The 2023 Pagoda Hillclimb was held June 24-25, 2023 in Reading PA, and was the third event in the PHA Championship Series.

It was predicted to be a rainy weekend, but it only really rained steadily on Saturday morning.  It dried out after lunch, and the rest of the weekend remained mostly dry, although the course never completely dried out.

Despite the damp conditions, the weather didn’t seem to slow most people down.  By the end of the day Saturday, Mark Aubele had FTD with a 77.806, which was not far off the FTD he ran in 2022  (77.171).  And on Sunday, he beat his 2022 FTD time, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

Despite Mark’s best efforts, Ron Moreck ran a 73.213, not only taking FTD, but beating the previous course record of 73.374 that was  set in 2011 by George Bowland in his 02 BBR Shark.  Congratulations Ron!!

Mark Aubele came in second overall in his 2003 Ford Mustang.  His time of 76.860 was good for a new Class Record in SPO.

It’s only the third event of the 8 event championship series, but the race for Overall Points so far is very exciting.   Mike Robinson, Michael Frohman and Eric Johnson are in the top 3 positions, and there is one point separating each of them.  

Mike Robinson has once again agreed to allow me to use his event write-up for this blog — thanks Mike!  But first I wanted to show one of my favorite photos from the weekend taken around 1:30 AM Saturday.   I look at it and wish I was there!

Onto the event itself…

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Pagoda weekend wrap by Mike Robinson…

Much like the Weatherly wrap up, this one will be less about raw times or class battles as well. There are some very notable times that can not be ignored though.

First, I’d like to address all the people that canceled because of weather. Yeah, I’m calling you out! Shame on all of you. We had very drivable conditions both days after lunch. I assure you I was able to drive 10/10th’s on Saturday and easily 12/10th’s on Sunday. Even the spots we all know historically to stay damp had grip! Your loss!!!!!

For me it was more of a history weekend. Donna Robinson came up Saturday Morning with my mentor John Moyer in tow. It really felt like the old days when I use to co-drive his Mini. I would finish a run and discuss what I felt in the car and road and try and figure out how to tackle the next run. Truly a special moment!

I also got to see Ted Klaus Sr. and Jim Cosner Jr. I never got a chance to meet Jim junior personally during my early days. It was fantastic to finally meet him and talk with him. I got to remind him of the time he took out a squirrel with his Super Vee, good laughs over that!

Seeing John Flannery’s Volvo was extra special as well. It’s nice to know Steve McFarland is going to keep it as close to John’s livery as possible! It reminded me of so many runs that John and Gloria made and the good times on my camp corner (John & Kim Ireland Moyers’ back then) during the after hours with John Tumolo, Stan (the fry guy) John Russell, Gus, and many more!

I guess that’s enough memory lane for now.  How about some lap times…?

Only fitting to start with the great Ron Moreck. He battled tuning issues and still managed a NEW hill record. Outstanding buddy. I’m glad I was at the top to see your reaction. Well done!

Mark Aubele came in second overall with a personal best and class record as well.

With you two leading the charge for PHA, I feel pretty good about any of the heavy hitters from down south coming up here!
(Yeah, that’s a cloaked call out!)

Dermot Treanor just knocked me out of 3rd overall with his best run if the weekend.

Obviously that means I finished 4th overall. It was a personal best in the vette as well for me. (Take that as another dig to the guys who canceled for weather…lol)

Some other notable drivers, in no particular order…

Kurt Bartholomew in his drift BMW came in 7th overall. I’d love to see what he could do with a purpose built hill car!

Rick Johnson and Mike Frohman came in 5th and 6th respectively.

All in all, what was looking like a rain out turned in to a fantastic weekend.

As always, thank you to BMR and all the volunteers for having us.  Your work doesn’t go unnoticed!!!!

See ya at Giants Despair!!!

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There were many great photographers at the event, and all of them have graciously given permission for me to post their photos in this post. 

Bob Helton came up all the way from Western MD — we normally only get to see his photos from Polish Mountain:  https://www.photozbybob.com/Polish-Mountain-Hill-Climb/Pagoda

Don McLaughlin worked a corner, and took a bunch of photos:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/mcdallion/albums/72177720309339171

Bill Snook is the photographer for the Reading Eagle, and his photos are here:  https://billsnookphoto.smugmug.com/Pagoda-HillClimb-2023/

Berks Weekly’s photos are on Facebook — you don’t need a FB account to view them:  https://www.facebook.com/berksweekly/posts/pfbid0ubb8T3htbAkwLNhmVUKSMr5qaooyCsTfeBZM2gArkZLBvmYbxGs4nZvHfwRU6ENl

And last but not least, Mike Vanino was at the event taking photos again!  You can also view his photos on Facebook (and again, you don’t need an account to see them):  https://www.facebook.com/mikevanino/posts/pfbid02wdaXqkFChZtWLbsW4bYWpKLTh6RFYgNFNzXX4sWuqvC15MnWNFpskGMorA3hUythl

I do however, have to admit, that I stole one photo from Mark Aubele and another one from Mike Robinson.   They were both too good to not share  🙂