By: IOL Motoring Staff
Knysna - Franco Scribante became the first two-time winner of the Jaguar Simola Hillclimb at the weekend, setting an outright record of 38.646 seconds for the steep, twisting 1.9km uphill course on his final, do-or-die run on Sunday.
And it was a 'double double' as Scribante repeated his 2014 feat of taking both Classic Car Friday and King of the Hill - although the rules no longer allow him to do it in the same car!
He won the Classic contest in his 1970 Chevron B19, then took on 2015 winner Des Gutzeit's radical 1100kW black and yellow Nissan GT-R in his bright orange, lightweight 1972 Chevron B26 in the all-comers event.
Franco Sribante sets a 40 seconder after timing system reset #JaguarSHC pic.twitter.com/lANh9MjHRp
— KnysnaSpeedFestival (@SpeedFestivalCX) May 8, 2016
Also read: 1972 classic shatters Simola record
Then disaster struck as the B26's suspension failed during the fourth qualifying session on Sunday morning, sending the car hurtling off the road at the fastest point of the course, the end of the main straight.
The Scribante Racing team put in a monumental effort to get the car repaired in time for the final qualifying run, and Scribante admitted he was nervous preparing for a flat-out assault on the Hill.
“When Des went out and did a 40.9 I thought the track had got slower, and I wasn't sure I could break 40 again,” he said. “So I decided the last run would put me either on the top step of the podium or in the bushes - and, thanks to my team's hard work, it all held together and gave us the record!
FRANCO SCRIBANTE SETS NEW HILLCLIMB RECORD & CLAIMS KING OF THE HILL TITLE #JaguarSHC https://t.co/g3V8s34rCR pic.twitter.com/9Z9O0ospub
— KnysnaSpeedFestival (@SpeedFestivalCX) May 9, 2016
Gutzeit was gracious in defeat with a best time of 40.324s.
“I simply couldn't go any faster,” he conceded. “The car ran perfectly but there was simply no way we could match Franco's pace in a heavier road-based car.”
Anton Cronje finished third in his modified Subaru Impreza WRX on 42.564s, beating Wilhelm Baard in the factory-backed Nissan GT-R by just 0.181s.
SuperCar Shootout
Jaki Scheckter won the new SuperCar Shootout class for showroom-specification sports and supercars in a factory-backed Nissan GT-R, (31) with a superb 43.591s run, 1.6 seconds quicker than Dawie Olivier in the sponsors' Jaguar F-type R Coupé (44), with Ernst du Preez third in a McLaren 650S on 45.826s.
Scenes from the final day of #JaguarSHC2016. @jaguarsa @knysnatourism @KnysnaPlett pic.twitter.com/4wf6PK5SCd
— KnysnaSpeedFestival (@SpeedFestivalCX) May 8, 2016
Finally, 79-year-old Geoff Mortimer was awarded the new Spirit of Dave Charlton floating trophy. Winner in 2010, the veteran driver is still one of Simola's quickest. He looked set for a strong showing this year, but an electrical fault that plagued his modified Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 on Saturday and had him and his team working late into the night recurred on Sunday and he was able to complete only two of the day's qualifying sessions, putting in a best time of 44.119s.