The Hillclimb's spirited competitors

MOTOR RACING NEWS - A special part of every Simola Hillclimb is the Spirit of Dave Charlton Award and at this year's edition, the award went to Charles Arton for Classic Car Friday and Franco Scribante for King of the Hill.

The Spirit of Dave Charlton Award at the Simola Hillclimb recognises the person that reflects South African racing legend Dave Charlton's spirit of impeccable attention to detail, meticulous preparation and commendable performance.

It isn't necessarily the person who's the best or was the fastest up the hill, but rather highlights those who have invested incredible effort into their teams and cars.

There are two awards given out each year – one for Classic Car Friday and one for King of the Hill. The former this year was awarded to Charles Arton. He received Classic Car Friday's Spirit of Dave Charlton Award for the exceptional effort and dedication he and his team put into the complete restoration of his March 79B Formula Atlantic race car, which he drove to victory in the 2015 event.

The car was extensively damaged in a fire while being transported back to Cape Town following the 2017 Simola Hillclimb.

The second award of the 13th Hillclimb went to Franco Scribante, who year-in and year-out puts on one hell of a spectacle with his Scribante Racing outfit.

According to Knysna Speed Festival (organisers of the Hillclimb) managing director Ian Shrosbree, they elected to give Scribante the award for the sheer amount of effort that he and his team put in once again this year.

They produced not only one, but a whole host of meticulously crafted and competitive cars that were always right in the mix in their respective classes.

Shrosbree was also able to confirm the attendance numbers for this year's event, coming in just shy of 17k with official attendance recorded at 16 790 for the weekend. This makes it the best-attended Simola Hillclimb since the 2019 edition.

Franco Scribante muscles his 2016 Nissan R35 GT-2 up the Simola Hill.