How the fast guys hang on for 18-19 seconds is beyond me. Quickest I went up was 24 I think but that was with some cheating, we did flying starts from the bottom of the pits.
There are a lot of people on the championship who dont like Huntley saying it a boring power hill. I guess to an extent that is the case but without respect it will bite you on the backside. There arent too many places on the hill that arent haunted with the ghosts of broken cars. I dont think I have seen anyone crash on the start straight, but pretty much everywhere else between corner 1 and the finish. Coming out of the esses is easily the most common place. Every second event on average we have someone run wide past the tower, right hand wheels in the dirt and then oversteer into the tyre wall on the left. Has that always been the case?
As a possible indication of how steep it is, I've had to use the ambulance 4 times and 2 of those were spectators having walked up the hill and had a bit of an issue.
I have not been to Huntley Hill for many years and I have no idea how the track surface would now compare to those days but, while it has always placed a premium on power, you do need to know just how and when to use the right foot. It was certainly never boring for me and I agree that, when the pace is on, any sort of error up towards the top could most definitely bite very hard!!
During the early eighties my best time with the March 77B was 22.58 and when I ran the Elfin 600 there in historic form (treaded tyres etc.) in around 1990 my best was in the mid 24's. That kept my attention very well focused and, if the quick guys are now down to 18/19 seconds, I am sure that it will be keeping them hanging on very tight indeed!!
Hills like Huntley where the road is wide enough to offer a greater choice of line usually provide more rewards for the competitors with the most considered approach than do the more common 'point and squirt up the garden path' type of venue which really never interested me much at all.