Race to Gorjanci then and today

(Source: www.ghd-gorjanci.si)

The first car mountain race in Slovenia was in Gorjanci in 1969. Today it is returning to the path of former glory.   

The mountain speed car race on Gorjanci is actually the cradle of this branch of motor sport on Slovenian roads. It was first organized in 1969, when the track was 6,8 km long, and was supported by the domestic car company IMV. Two years later, when the course was shortened by 400 m, it was already on the calendar of the first national mountain championship in the former Yugoslavia. It was last carried out in 1972, and a year later road racing was banned in Slovenia due to the tragic events in Kamnik and Škofja Loka. And the race to Gorjanci disappeared from the scene for many years. It was revived in the early 2008s, then as a competition for the national championship of the new, independent state of Slovenia. It was then that the race experienced its most stellar moments, even with strong international participation, and then disappeared from the calendar again after a performance in XNUMX. But this time only for two years, because the year before last it was revived, and since last year the organizer is AŠD SA - I.

The route of the race, which from the very beginning took place on the main road from Novo mesto across Gorjanci to Metlika, has undergone quite a few changes. The most obvious were the several changes in the length of the route from the original 6,8 km, which were shortened several times. The foundation has also improved over time. This has been the most criticized part of the competition in recent years, but this has already improved significantly last year. In Dolenjska, they predict that everything will get better from year to year, as the road is being renovated faster. This means a wider, smoother and better secured road, which is very important for normal traffic, and even more pronounced during the race! The working conditions of the teams before the race, ie the service area, are also improving. Until a few years ago, there were boxes in a modest parking lot in front of the inn and along the road itself, and then they arranged a large parking lot, otherwise intended for trucks. It only lacks an asphalt coating and will be almost ideal. Especially because it lies directly at the start, which is the exception rather than the rule in mountain racing.

Many famous drivers from the former Yugoslavia, as well as from Slovenia and abroad competed in the mountain race to Gorjanci. Those with a slightly longer racing memory come to mind names such as Dušan Djaniš, Aleš Pušnik, Dušan Kermavner, Alojz Pavlič, Drago Regvart, Mladen Gluhak, Jovica Palikovič, Robert Lang, and years later Stojan Pirjevec, Slavko Dekleva, Matjaž Tomlje impressed , Mišel Zupančič and many others. In recent times, viewers have been fascinated by Samo Valant, Igor Dekleva, Milan Bubnič, Vladimir Stankovič, and among foreigners, especially Jaroslav Krajči, Walter Leitgeb, Herman Waldy, Marietto Nalon.

But even before that, next weekend, the best mountain speed racers will stop in Ilirska Bistrica, at the 19th GHD Petrol Ilirska Bistrica.