Knysna revving up for hillclimb
KNYSNA is known among residents and visitors for its tranquility and quiet charm – but not this weekend.
About 15 000 petrolheads are set to flock to the usually sleepy holiday town today for the sixth annual Jaguar Simola Hillclimb, with some of the world’s fastest and most exotic cars lining up to battle it out for the coveted King of the Hill title.
The quiet road leading to the Simola Golf and Country Estate has once again been transformed into a twisting 2km racetrack which has tested the abilities of even the most skilled drivers since it was first introduced in 2009.
About 130 vehicles – from racing legends of yesteryear to modern supercars – will roar up the hill this weekend, which got off to a high-octane start yesterday with the popular Classic Car Friday event, which was first introduced in 2012. The event is for owners of pre-1979 vehicles and the oldest car in the mix this year is a 1929 Type 35b Grand Prix.
During last year’s event one of these classic cars stole the show when it not only set the fastest time ever up the hill, but also won both the Classic Car Friday and the King of the Hill shootout.
Franco Scribante in his 1972 Chevron B19 managed to set a blistering time of 41.811 seconds through the winding course on Old Cape Road – shaving more than a second off the previous fastest time of defending King of the Hill champion Jade Gutzeit, who did it in his modern Nissan Skyline R34. He later beat his own record in the King of the Hill shootout and managed a winning time of 41.159 seconds.
Scribante was back on the starting line yesterday to defend his title, but due to a change in rules he could not participate in both events with the same car and had to settle for his “secondfastest car” a 1974 Porche Carerra RSR for yesterday’s event and will take on his competitors in the Chevron today.
Scribante said the event was different to circuit racing where drivers had time to work out their strategy. “This is very exciting – it is all or nothing.”
Another competitor, Anita Cusens, said she had decided to enter this year’s event in honour of her father, who died in 2012.
“He used to race and always wanted to do this event, but never got around to doing it before he died. I’m participating in his car – a Fiat Abarth 1000 TCR.”