KNYSNA, South Africa, 7 May 2023 – The Simola Hillclimb has firmly established its standing as one of the world’s most enjoyable and aggressive hilllclimb occasions, with the 13th version – held in Knysna, South Africa from 5 to 7 May 2023 – delivering its most thrilling and fiercely contested spectacle but.
As South Africa’s premier motoring and motorsport way of life occasion, this 12 months’s competitors and the world curiosity have been elevated to even larger heights with the participation of three star worldwide drivers: 2003 WRC champion and double WRX champion Petter Solberg together with older brother Henning Solberg who’s a veteran WRC and WRX driver, in addition to former F1 driver Mika Salo.
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Simola Hillclimb weekend
Bringing an thrilling worldwide flavour to the Simola Hillclimb and increasing its attain to a good wider world viewers through the full-length livestream weren’t the solely highlights, as the occasion attracted a file eight automobile producers as occasion companions, sponsors and entrants.
As has develop into the norm, it additionally featured some of the strongest and quickest vehicles on the planet – from specialised hillclimb single-seaters to outrageously highly effective saloon vehicles. Accordingly, it was no shock that the weekend noticed spectator numbers return to pre-COVID-19 ranges, with an estimated 17 500 folks attending the occasion over the three days, which included Classic Car Friday.
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Following two days of thrilling King of the Hill motion on Saturday and Sunday, Andre Bezuidenhout earned his sixth consecutive title in the Single Seater and Sports Prototype class in the 2007 Gould GR55. Several wet spells had thrown curveballs at the crews all through Sunday with the remaining all-or-nothing Top 10 Shootout going down in principally moist situations on the difficult 1.9 km Simola Hill course.
Nevertheless, Bezuidenhout produced a masterful demonstration of technique and targeted dedication to energy the Gould to a profitable time of 37.580 seconds. This was some 3.4 seconds off his outright file from final 12 months’s occasion, however a powerful outcome contemplating the ever-changing climate and the unpredictable ranges of grip throughout the hillclimb course.
Unfortunately, the problem from Robert Wolk in the Indycar Infinity V8-powered 1989 Pillbeam MP58 did not materialise when his engine blew on the remaining qualifying run. However, Bezuidenhout had maintained a wholesome benefit over Wolk all through the weekend, and was faultless on his technique to victory, incomes a clear sweep after additionally claiming his first Classic Car Friday title two days earlier.
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“I tried for six years to win Classic Car Friday, and only managed it this year, so that’s motorsport. On King of the Hill, I thought Rob had a good chance this year until his car broke down, so it was an easier run for me until it rained, and it was quite a challenge to get the car over the line in the wet conditions. Prior to the final run I hadn’t driven on the wet tyres, because every time we fitted the wets it stopped raining, so I didn’t have a single practice on these tyres and I’m very lucky that I made it.”
Andre Bezuidenhout
Bezuidenhout was very smitten by the rising worldwide curiosity in the Simola Hillclimb, and the nice publicity being generated by Salo and the Solberg brothers attending this 12 months’s occasion. “For several years the Simola Hillclimb has been knocking on the doors of world hillclimb racing. People have been talking about it, and reaching out to ask about it,” Bezuidenhout stated. “Having someone like Petter Solberg here is going to take this event to the next level, because in World Rallycross he is the Lewis Hamilton or Max Verstappen. It’s lovely for the event to have Petter, Henning and Mika here, and it’s great for Knysna and South Africa.”
While Bezuidenhout dominated supreme as soon as once more, the runner-up in the Top 10 Shootout with a time of 40.794 seconds was Devin Robertson in the 1992 Radical Pro Sport, which is powered by a 1 300 cc Suzuki Hayabusa motorbike engine. Andrew Rackstraw took the remaining step of the podium with a time of 41.589 seconds in the Formula VW single-seater.
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Modified Saloon Cars
Petter Solberg was undeniably the spotlight of the mighty race-tuned saloon vehicles, combining his effervescent character and distinctive expertise with the exceptional efficiency of the 2018 title-winning Volkswagen Polo R WRX Supercar.
