Driving his Queensland built Skelta G-Force, Vandersee used every inch of his local knowledge rocketing his way to the top of the leader board with a fastest time of 1:00.76.
Vandersee and navigator Jahmeil Taylor were winners of the annual Noosa Beach Classic Car Club HillClimb event in 2006 and with the famed title of ‘King of the Hill’, Vandersee was the clear favourite for day one of Queensland’s first and only ever tarmac rally.
Skelta navigator Jahmeil Taylor was excited to lead the rally after day one, but has her sights clearly set on an overall victory with driver Ray Vandersee.
“We are really excited to be leading after day one, but we both want to be on top of the winners stand on the final say,” said Jahmeil Taylor.
“I can understand why we favourites for the hillclimb, but I don’t think Ray (Vandersee) was feeling any pressure, we really just wanted to get the car sorted for the rest of the rally,” said Taylor.
“The car felt really good and we improved our set up for the rally and I guess it’s nice to still be ‘King of the Hill’,” added Taylor.
A surprise second placing were Victorian husband and wife pairing of Matt and Casey Close in their 2001 Porsche 911 Turbo. The Close partnership of husband and wife even managed to edge out seven times Bathurst 1000 champion Jim Richards.
Richards and navigator Barry Oliver in their brand new 2007 Porsche 911 GT3 RS were among the crowd favourites with the spectacular note of the flat-six Porsche engine receiving cheers from the strong crowd lining the hillclimb road.
Channel Seven and 'It Takes Two' star Grant Denyer was impressive in his first outing for the Les Walkden Rally Team grabbing tenth spot in his Subaru WRX STC C Spec.
Only two minor accidents unfolded during the day with long time Queensland tarmac rally competitor Jim Wallace suffering a minor off in his BMW E30 M3.
Fellow Queenslander Graeme Beaupeurt in his immaculate Daytona Coupe was not as fortunate with his excursion of the hillclimb road resulting in some serious damage. Both driver and navigator Lee Morrissey were taken to hospital for precautionary reasons and have been cleared of any injuries.
The rally proper starts on Friday morning with 10 special stages through the Sunshine Coast hinterland with a mid morning break at Palmwoods and the lunch at Kilcoy Showgrounds from 11am.
Aeromil Pacific SunCoast Classic
Results for Shannons Noosa HillClimb Challenge- Day One
1. Car no. 971- Ray Vandersee and Jahmeil Taylor- 2004 Skelta G-Force
2. Car no. 921- Matt Close and Casey Close- 2001 Porsche 911 Turbo
3. Car no. 940- Jim Richards and Barry Oliver- 2007 Porsche 911 GT3 RS
4. Car no. 979- Andrew Taplin and Daniel Young- 2004 Porsche 911 GT3
5. Car no. 452- Jon Siddins and Ferg Ferguson- 1970 Datsun 240z
6. Car no. 916- Tony Quinn and Keith Wenn- 2006 Porsche 911 Turbo
7. Car no. 804- Jeremy Norris and Tim Norris- 1995 Nissan GTR V Spec
8. Car no. 909- Frank Purdy and Dave Beard- 2005 Porsche 911 Turbo S
9. Car no. 912- Dylan Thomas and Dave Thomas- 2005 Mitsubishi Evo IX
10.Car no. 7- Grant Denyer and Dale Moscatt- 2006 Subaru WRX STI C Spec
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