Gunnedah Motoring Enthusiasts is in for an exciting 2021, after the Apex Drive Mount Porcupine Hillclimb was accepted as the venue for a round of the NSW Hillclimb Championship next September.
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Mount Porcupine last hosted a round of the championship in 1971, with the event conducted by the Tamworth Sporting Car Club.
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Next year's round will be held on September 5.
"It's been a tough year for the club, with COVID, but that's [the state championship round] is something to look forward to," said Geoff Hood of GME.
Hood said GME had come along way since 2001, when the Gunnedah Weeks of Speed committee decided the town needed a car club and GME was formed.
"To think that we would be incorporated and a member of Motorsport Australia and running a hillclimb and then a state championships, it's all been a fairly steep learning curve," he said.
Hood said the club's chances of hosting the state championship round was boosted after it obtained money from the Drought Communities Resilience Grants Fund, in order to enhance the Porcupine Reserve/Apex Drive before 2021.
The championship, he continued, would lure about 75 competitors and crew to Gunnedah.
It is expected the event will return to Gunnedah every three years, he added.
The 2021 NSW Hillclimb Championship will also be staged in Bathurst, Wollongong, Kempsey, Grafton, Tamworth, Newcastle and Canberra.
When Gunnedah hosted the 1971 state championship round, the car makes included Falcon GTHO, Holden Monaro 350, Torana XU1 and Valiant RT Charger.
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the Weeks of Speed being cancelled mid-festival.
The annual Mount Porcupine Apex Drive Hillclimb was rescheduled for September.
But then it was cancelled due to ongoing COVID protocols.
