Falperra International Hill Climb

The Falperra International Hill Climb, is an annual automobile hillclimb to the summit of Falperra in Braga, Portugal. The track measures 5.2 kilometres (3.2 mi), climbing 262 m (860 ft) from the start at km 39 on EN 309 Highway, to the finish at km 44,20, on grades averaging 5%.[1]

Falperra International Hill Climb
Falperra Hill Climb track map
LocationBraga, Portugal
41.53274 N, 8.394082 W
First race1927 (1927)
Distance5200 m
Most wins (driver)Italy Simone Faggioli (6)
Circuit information
SurfaceTarmac
Lap record1:46.944 (Italy Christian Merli, Osella FA 30, 2019, Cat. II (D/E2-SS))

The race is on the FIA European Hill Climb Championship Events Calendar and features on both Portugal and Spain National Hill Climb Championships. It has taken place since 1927, being the most popular Hill Climb race in Portugal, with 200.000 spectators per edition.[2] It is currently contested by a variety of classes of cars, (touring cars, sportscars, single-seaters) and has on average 250 competitors.

History

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The first running of the Falperra Hill Climb was promoted by a local commission from Braga in 1927. The second edition has held in 1930 by the Automóvel Clube de Portugal, ACP (Portugal Automobile Association).

The competition was resumed in 1950 by the ACP, who named the 1950 edition as Falperra First Hill Climb, and all editions are accounted from 1950 edition.[3][4]

In 1976, the Automóvel Clube do Minho (Minho Automobile Association) assumed the organization of the race and applied for an international competition. FIA integrated the race in their European Championship in 1978. Since that year, all the Falperra Hill Climbs where part of a FIA international calendar with the exception of the first race of 1984 (in this year there were two races: one in May for the national championship, and another in September for the European Championship).

In 2002, due to lack of understanding between local authorities to make security improvements at the track, the race was not realized until 2010, when that improvements were made.

In 2013 the race was in risk of not being held, but due to the pressure made by the Falperra HC supporters in social networks, the Braga city hall made the new pack of safety improvements requested by FIA in the same year.

Falperra International Hill Climb was chosen by FIA to receive the FIA Hill Climb Masters in 2020. Due to Covid–19 pandemic concerns, the event was postponed to 2021.[5] The track was shortened to 2970 m just for the Masters.[6]

Current records

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The current record was set in 2019 by the Italian driver Christian Merli, on the wheel of an Osella FA 30, with the time of 1:44.955, beating the record established by himself in the previous year.[7]