Solberg final drove this automobile in 2019 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, after which it was positioned in the Volkswagen Museum in Germany. Despite the automobile merely being dusted off, given a fast service and working on tyres that have been greater than three years outdated, the Norwegian ace raised quite a lot of eyebrows when he posted an astonishing time of 40.867 seconds on his very first run up the 1.9 km Simola Hill. He slotted into second place with a margin of simply 1.3 seconds from the chief, Reghard Roets, in a way more highly effective and extremely modified 2014 Nissan R-35 GT-R, generally known as ‘Armageddon’.
Through the two days of fierce competitors, it turned a three-way tussle for the title between Solberg, Roets and four-time King of the Hill, Franco Scribante in his radical time attack-inspired GT-R, known as ‘The Sheriff’.
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Having sorted out the collection of technical niggles that plagued his automobile final 12 months, Roets appeared properly positioned to safe his first Modified Saloon Car win after dominating the instances in nearly each session. He posted the fastest-ever unofficial time for a tin-top automobile throughout Saturday’s remaining qualifying run on 38.045 seconds – eight-hundredths faster than Scribante’s present official file of 38.129 seconds from the 2022 occasion. However, the title slipped from his grasp at the remaining hurdle when he braked a second too late on moist tyres going into Turn 3, and he needed to accept second place with a time of 40.539 seconds.
In distinction to the largely hassle-free weekend that Roets skilled, reigning champion Scribante needed to navigate by means of a number of issues, together with having to switch a destroyed rear prop shaft on his mighty GT-R. He produced a storming drive in the unpredictable and greasy situations on the remaining run to grab his fifth Modified Saloon Car King of the Hill title with an astonishing time of 39.877 seconds on moist tyres.
“I probably had less pressure on me than Reghard did, because he outperformed me the whole weekend,” Scribante stated. “My team did an amazing job, as we changed things chronically and put everything into getting the package right for that final run. But it finally all came together at the end,” Scribante stated.
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To rousing applause from the 1000’s of spectators, Solberg accomplished his remaining sprint up the Simola Hill in a collection of full-attack energy slides in the Polo R WRX Supercar, and he was rewarded with third place in the Top 10 Shootout on 41.281 seconds. Before the rain disrupted the proceedings, Solberg had posted his finest apply time of 39.848 seconds, and wrapped up qualifying on 40.165 seconds
“I didn’t have the right tyres, so my last run was just okay, but I’m very happy with the result,” Solberg stated. “I’m very fortunate that the moist climate arrived simply in time so I may get the podium. The automobile was good, and to complete in the prime three with a four-cylinder Polo towards some severe hillclimb vehicles isn’t unhealthy.
“The fans and the atmosphere have been amazing, and it has been really special to meet all the people, sign autographs and feel so appreciated,” he stated. “We came here to make a great show of it and have fun, and the racing side of it went a lot better than I expected. I would really like to come back next year, so we’ll see what the future holds.”
Road-going Saloon Cars and Supercars
JP van der Walt stamped his authority on the normal manufacturing automobile class by scoring his third consecutive King of the Hill title in a 2021 Porsche 911 Turbo S with a Top 10 Shootout time of 44.991 seconds in moist situations. This was a exceptional feat, contemplating it was simply 0.4 seconds off his profitable time from final 12 months, and solely three-tenths slower than his quickest run in the dry this weekend.
“This was the most difficult one by far,” Van der Walt stated. “We’ve had electrical issues with the car since the parade started on Friday, and I have to say a big thanks to the Scribante team, BB Motorsport and Volkswagen Motorsport who all came to assist. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get all the problems resolved and I had to drive around them, so I gave it my all and I’m happy with a 44-second time in the wet.”
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Garth Mackintosh was the closest rival in his 2017 McLaren 720s, coming inside 0.3 seconds of Van der Walt in the dry. However, the rear-wheel drive McLaren was no match for the all-wheel drive Porsche in the moist, however Mackintosh held on to complete second in the Top 10 Shootout on 47.261 seconds.
