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SIMOLA HILL CLIMB - 2017  (5 to 7 May 2017)

Hot on the heels of the Porsche Parade, in East London, came the Simola Hill Climb, sponsored by Jaguar and Motul. This was the fifth event, and it gets better every year.

The event was very well organised, and should have a spot on all enthusiasts calendars. The weather was glorious, but nights were a little chilly.

Although as a spectator, there is limited track -view, the excitement, and the migration to the large result screen, in the pits, at the end of competitors' runs, was great fun! There are a couple of additional large screens to view the track, in my opinion, there should be more of these! 

There were some international participants this year, Including Kai Goddard and Steve Kimpton in their Roush Ford Mustangs and Randy Pobst in a Jaguar F-Type SVR, and, as well as enthusiasts from all over South Africa.

Now onto the event itself; it kicks off on the Thursday, with a parade of classic cars through Knysna, followed by Classic Car Friday, which has 3 Practice Events, followed by Two Qualifying Events, and then the Final. Cars are split into categories according to their capabilities. There were 56 amazing Classic cars participating, of all shapes and makes.

The Classic Car Conqueror results:

Franco Scribante, 42.795 seconds, in his 1970 Chevron B19, top speed of 159.832,

Charles Arton, 44.925 seconds, in his 1979 March, top speed 152.254

Peter Jenkins, 47.568 seconds, in his 1971 Chevron B19, top speed 143.794

(If you want complete results, please go to:

http://www.speedfestival.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/KSF-Classic-Conqueror.pdf)

Saturday was devoted to practice runs and qualifiers for the King of the Hill, which takes place in Sunday's Grand Finale.

Tensions were high, and excitement palpable as each category did their runs, and the final shootout took place on Sunday.

Categories are, Modified Saloon Cars, Road and Super Cars, and Single Seater and Sports Cars which are, once again, divided into classes according to engine size and capabilities.

The final to end all finals was between 10 finalists, and the nail biting event came down to the final win of André Bezuidenhout, who kept the pressure on Scribante, Wolk and other competitors, in every heat. André's enthusiastic team of supporters were rooting for him from the start, and were elated when he won, throwing down the gauntlet for next year's event, with a gleam in his eye, and a comment that there are "Still a couple of seconds in it..."

André Bezuidenhout, in his single seater Dallara F189 Formula 1, 1989, achieved a record breaking time of 37.695 seconds.

Wilhelm Heard took the first place in his modified Nissan GT-R, in 39.892 seconds

Reghard Roots took first place in the Road and Super Car category, in his Nissan GT-R R35, in 44.766 seconds.

All participants took place in a thrilling event, keeping safe, and driving superbly. Porsche Club Cape members who did really well, were Scois Joubert, and we were all disappointed that Dawie Joubert had engine failure, after showing great promise for a podium finish. Peet Van Der Walt did very well in his BMW M3.

Please refer to the website for the full results of the event, and hearty congratulations to all participants, especially of course, to our very own King of the Hill, André Bezuidenhout. He had a very competent support team, and used the opportunity to showcase his driving skills in fine style, in spite of a massive headache before the final. 

It was fabulous to see all the familiar racing drivers taking part in this great event, and it is truly devastating that what was an extraordinarily well organised event, came to a tragic close, when a transporting trailer, with six cape town cars on it, caught alight. At this point it is inconclusive as to how the fire broke out, but we all send our condolences to Charles Arton, Anton Rollino, Enzo Kuun, Steve Kimpton and Kai Goddard, who lost cars in this awful fire. Anton's car was an inherited MG, from his father, and Charles Arton lost 2 cars, including the very valuable March Formula Atlantic 79B race car, which did so well at the Hill Climb. The monetary value is far less than the emotional loss for these drivers, and we ache for you!

 

JANE PLIT


05/05/2017