bergkönig" or "King of the Mountains". The high-powered, supercharged Grand Prix cars were often modified to use twin rear tires, like trucks, to provide better traction.

Germany has only a small share of the Alps, and few climbs there, like the "Jochrennen" from Hindelang to Oberjoch, with the Rossfeld race in the Berchtesgaden Alps being part of the 1965 World Sportscar Championship. At that time, Porsche introduced lightweight open-top "Bergspyder" variants as their racing models were designed for endurance racing lasting up to 24 hours, with the Porsche 909 Bergspyder being the most extreme, weighing in at only 384kg.

Thus, most German hillclimbs are in the Mittelgebirge regions, but even the rather flat northern part of Germany has hillclimbs, like the one in Hilter near Osnabrück, which is part of the German "Berg Cup" series. In the 2023 calendar, Schottenring, Wolsfeld, Iberg near Heilbad Heiligenstadt, Homburg, Saarland, Hauenstein near Hausen, Rhön-Grabfeld, Eichenbühl, Mickhausen are the events in Germany. Additional rounds are held in Luxembourg, Austria, or Switzerland.

In Great Britain, the format differs from that in other parts of Europe, with courses much shorter. Cairncastle is Great Britain's longest hillclimb at 1.65 mi (2.66 km). These short courses are more akin to uphill sprints – and almost always take under one minute for the fastest drivers to complete. For this reason, cars and drivers do not generally cross between the British and continental European championships.

Hillclimbing is also relevant to motorcycle sport; the governing body is the National Hill Climb Association.

In the Italian championship, also known as the Campionato Italiano Velocità Montagna, there are the longest and most challenging hillclimbs like Trento-Bondone, Coppa Bruno Carotti (the Italian races in FIA European Hill Climb Championship), Pedavena-Croce d'Aune, Cronoscalata Monte Erice and Verzegnis-Sella Chianzutan, which are also the most known.

Hillclimbing in Italy became famous in the 1970s, early 1980s, between 1994 and 2000, and at the end of the 2000s, especially in the last two periods, thanks to TV services, magazines, and live Internet commentaries.

The most famous Italian drivers, who won a lot even in Europe, are Ludovico Scarfiotti (famous Ferrari driver who won the F1 race in Monza 1966), "Noris" (he won almost every race in Italy until 1972, when he died), Domenico Scola (who runs a Sport Prototype even now at the age of 80), Mauro Nesti (over 20 championships between Italy and Europe, from the 1970s to the 1990s), Ezio Baribbi (three times Italian champion), Fabio Danti (1994 Italian champion, 1995-96 European champion, died in 2000), Pasquale Irlando (Italian champion in the early 1990s and European champion in the last 1990s, the one who turned the Osella PA20), Franz Tschager (three times European champion in the early 2000s), Simone Faggioli and Denny Zardo (Italian champion in 2005 and 2008, European champion in 2003)

Hillclimbing is a very popular sport on the island of Malta. Numerous events are organized annually by the Island Car Club. Participants are divided by vehicle type into categories ranging from single-seaters to saloon cars.

There are several traditional hillclimbing race events in Portugal, and the national championship has been growing in popularity since 2010. Falperra International Hill Climb is the most popular and famous hillclimb, being held since 1927, with most editions as part of the European Championship.

In Romania, the first major event was the Feleac course, in Cluj. From 1930, it was a round in the European Hill Climb Championship. A record of the Feleac was set by famous German racer Hans Stuck in 1938, driving a 600 bhp (450 kW) Auto Union Grand Prix car. Stuck sto