EVs Excel at Australian Hill Climb Championship
Outgoing SA branch director, Mike Polljonker kindly wrote up the results of the weekend's racing. What follows is a faithful copy-paste of his efforts 😊
David Sargent (Sarge) made history on Saturday October 11th as the first EV competitor on track in any Australian national motorsport championship. He immediately went P1 in the AEVA-sponsored EV All Cars class of the SupaService Tyre & Auto Australian Hillclimb Championships 2025.
58th in the 122-competitor start order and steering EVNV’s OEM-spec IONIQ 5 N 2023, Sarge’s 63.75s number-flexing glory evaporated 30 seconds later as Mike Polljonker (#59) bettered in his Electrohoon KIA EV6 GT 2023 with a “duster” 60.67s. Mike’s EV6 GT had jettisoned parasitic mass, was a suspension-tuned, race-tyred weapon which put shade over the fastest sports cars in the event and was 3-4s up the road from Sarge most of the weekend.
Mike and Sarge were both competing and making history under the AEVA Motorsport banner, building understanding in the motorsport community and working to open up opportunities for grassroots and developmental EV motorsports participation.
The motorsport weekend began on Friday with practice, suspension tuning and tyre pressure setting, returning on a windy cool and dry Saturday for competition. Over 20 classes trundled to the start line one after another, with excellent regularity and few red flags on Day 1.
Early results were telling with a tad over ten seconds standing between P1 of Dean Amos running in the Libra (unlimited ICE) class with his Gould GR55b and P10 Matthew Brown in his spectacular and surprising worked Audi TT competing in the 2A Sportscars class. The Queenslanders were serious about the top trophy, but so too were the rest of the field - a mix of Time-Attack, Rally, Sports cars, and significantly upgraded road and race cars, piloted by 9 female and 113 male drivers chased every lap time for improvement and class honours.
As Day 1 rolled on, we saw Mike, between runs, take up the offer to trickle-charge on his Volvo AC charger from the pit carports while paying close attention to battery temperature and tyre pressures. Sarge deployed his V2L espresso machine, his two mid-day times reflected some over-driving (and possibly jetlag), but he book-ended the day just shy of his opening gambit with a 63.81s. Mike honed in on his optimal, relentlessly improving to end the day with a stunning 58.09s, just 0.18 behind longtime-rival Tim Possingham driving his top-spec McLaren in the Limited Modified Road Car (d) 4001cc and over class.
Sunday 12th October, Championship Day arrived with clear but cloudy and windy skies and competitors with their ears pinned back and performance at fore of mind at the Drivers’ Briefing. Sarge had clearly enjoyed a rest and a good start to the day as on his first run he bettered his lap time by 1.15s to 62.60s. Mike was next, chasing tenths and pushing speed and grip to the limit - traction control off, all throttle and more than enough bottle. Successive 58-mids invited 57s, but as the day wore on Mike’s tyre overheating impacted late-lap grip and times.
Before lunch, hangry, Sarge was delayed at the start line when an on-track incident (driver OK) red-flagged the session for 10 minutes. Frustrated, his next was not a clean or tidy run with washouts in turn 2 and further shenanigans caused by misjudging corner entry speed. On return to pits, Sarge was offered a re-run as the timing had not re-initiated properly after the restart. The rest of his day would not see the return of his first run which stood as his best of the weekend, placing him mid-field at 64th overall in his first tilt at a national title.
With attrition of vehicles and drivers, the prospect of a fifth run was raised and in little time enacted. Despite this last chance at glory, Mike’s performance of late Saturday was not bettered, though he did best the McLaren in every head-to-head run and across the day on Sunday and finished 27th overall. Mike’s 58.09s result certainly turned heads at the event, where many had never seen electric motorsport, while Sarge’s contribution from the OEM angle opened up conversations about the technology, safety, performance, and other EV benefits like battery longevity, energy savings and V2X.
Organisers Hillclimb SA crowned a sensational weekend with presentation of a profusion of class trophies. Overall Champion of the Australian Hillclimb Championships 2025 was Dean Amos, followed on the podium by Dean Tighe is his Empire in P2 and Warwick Hutchinson in his OMS28, all in Libra class.
Mike Polljonker took the title of Champion EVs All Cars and the gold track-shaped trophy, while Sarge lofted the silverware from P2 on the podium, both exhausted but proud to be electrifying EV motorsport.
While it is difficult to place EV’s contextually for comparison to other competing vehicles, it would be fair to say that Mike would have either won or been on the podium of most categories excluding the Libra and Time Attack classes, whilst Sarge would have been on top of the podium for unmodified road cars (if there were such classes). This was an impressive and ground-breaking moment for EV motorsport in Australia. Congratulations to all involved and especially Mike and Sarge for their relentless push for change.
This is just the start of EV racing. AEVA Motorsport is turning the cogs and wheels of innovation, heading towards custom-EV racing in future motorsport championships.
A special mention must go to Hillclimb SA who have bent-over backwards to include EVs in grassroots motorsport.
The best thing you can do to advance EV Motorsport is race your EV.
The next best is to volunteer.
If you’d like to take in the action……Check out Youtube (link to come)
Here are the full results from Motorsport Australia.
AEVA Motorsport
Better. Faster.