Family of racers

Geoff Clear can't decide whether the saying should be changed from ''like father like son[s], to like sons like father'' when it comes to car racing in his family.

One thing that is certain is his dedication to helping promote young people's driving skills through the Queenstown Car Club, which is running the Coronet Peak Hillclimb today. All three Clears are on the entry list, with father and youngest son Ryan (16) sharing the wheel of their 1600cc Suzuki Baleno and Max (18) driving his recently purchased Honda Civic VTEC.

When Mr Clear was competing ''as a young person'', senior members of the Otago Sports Club invested time in his driving development so, in turn, he has spent the past two years consolidating this passing on of knowledge within the Queenstown club.

When Max switched from motocross to cars at age 16, he was competing against about 30 adult drivers. To help even out the odds for him and other youngsters, Mr Clear established an under-21 championship. It has grown from just two drivers to 14 within 18 months.

''I'm a firm believer of helping youth,'' he said.

He also refers to it as an ''undercover, defensive driving course'' where Queenstown drivers, like John McDonald, Grant Aitken and Stuart Maclean, who have been ''racing for 30 to 40 years'' encourage and pass on their expertise to the younger members at events.

Mr Clear, who operates Queenstown's Moonlight Country functions venue, said competing in autocrosses and hillclimbs helped ''eliminate the silliness on open roads by doing it in a controlled environment''.

''Hence it makes them a better, more mature driver at a younger age,'' he said.

The Clear brothers have been the youngest competitors two years running at the Coronet hillclimb. Last year, it was Max, who was then 17, and this time it is younger brother Ryan's turn at 16. A bit of family rivalry has not done any harm, as Mr Clear was the club champion this year and Max was third overall and topped the under-21 championship.

Mr Clear's daughter Zoe (16) has recently started competing, driving the club's 1300cc car, and he encouraged any young people with an interest to contact the club about some mentoring and support.

''Everyone is willing to give these young guys an opportunity.''

The Clears will be joined by about 45 fellow drivers in single-seaters, saloons and rally cars doing four timed runs up the 2.7km sealed Coronet Peak Hillclimb.

Practice begins at 9.30am and the road will remain closed until 5pm. However, it opens briefly every 30 minutes to let spectator cars through to the viewing platform halfway up the course and also to the top.