Bezuidenhout looks the buzz
The 12th edition of South Africa’s most unique motorsport event will take place in Knysna this weekend, with the annual Simola Hillclimb to host its usual wide range of cars – saloons, sports cars, single-seaters, old and modern – on the by now famous 1.9km course.
The fight for the event’s overall quickest time and 2022 King of the Hill crown will be led by record holder Andre Bezuidenhout in his 2007 Gould GR55 – a specialised race car designed for hillclimb events.
Bezuidenhout set the record of 34.965 sec at an astonishing average of 195.6km/h in last year’s event, and has been working on the car to try and go even quicker.
His closest challengers must include the likes of Robert Wolk (Pillbeam Ford 3.5-litre V8), Andrew Schofield (Formula Renault 3.5 V6), Formula VW drivers Byron Mitchell and Andrew Rackstraw, as well as Rui Campos (Shelby CanAm Ford 5.0-litre V8) and Matthew Campbell (Harper Type 6 Audi 4.2-litre V8).
Topping the Modified Saloon Car category must be 2021 winner Pieter Xeelie in his turbocharged 3.5-litre six-cylinder Toyota MR2, facing off against people like Franco Scribante in his multi-winged 2016 Nissan R35 GT-R, Dawie Joubert (twin-turbo Ferrari V8-powered Lotus Exige), Charl Joubert (Lotus Exige Honda V6 Turbo) and Craig Czank (Lotus Exige) Nissan R35 GT-R twin-turbo V6).
Other drivers to watch in Nissan T35 GT-R entries will include Reghard Roets, Wade van Zummerin, Martin van Zummerin and Farouk Dangor.
Also in line for the category’s Top-10 Shootout would be Franco di Matteo (Jaguar V8), Charl Arangies (V10 Audi R8 LMS GT3) and Anton Cronje (Subaru Impreza WRX STi).
In the section for Road-going Saloon Cars and Supercars, reigning champion Jean-Pierre van der Walt (Porsche 911 Turbo S) will face off against people like Gordon Nicholson (Audi R8 V10 Plus), Garth Mackintosh (McLaren 720), Jacques Wheeler (McLaren MP4-12C), Paige Lindenberg (supercharged Shelby Mustang Super Snake), James Temple (Shelby Mustang Terlingua) and Deon Joubert (BMW M4 xDrive).
In Class A8 for hybrid and electric vehicles, Ciro de Siena will pilot the BMW i4 M50, plus the e-Golf entries of Daniel Rowe and Jonathan Mogotsi.
Friday’s Classic Car shootout will see top contenders like Scribante (Chevron B19), Bezuidenhout (Lola Cosworth), Peter Jenkins (Chevron B19), Schofield (March Ford), Enzo Kuun (Ferrari 348) and Graeme Nathan (BMW E9) in action.
Online ticket sales for the Simola Hillclimb, along with more information on the event, are available on the website: