One of the fastest HillClimb Monsters in Europe and an absolutely epic team💪😎

Only a few weeks ago we made our way to Prescott Hill for our last event in the UK of 2026 and after setting the fastest time ever for a saloon car our monstrous Michael Latimer race engine left the chat 😔

It was on this day that the Legacy was due to be handed over to Steven Darley before he and his wife Emma made the epic journey through Europe to the Bongo HillClimb Monsters event in Skradin, Croatia.

This spanner in the works left Damien to work night and day removing the damaged engine, all the components including the oil system and replace with our spare crate engine. An exhausted Damien arrived at Roger Clark Motorsport with everything crossed for a successful dyno session. Working on the race car at 4am can often lead to an oversight or two but with Paul Blamire on the laptop the running in went brilliantly albeit we were some 100bhp shy of the other engine/boost levels.

The Pikes Peak Legacy was dropped to Yorkshire and loaded into Steven’s trailer ready for the trip across Europe where our little old ladies  “£500” shopping car would take on some of the fastest HillClimb Cars in the world!

While all this was going on we were receiving messages of support from across the globe but also several people wanting to attend the event and cheer us on in person. This was incredible and we are overwhelmed by the support from our HillClimb family, 42 people made their way from the UK to join us in Skradin.

Steven and Emma set off for their immense journey on Saturday and after a ferry crossing to Holland and 100s of miles through Germany, Austria, Slovenia and Croatia they arrived a day early in the beautiful Skradin, Croatia.

Damien and several other team members took the less challenging transport method of a flight to Split airport which was only an hour from the paddock!

Skradin is an absolutely stunning venue, the people, the food and the weather were amazing. Rodrigo from HillClimb Monsters, Tomislav and his amazing team running the event couldn’ be more welcoming, we were treated like royalty.

Being on the invite list to Europes most elite HillClimb was a huge honour, an invite we had to accept even if that meant the team going to great lengths literally.

A walk around the paddock and reality hit home hard. These HillClimb Monsters were absolutely insane. The engineering, aerodynamics and outright power was like nothing we had seen before. Touring cars equipped with Judd engines, DRS and over 2000kg of down force….

Saturday morning came and many of these drivers had never driven the hill competitively so we could expect a sensible, steady approach while everyone found their feet? How wrong was that? Every single driver was on full send, taking things to the limit and some past it on their very first run of the weekend. This was absolute carnage, the best of the best literally going to war with the hill!

The first 4 corners of this HillClimb were in the shade and several competitors were struggling with grip, this wasn’t an issue we experienced on the used Nova motorsport 046 compound slicks from Waltham Services. A 1min 43s first practice gave a hint that time spent on Tom Sim Sides Assetto Corsa track mod had paid off. 16th overall and 4th fastest touring car wasn’t a bad start for the UK team.

Saturday night was quite surreal with amazing bars, restaurants and even some selfies and autographs on a party boat with a 90s DJ 😎

Sunday morning and we were given a much needed 3rd practice, this was cold and greasy but Damien put in a strong performance on low boost claiming the spot of 6th fastest monster. The race runs were about to start and the tension in the paddock was incredible.

Some more boost on the Xona Rotor turbo would see the car at close to 700bhp, enough for a banker. The run was great and Damien had the Legacy just starting to dance when at the final corner a silicone hose split resulting in no boost at the fastest part of the climb. Coasting over the finish line with a low 1:39 gave an indication of what was to come.

With only minutes to sort a fix and a red hot race car the team set to work, a temporary fix should see us through one run but that was all we needed right?

Heading down to the pre grill and there was no one there, we were to go straight to the line and full send! Don’t panic! No time for a burn out, straight onto the start, TC down to 2, boost up to 12 and launch up a click as the tarmac looked like it was melting on the bridge! Off the line and the Legacy hooked up so well, super committed through turn 1 on the brand new Nova 046 slicks and the old girl didn’t budge, we’ve got this.  Running along the wall and the sectors showed we were doing great, really in the mix, up the penultimate straight and the car was flying then disaster, a marshal appeared with a red flag and our best run had to be aborted. An Evo on fire up ahead but fortunately the driver was fine and the car will go again.

Back down to the start and our temporary fix didn’t last the next run. Oh well we had a blast, time for a beer and to celebrate such an incredible experience.  Just as Damien reached for a cold one the lovely paddock marshal announced that we had made it into the top 10 shoot out! Wait, What? Yes you are in the shoot out and you have 5 minutes to be on the start line as you are running first!!!  We had qualified as one of the 10 fastest HillClimb monsters in Europe.

We had a repair to do that would take at least 20 mins but had only 5.  Steven, Richard, Matt and James launched into action while Damien put down the unopened beer and tried to focus on one last shot at this bonkers hill. While Adrian convinced the start line marshal that we were on our way, the team grafted like they do and we made it to the line for our place against 9 of the fastest HillClimb monsters on the planet.  On the final run we managed 3 corners before the 2.5bar of boost was too much for a hose and a steady run to the top while waving at the crowds and thanking the amazing marshals would draw a close to one of the most incredible weekends of hillclimbing we have ever had.

We are so proud to be Ambassadors of UK hillclimbing and we always strive to do our best on the hills, in the paddock and online. The standout part of this trip has been the overwhelming support. We can’t say thank you enough to everyone who made the trip to Croatia but also all those cheering us on from back home and around the world, it’s so greatly appreciated.

There is a lot left on the table at Bongo HillClimb Monsters and we have already requested a spot at next year’s event. With plans for 200bhp more than this year, some aero tweaks and a few top secret modifications we aim to be right in the mix of Europes fastest touring cars.

As always none of this would be possible without our incredible sponsors. If you want to get involved drop us an email at teamlegacyuk@yahoo.co.uk. We have huge plans for 2027 including a new livery and retro merchandise range, get involved with Team Legacy.