KNYSNA NEWS - In the all-important do-or-die Top 10 Shootout of the 2021 Simola Hillclimb's King of the Hill battle on Sunday 5 September, André Bezuidenhout improved his own record up the hill.
Bezuidenhout had set the previous record of 35,528 seconds up the steep, 1,9km serpentine course during the 2018 Simola Hillclimb.
But, going into the 11th edition of the Simola Hillclimb, the record was in danger as Bezuidenhout himself was determined to shatter it while he faced stiff competition from other competitors too.
Powering his agile 2007 Gould GR55 up Simola Hill in the final all-or-nothing Top 10 Shootout for the Single Seater and Sports Prototype category, he stopped the clock in just 34,965 seconds to win his fourth straight King of the Hill title and set a new record.
He slashed his own 2018 record by 0,563 seconds, achieving an astonishing average speed of 195,624 km/h.
“It was a close-run thing, as the shadows were already starting to come over the track when I did my run in the late afternoon,” Bezuidenhout said. “If we were 10 minutes later, I wouldn’t have been able to go that fast as the temperature began falling. So it was the perfect run in the end. I desperately wanted to do a 34, and the team worked very hard to achieve this great result.”
Robert Wolk was second in the Top 10 Shootout in his 2007 Ferrari-powered A1 GP car, finishing in 37,205 seconds after consistent improvements throughout the weekend. He also achieved a personal best time of 36,819 seconds in the Class Finals.
Byron Mitchell finished third with a time of 40,381 seconds in his 2002 Reynard Formula VW single-seater, just half a second ahead of Andrew Rackstraw in a similar car.
Despite having just taken a well-earned victory, Bezuidenhout is already looking forward to the 2022 Simola Hillclimb.
“I think there’s still more to come from the car as, until now, I’ve been driving the car as it came from the UK in 2018. Now we’re going to start working on the suspension, and we are looking at adding launch control for next year because at the moment it’s 100 percent my right foot, whereas a lot of the other cars have traction and launch control systems,” he said.
André Bezuidenhout holds his King of the Hill trophy proudly. Photo: Rob Till
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