Vroom at the Top

In the U.S., racing up hills is limited almost exclusively to an occasional run up Pikes Peak. But in Europe, drivers have literally made a profession of getting to the top. Hill climbs attract as many as 150 entrants and 70,000 spectators. The cars are sleek, road-hugging sports cars, only slightly less hot than grand-prix cars. In fact, many Europeans argue that hill climbs are more exciting and more demanding than grand-prix racing. Explains Germany's Porsche-piloting Gerhard Mitter, 29, this season's leading driver: "It's not like a flat race, where you have time to warm up. You have to drive explosively from the start." Agrees second-ranking Hans Herrmann, 37, who drives for the Italian automaker Abarth: "It is the difference between a miler and a sprinter."

And what a sprint! Racing against the clock for points, the autos roll up one by one to the starting gate, pause until a red light flashes green, then bolt off, engines screaming and rear ends smoking as the tires burn under the tremendous torque. The course, usually four to 14 miles long, runs up steep country roads, contains no fewer than 15 curves, and its straightaways are no longer than 200 yds. Yet the cars average 69 m.p.h., occasionally even top 125 m.p.h. Most drivers try to "straighten the curves" by skidding around the corner in a controlled four-wheel slide and then snapping the car into a lightning-like acceleration. Says British Driver Tony Marsh: "You have no chance of winning unless you go absolute flat-out--so that means you are on the ragged edge of losing control of the car all the way up the hill."

Hill climbing hit the big time in 1957, when a Maserati took the title. The next year, Germany's famed Wolfgang von Trips (who died in a Ferrari in the 1961 Italian Grand Prix) won the championship in a Porsche. A Ferrari took the prize in 1962, but in the past two years, the rear-engined, bug-low German Porsches dominated the races.

Now the Ferrari is back again--and faster than ever. In a 6.5-mile climb in the Italian Alps last week, Ludovico Scarfiotti drove a new lightweight Ferrari 2000 to victory at a speed of 74.4 m.p.h. It was Scarfiotti's second win in as many starts and clearly proved the new car's superiority. With three more races to go for the championship, Scarfiotti is third (with 18 points) behind Mitter (25) and Herrmann (22). But he is odds-on favorite to take the title for Ferrari. In that event, Porsche designers will trudge back to their drawing boards and thousands more expectant fans will run for the hills.

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