Aleš Prek and Vladimir Stankovič – Most Famous Slovenian Hill Climb Racers

Hill climb racing is the category which has brought the most resounding results to Slovenian drivers in the recent years. Vladimir Stankovič was the first to break new ground, at first with F3 and later with F3000. However, the best result was achieved by Aleš Prek who became the European Champion of 2011.  Both will also this year compete in our biggest hill climb race, but with different ambitions and opportunities. While Stankovič has set high goals and aims also at winning the race for the EC, Prek’s priority this year is the title of the national champion and getting to know his new car.
Vladimir Stankovič had started competing in circuit races, but shifted later to hill climb races when he realized that with such a limited budget better results can be achieved in this category. He is one of the first in Slovenia who decided to race in a one-seat racing car and also to participate in international competitions. He participated in Slovenian and Austrian national championships with Formula 3 racing car, but won only some championship titles in Austria, as in Slovenia back then the championship for formulas and prototypes have not yet tendered. His appetite grew with time, and after a few seasons with F3, the car already seemed too slow. He changed it for much more powerful F3000 and also with this car reached high rankings in international competitions. Together with Hermann Waldy he staged a series of close fights on both sides of Karawanks. They have also shared victory many times. Finally, also the competition class for the fastest cars in the Slovenian National Championship was announced and Stankovič won the title, while competing only with foreign drivers. At the same time, he competed also in the European Hill Climb Championship Races and reached higher and higher. He won the title of the Championship of the Central European Zone and came third at Ilirska Bistrica Race. This year, he will compete with the fastest racing car in this automobile branch, with Osello FA30 with Mugen V8 engine and over 500 hp. His goal is to win the race.
Already when being a child, Aleš Prek kept his family tradition and won several titles of the Carting National Champion, the same as his father. After he finished his carting career in 2002, he expectedly entered the world of automobile racing in hill climb races. Also here, he achieved sound results. For quite a few seasons, he was undefeated in the two-liter class vehicle engines, then also his ambitions went far beyond the borders of our country. Already with Honda Civic, the family team regularly attended the races of the European Championship and Aleš gained experience and took care for very decent performance. As a part of his preparations to compete in the European Championship, he started testing Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8 in 2010. In the last year’s racing season, the small numbered team traveled around Europe and achieving great results. They started with the second place at the race in Rechberg in Austria, continued by some nice wins in Category 1. These were accompanied by a few more, which gave Prek nice advantage against his most dangerous rival, Serbian Dušan Borković, at the penultimate race. His wish was to win also the race in Ilirska Bistrica, to confirm the title of the European Champion, but over-pushing and a fatal mistake could prevent him from winning the title. Therefore he decided not to hunt for the quick Serb, who took his place in this season, and rather came second. His success was the biggest success of the Slovenian automotive racing until now. Celebration at the track of Ilirska Bistrica after the second Sunday race was unforget