The exciting entries range from standard vehicles to highly modified high-performance race cars which have the sole aim of setting the fastest time on the 1.9km course over the Saturday and Sunday.
Franco Scribante, winner of last year’s event, will clearly be the man to beat and he has no intention of relinquishing the title. He will be returning to the Hillclimb in the same 1970 Chevron B19 in which he dominated the 2014 event.
It may be a 45-year-old racing sports car, but the UK-built Chevron is certainly no slouch, having set a record of 41.159 seconds on The Simola Hill last year – more than half a second faster in the grand finale than second-placed Desmond Gutzeit in his purpose-built Nissan Skyline GTR.
Des Gutzeit will once again be competing in his formidable and extensively modified 2006 Nissan Skyline GTR R32 which boasts around 1 200 hp of racing power.
Some of the other big names scheduled to line up at the start include former rally champion Enzo Kuun and Ian Scheckter, both competing in Ford V8 master cars, along with Willie Hepburn in his fire-breathing 6.0-litre V8-powered Opel from the WesBank Modifieds era.
In motorsport terms, the short 1.9km time attack on the Simola Hill seems rather insignificant, particularly as the fastest runs are completed in a shade over 41 sec – albeit at an astonishing average speed of over 166 km/h!
What keeps the drivers coming back with more determination and more specialised and expensive cars every time?
“The great thing about the Hillclimb is that you can race any type of car, and the people really come to see the exotics and the cars they wouldn’t normally see anywhere else in the country,” Scribante states.
Des Gutzeit echoes the sentiment. “The Hillclimb is a great event. It is very well organised and professionally run, and it’s always fantastic to be there.”
Indeed, the mix of iconic cars from all eras, the motorsport legends from past and present and the accessible nature of the event make it simply mesmerising, enhanced further by Classic Car Friday and the latest attraction, SuperCar Thursday. There is also the Jaguar Simola Hillclimb Ladies Team comprising a competitive team of the fairer sex taking part with the motto, Racing for Dreams and Driving for Change. Apart from doing well on the Hillclimb, they also want to do something to improve the lives of others by raising funds for local charities.
The Jaguar Simola Hillclimb is undeniably a must-see event on the calendar of any motoring or motorsport enthusiast.
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