This year’s Simola Hillclimb, which will be held in Knysna from Thursday 2 to Sunday 5 May, promises to offer the fiercest and mightiest automotive battles, where as little as hundredths of a second may decide the fate between winners and losers in the epic Modified Saloon Car fight for King of the Hill glory.
You may be wondering what a hillclimb is . . . Drivers compete against the clock to complete an uphill course. It is one of the oldest forms of motorsport, since the first known hillclimb at La Turbie near Nice, France, took place as far back as 31 January 1897. One of the best known climbs is the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (The Race to the Clouds) to the summit of Pikes Peak in Colorado, USA. The track is 19,99 km long and has over 156 turns, climbing 1 440 m on grades averaging 7,2%.
Our big national Simola Hillclimb was started in 2009 and is so popular it was sold out last year, with a record crowd of 17 040 spectators over the weekend. The live stream broadcast reached over 366 000 views with 5,5 million minutes viewed.
The fastest car remains the GR55 Gould single seater in the hands of Andre Bezuidenhout with a time of 34 161 seconds at an average speed of 200,23 km/h in the Single Seaters and Sportscars Shootout category in 2022.
There is also a fan-fest event-within-an-event, adding car and motoring-related exhibitions, music and entertainment held in Hedge Street in the beautiful Southern Cape Town.
The list of beautiful cars that have participated in the past, from classics such as the Porsche 956, Porsche 917, 1961 LDS Formula 1, 1968 McLaren MV8 Formula 5000 to more modern machinery, including two Formula 1 cars of 1989 vintage, Bezuidenhout’s Dallara and Ian Schofield’s Minardi, a 2009 A1GP Ferrari, a Gould GR55, March 77B and 79B Formula Atlantics, a variety of Ferraris, McLaren MP4-12C, 650s, 570s, Lamborghini Gallardo and Aventadors, Porsche GT3RS, Nissan GTRS, BMW Ms, Jaguar XKRs Coupe and F-Types, Noble M400s, Radical SR1, and Ariel Atoms.
Going to the Simola Hillclimb is the closest you can get to The Goodwood Festival of Speed without leaving South Africa. It is truly world class.
There are two types of tickets: general entry and VIP. There are three upgrades for general entry tickets: pit entry, VIP parking and Turn2 or Esses grandstand. The upgrades cost R250 per item per day.
General entry tickets are for: Friday only (R160), Saturday (R160), Sunday (R160) and the three-day pass at R400.
VIP tickets are between R3 000 for Friday to R9 000 for the weekend, but include the upgrades. Shuttles between the bowling club in Nelson Street and the hill cost R30 return.
Friday is dedicated to classic cars built before 1990 and will keep you busy all day from 08:00 to 15:30. On Saturday the King of the Hill Shootout starts at 09:00 and ends at 16:45, with a lunch break at 13:00.
Sunday warm-up starts at 09:00 to 09:45; Qualifying is from 10:00 to 12:45, and the class finals between 14:00 and 14:50. The final shootouts are from 14:55 to 15:55.
There are nine sub-categories in the classic car event with 53 entrants. The oldest car is a 1927 Austin Seven.
The King of the Hill event has three classes with a number of sub-categories in each, in which 81 drivers will see if they can topple King André or take their category. Of course, the times vary greatly between these classes – clearly a Suzuki Swift can’t take on a Nissan GTR R35 or a Ford Shelby with a 5.0 V8, but that’s not the point.
Trying to do the perfect run. That’s what it is about.