Winners

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Before Automóvel Clube do Minho organization
Edition Year Driver Car Promoter
1st 1927   Alfredo Marinho Júnior Braga Commission
2nd 1931   Alfredo Marinho Júnior Automóvel Clube de Portugal
1st 1950   José Cabral Allard Automóvel Clube de Portugal
2nd 1951   Conde de Monte Real Ford Automóvel Clube de Portugal
3rd 1960   José Lampreia Triumph Estrela e Vigorosa Sport
Promotion by Automóvel Clube do Minho
Edition Year Driver Car Time
4th 1976   Clemente Ribeiro da Silva Opel 2.34.25
5th 1977   Mário Silva Ford 2.31.74
6th 1978   António Barros Opel 2.32.89
7th 1979   Alberto González SEAT 2.21.55
8th 1980   António Barros Porsche 2.18.81
9th 1981   Joaquim Moutinho Porsche 2.17.68
10th 1982   Alberto González SEAT 2.21.68
11th 1983   Alberto González SEAT 2.17.66
12th 1984   Mário Silva BMW M1 2.16.16
13th 1984   António Rodrigues Lancia 037 2.16.73
14th 1985   Mauro Nesti Osella BMW 4.10.7191
15th 1986   Mauro Nesti Osella BMW 4.10.8041
16th 1987   Mauro Nesti Osella C 4.09.2771
17th 1988   Mauro Nesti Osella C 4.07.4221
18th 1989   Andrés Vilariño Lola T298 4.07.3231
19th 1990   Andrés Vilariño Lola T298 Repsol 4.34.9471
20th 1991   Andrés Vilariño Lola T298 BMW 4.02.3361
21st 1992   Andrés Vilariño Lola T298 BMW 4.01.2051
22nd 1993   Rüdiger Faustmann Faust BMW 4.00.0141
23rd 1994   Francisco Egozkue Osella PA9 4.30.6941
24th 1995   Rüdiger Faustmann Faust BMW 3.56.0241
25th 1996   Fabio Danti Osella BMW 4.57.5431
26th 1997   Rüdiger Faustmann Remus Faust Opel 4.21.3121
27th 1998   Irlando Pasquale Osella PA20 4.01.1041
28th 1999   Franz Tschager Lucchini BMW 4.40.5851
29th 2000   Franz Tschager Osella BMW 3.55.3001
30th 2001   Franz Tschager Osella BMW 4.07.6001
2002–-2009: not held
31st 2010   Andrés Vilariño Norma M20 2.05.906
32nd 2011   Fausto Bormolini Reynard K02 1.57.754
33rd 2012   Simone Faggioli Osella FA 30 1.56.900
34th 2013   Simone Faggioli Osella FA 30 1.51.365
35th 2014   Simone Faggioli Norma M20 FC 1.50.386
36th 2015   Simone Faggioli Norma M20 FC 1.49.364
37th2 2016   Pedro Salvador Norma M20 FC 4.38.1531
38th 2017   Simone Faggioli Norma M20 FC 1.48.686
39th 2018   Simone Faggioli Norma M20 FC 3.38.2191
40th 2019   Christian Merli Osella FA 30 Zytek 3:35.0131
Masters 2021   Christian Merli Osella FA 30 Zytek 1:02.0333
41st 2022   Christian Merli Osella FA 30 Zytek 3:34.5051
42nd 2023   Christian Merli Osella FA 30 Judd LRM 3:37.8481[8]
43rd 2024   Christian Merli Osella FA 30 Judd LRM 3:39.8661[9]
  International Event
  • ^1  — Cumulative time of the 2 best heats.
  • ^2  — The principal contestants from European Championship withdrew due to heavy rain.[10]
  • ^3  — The edition of 2021 received the FIA Hill Climb Masters and the track was shortened to 2970m.

Multiple wins

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "REG RAMPA INT FALPERRA 2010 - P" (PDF). Fpak.pt. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-01-04. Retrieved 2014-02-03.
  2. ^ "Rampa da Falperra regressa ao Campeonato da Europa". Autoportal. 2010-11-17. Archived from the original on 2014-01-04. Retrieved 2014-02-03.
  3. ^ Clube Automóvel do Minho. "Palmarés da Rampa da Falperra" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-01-04. Retrieved 2014-01-03.
  4. ^ "AutoSport - Especialistas em desporto automóvel, Fórmula1, Rally, WRC, DTM, WEC, WTCC, NASCAR, INDY, LE MANS e DAKAR". autosport.pt. Archived from the original on 2015-07-14. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
  5. ^ "Rampas de Boticas e Falperra: Europeu de Montanha e FIA Hill Climb Masters em 2021 | AutoSport".
  6. ^ ""Duelo" especial na Falperra entre Faggioli e Merli com Petit atento". 3 October 2021.
  7. ^ "Christian Merli bate recorde e estreia-se a vencer na Falperra". 13 May 2019.
  8. ^ Mendes, Fábio (2023-05-21). "Faleprra: Christian Merli e Hélder Silva lema triunfos para casa". autosport.pt (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-05-22.
  9. ^ Mendes, Pedro (2024-05-20). "Faleprra: Christian Merli e Hélder Silva triunfam na Rampa Internacional da Falperra". autosport.pt (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2024-05-20.
  10. ^ "Pedro Salvador venceu a 37.ª Rampa Internacional da Falperra - Correio do Minho".
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