Finnish Formula 1 driver Mika Salo delivered a tenacious drive in the moist situations to say third place in the 2023 Mercedes-AMG A45S, crossing the timing beam in 47.876 seconds. “This was something different for me as I’ve never done a hillclimb before,” he stated. “It was not easy to get to know the course and I was quite cautious at the beginning, but I saved the best for last when I pushed the limits. It was a nice event with a great atmosphere, and I really enjoyed the experience.”
Simola Hillclimb: Class Finals
While the qualifying runs decided the Top 10 Shootout contenders for all three King of the Hill classes, additionally they determined which drivers would contest the penultimate Class Finals which have been carried out in wet situations.
Andrew Rackstraw took the class C2 victory for four-cylinder single-seaters (44.946 sec) after an intense battle with Formula VW compatriot Byron Mitchell, with C3 (limitless single-seaters) going to Andre Bezuidenhout on 41.872 seconds in the 2007 Gould GR55. Tom Barrett earned the C4 win for four-cylinder naturally aspirated sports activities prototypes along with his 2006 Lotus 7 Replica (58.730 sec), and the limitless four-cylinder C5 title went to Devin Robertson in the 1992 Radical 1300 Pro Sport (43.842 sec). Rui Campos powered his technique to the class C6 title for the large-capacity sports activities prototypes, recording 48.896 seconds in the V8-powered Shelby CanAm.
In the Modified Saloon Cars, it was a racing debut and sophistication B1 (naturally aspirated, four-cylinder) win for MasterDrive/Castrol driver search winner Bevin Harris in the 2007 Ford Fiesta ST (1:17.478), with Graeme Nathan taking B2 (four-cylinder, 2WD limitless) in the VW Polo SupaCup on 50.664 seconds.
B3 for limitless four-cylinder 4WD vehicles went to Petter Solberg (43.383 seconds) in the 2018 VW Polo R WRX Supercar, whereas Pieter Zeelie earned the B4 crown (five-cylinder and above, 2WD) on 44.656 seconds in his 2002 Toyota MR2 Super GT.
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Although he missed out on the general King of the Hill title, Reghard Roets was in a position to take the trophy for sophistication B5 (five-cylinder and above 4WD) dwelling in the 2014 Nissan R35 GT-R (40.565 sec), finishing this session 1.649 seconds sooner than second-placed Franco Scribante.
Geoff Goddard Jnr took the B6 honours for six-cylinder naturally aspirated vehicles in the iconic 1989 Stannic Group N BMW 325i Shadowline, with B7 (eight cylinders and above, naturally aspirated) claimed by Pieter Joubert in the vivid yellow Mercedes-AMG V8-powered Lotus Exige (48.947 sec).
Renowned circuit and rally-raid driver Anthony Taylor took the B9 win for limitless SUVs and bakkies (pick-ups) in the new twin-turbo V6-powered Ford Ranger Raptor with a moist time of 1:02.064, after having gone as little as 54.747 seconds in the dry qualifying classes.
In the Road-going Saloon Car and Supercar class, Deon Joubert led the cost at school A1 (2WD, four-cylinders) in the newest Honda Civic Type R on 55.368 seconds. Clint Weston settled the tight squabble with Mika Salo in the pair of Mercedes-AMG A45S entries by profitable the A2 title for 4WD vehicles on 49.134 seconds.
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Farhaad Ebrahim took A3 (five-cylinders and above, 2WD) with a time of 50.223 seconds in his 2020 Toyota Supra, whereas JP van der Walt was untouchable in A4 for the 4WD vehicles (48.449 sec). Sean Mackay earned the A5 win (5 cylinders and above, naturally aspirated) in the 2000 Porsche 911 GT3 (1:03.799), with the A6 trophy (eight cylinders and above, naturally aspirated) handed to Gordon Nicholson in the 2017 Audi R8 V10 Plus (50.462 sec).
Garth Mackintosh powered the 2017 McLaren 720s to the A7 win for force-fed vehicles (eight cylinders and up) on 52.800 seconds, whereas Ashley Oldfield scored the victory in A8 for hybrid and electrical vehicles with the BMW XM that made its South African debut at the Simola Hillclimb, reaching a time of 49.134 seconds.
More info on the Simola Hillclimb is offered on the web site: www.simolahillclimb.com
Published by Simola Hillclimb on MotorPress
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