The Spanish and Catalonian hillclimb championships were held together on the 22nd, 23rd and 24th of July in the Pyrenees for the running of the sixth Pujada a Alp, an event also included in the schedule of the Pyrenees Trophy. Five Speed Cars entered the hillclimb organized by Vline, with the GTR of the Cantabrian Juan Antonio Castillo, a regular this year in Category 2 of the national series, being joined by the drivers from Andorra, Ramón Plaus and Edgar Montella, and the Frenchman Benoit Fourquet, as well as by the GT1000 of the Catalonian Joan Marques.
In the Spanish Championship, Juan Antonio Castillo completed his best race weekend so far this season at Alp. The Cantabrian born driver got on the podium for the fifth time in as many rounds, being third again as he had been in the previous four, but with times very close to the second placed competitor. In fact, Castillo was in second place after the second timed climb, but he finally had to settle for third, just half a second behind Jonathan Álvarez after a really close fight over the whole weekend. With this result the Speed Car GTR driver consolidates his third position overall in Category 2 of the national series.
In the Catalan championship, Ramón Plaus was third overall and first of the CM promotion group after a great drive at the wheel of his Speed Car GTR against the more powerful CM plus cars that ended up in the two first positions. Plaus was also fourth in Category 2 of the Spanish Championship.
There was also a good result also for Edgar Montellà, sixth in the regional championship after an promising progress in his times that shows a good adaptation to the CM of the young Andorra born driver who won Group N last year at the same venue at the wheel of a SEAT León.
Classified right behind him was Joan Marques with his old GT1000, a car that is still a very good choice to enjoy the driving on a road as fast and technical as Alp.
As for the Frenchman Benoit Fourquet, he fulfilled his target of scoring some good points for the Pyrenees Trophy, a series comprising five events, three in France, one in Catalonia and one in Andorra, this run at Alp being the third round of the season.
