Who'll be Simola King of the Hill?

Franco Scribante and his Chevron B19 emerged as King of the Hill at last year's Simola Hillclimb in Knysna.

Franco Scribante and his Chevron B19 emerged as King of the Hill at last year's Simola Hillclimb in Knysna.

Published Mar 13, 2015

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Knysna - This year’s dates for the annual Jaguar Simola Hillclimb have been set and from May 14 to 17 motoring and motorsport enthusiasts will again descend on Knysna for one of South Africa’s most popular and unique racing events.

Organisers have retained the format of past years with the four day meeting kicking off with SuperCar Thursday, followed by the iconic Classic Car Friday. But it’s the crowd-drawing King of the Hill competition run over Saturday and Sunday which will as usual provide the biggest spectacle for fans.

The hillclimb will keep the same route as in the past six years, starting at the bottom of the Simola hotel’s service driveway and finishing just before the resort’s back gates. Cars in a variety of classes set off at 20-second intervals for each of the sessions, so spectators are kept entertained throughout each day.

Saturday and Sunday morning are dedicated to practice and qualifying runs, which culminate in a series of Class Finals for the respective top three of each on Sunday afternoon. Then, the 10 fastest competitors from qualifying rounds compete in grand finale – a single run shoot-out for the coveted King of the Hill title.

DESIGNED FOR DRAMA

This shoot-out, with slowest qualifiers starting first, is designed for drama as positions naturally tumble with each run completed. Last year Franco Scribante blitzed the field on the day’s final run, snatched victory from Nissan GT-R driver Des Gutzeit by half a second and broke the course record with a time of 41.159 seconds in his 1970 Chevron B19.

Scribante is confirmed to defend his title, but new rules state he can’t enter the same car in both Classic Friday and King of the Hill races so this year he’s bringing a second Chevron but fitted with a special Suzuki V8 for the final shootout. But, he’ll likely have his work cut out for him as the fleet of highly modified turbocharged monsters he shamed in 2014 will be out for revenge this year.

General Admission tickets will only be available at the gate during the weekend of the Hillclimb and cost R80 per person per day.

Kids between 3 and 11 pay R50 and pit access tickets are R100.

For more information visit www.speedfestival.co.za

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