The fastest weekend of the year is a wrap

The fastest weekend of the year is a wrap

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The Simola Hillclimb is the one weekend of the year that brings out the child within. It is a weekend that captures every minute reason why we adore cars as we observe some of the fastest machines in the world traverse a 1.9-kilometre stretch of South African tar. It’s a gathering unlike any other, where we get to witness established teams and passionate drivers showcase their skills among the richest and fastest South Africa has to offer. And this year, all the signs suggested a new record holder.

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The weekend kicked off in a damp and freezing Knysna, with the classics taking to the hill, relying solely on their skill to avoid the tyre walls. For me, the classics offer a unique opportunity to see golden oldies driven the way they were meant to be driven, and it's a spectator sport for only the most dedicated fans. But the wet mountain road revealed its treacherous side, as the grass proved to be the preferred racing line. Still, it was a treat to see these elders of the automotive world live out their purpose once again, and it hinted at the excitement to come with the addition of massive turbos and no presence of mufflers.

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It's become a tradition at the Hillclimb to host a parade the day before practice to offer the public the first glimpse at the competition pool. Here, the opportunity for grown men to place friendly wagers and giggle like schoolgirls builds anticipation for the racing ahead. New racers nervously try to avoid stalling in front of thousands, while other, more experienced hill climbers say farewell to their tyres that are destined to be smoked to pieces. In return, the town of Knysna received its first dose of adrenaline, and it's safe to say that restful sleep didn't rank high on the priority list. 

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The first morning of King of the Hill event brought relief as blue skies appeared and began to extract the abundant rainwater around Simola. The track was drying up, but the temperatures still warranted a fair number of layers. Approaching the pitlane ahead of the event provided the ideal opportunity to see the field in full force, and this year Suzuki gave us the opportunity to watch the action from the paddock, though their fleet of hill climb tools raised a few eyebrows.

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Suzuki has built a reputation for calling on its Swift Sport in recent years, but this year, the dial was turned down a tad in terms of speed but not excitement. A single Swift Sport led the pack driven by one of South Africa's fastest women, Jeanette Kok-Kritzinger, and she laid down a rather impressive 56.538 seconds. Following Jeanette, Ernest Page displayed his ability to entertain in a standard Suzuki Swift. Yes, it was one of the slowest cars on the hill with a time of 1:04.800, but Ernest put on a show that the audience thoroughly enjoyed. Lastly, one of my favourite performances of the event was Sean Nurse in a Jimny, and in the spirit of weight-saving, the rear seats, spare wheels, and even headrests have been removed. Unsurprisingly, he wasn't the fastest car of the weekend with a time of 1:06.478, but man, was he entertaining to watch for everyone in attendance.

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The event is split into three categories: streetcars, supercars and modified saloons, and single-seater race cars that sit at the pinnacle of the timing sheets. In the Streetcar category, Mercedes-AMG brought the heat, with Courtney Nicholl and Natalie Weston proving that smaller displacements most certainly don’t mean slow. They extracted every usable kilowatt from both the GLC 63 S and the C63 S slapped with the E Performance badges, and it was a treat to watch. But Clint Weston took the top spot, winning the class in the new rocketship Merc-AMG GT63 S. I'm still trying to decide if it was the car or the driver that beat the likes of an Alfa 4C and a McLaren 720S, but he certainly knows his way around an AMG, and watching him wrestle with the car was a firm reminder that a professional racing driver is cut from a different cloth.

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The modified saloon class is the most exciting group of machines in the world. Here the likes of purpose-built cup cars and GT3 racers take on the backyard mechanics in a dance of fire and boost pressure. It’s a category that is best defined as a pay-to-play class, and the result of such engineering is unfathomable speed. It’s a stunning picture to paint, so picture the likes of the famous AMG GT3 racecar and Polo Super Cup cars taking on the privateers in purpose-built 1000+kW GTRs and often losing by quite substantial margins. It's here where the driver becomes the limitation, as power of such magnitude needs to be tamed, and it makes for one noisy and damn impressive show.

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Then there's the class that was designed to be faster while still maintaining a measure of control. The single-seater class. To add some context to the equation, the current record holder for the hill climb is Andre Bezuidenhout with a time of 34.161 in his Gould GR55B, and he was expected to return this year and compete under perfect conditions. However, a new name was added to the roster with his own Gould GR55B, Robert Wolk, who was also vying for the record, but unfortunately, both cars pulled out due to mechanical issues. Still, the remaining single-seaters were geared for a serious fight, all competing for the King of the Hill crown. 

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This year saw its fair share of treachery, and the mountain wasn’t a friendly place to be, but as the drivers completed practice and qualifying, the battle for the King of the Hill commenced. In the Road and Supercar class, Courtney Nicholl set a rapid time of 44.599 seconds, closely trailing the ferocious BMW M4, driven by the equally ferocious Cristiano Verolini, who set a time of 43.872. Unfortunately for the BMW team, the title went to Clint Weston and his GT63 S with a blistering time of 43.174. Just as a reminder, this is a standard road-going sportscar.

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The Modified Saloons proved to be the fastest on the mountain this year, and the competition was fierce. Johan Kristofferson stole the show in a sideways fashion with his electric Polo RX1E, but the lack of legs at the top meant it fell short against its fire-breathing competition, with Kristofferson ultimately finishing in third with a time of 39.001. But to give you an idea of how fast this EV rally car really is, he beat the likes of Franco Scribante in his ridiculous but undeniably cool Sherrif R35 GTR. Second place went to Reghard Roets behind the wheel of a stupidly powerful GTR R35 with a time of 38.370. But the title and fastest man of 2025 went to Pieter Zeelie in my favourite car of the event, his weapon of a Toyota MR2, with a time of 37.090.

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Finally, the most exciting cars to watch, the single-seaters, completed the lineup, and with the two GR55Bs out, it was anyone's race. This year, Klayden Cole Ensor-Smith, behind the wheel of his MSA4, laid down a fairly impressive time of 47.702, only to be edged out by Rick Morris, whose Formula Ford set a time of 47.444. Byron Mitchell, on the other hand, was untouchable in the single-seater class and proved just how effective a lightweight car with tonnes of downforce can be on a hill climb in his Formula VW, with a time of 40.204 seconds.

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This year was an interesting event, and the drivers laid everything out on the road. There were close calls and heartbreak, but the atmosphere was electric. Simola captures everything we look for as petrolheads, from speed, noise and impressive drives to passion and the harsh reality of motorsport. But, before I wrap up this story, we at TopGear South Africa would like to extend our condolences to the Joubert family. It’s a heartbreaking moment for South African racing, and Pieter's dedication and performance over the years have brought smiles to thousands of faces. He will be fondly remembered.

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