After returning last November, following an 11-year hiatus, the Coronet Peak Hillclimb will this year be the first race in the Motorsport New Zealand National Hillclimb Championship series next month.
Queenstown Car Club events co-ordinator Caroline Cullimore said the individual timed racing is "certainly one of our big events".
"But now that it's put on the Motorsport calendar it's even more exciting".
"There's not a lot of tarmac in this area ... they get quite excited about this one."
The national competition features a tarmac climb and a gravel climb in each host location.
Officials from Motorsport New Zealand watched last year's event closely and the club was asked if it would be interested in being part of the first round of the national series, if a gravel road was sourced, Ms Cullimore said.
The club was "really blessed" to have found a suitable gravel track behind Queenstown Hill at Tuckers Beach, which is on private property, she said.
The 4km track offered 360deg views around the valley and across to Coronet Peak.
The Queenstown Car Club was formed in 1972 and the hillclimb had been a regular event. However, the last race before the revival last year had been held in 1999.
Sponsors such as Southern Safety and Placemakers have ensured the event is able to continue.
Ms Cullimore could not say how how many drivers would be competing, since "like any motorsport event, you don't know how many, until a week out".She was expecting more than 30 for the tarmac section and between 20 and 25 for the gravel event.
From a spectator's point of view, she said, the event would not seem too different from how it had been run last year.
Two official Motorsport New Zealand stewards would be present and Rally New Zealand timing equipment would be used.
New Zealand Hillclimb Championship co-ordinator Errol Hewlett said this would be the third season since the national series had been resurrected after having been incorporated into another championship.
The Coronet Peak Hillclimb had previously been part of the original series and this year's race would mark 40 years since the Queenstown Car Club first held the hillclimb.
