Johannesburg - Jaguar has called on three icons of South African motorsport to compete at this year’s Simola Hillclimb in a trio of identical, battery-powered Jaguars in Knysna from May 3 to 5.
First held in 2009, the Hillclimb celebrates its 10th anniversary this May and as always the racing will kick off on Friday, May 3, with the annual Classic Car Friday competition.
This will be followed by the King of the Hill practice and qualifying sessions on Saturday, two more qualifying runs on Sunday morning and the coveted King of the Hill finale on Sunday afternoon.
Mike Briggs, Deon Joubert and Shaun Watson-Smith - who were well-known in the heyday of petrol-powered touring cars throughout the 1990s, will tackle the 1.9km Simola Hillclimb in Jaguar I-Paces.
With well over 20 circuit racing championship titles between them, Briggs, Joubert and Watson-Smith can be considered South African racing royalty.
The trio has competed at the front of various South African and international racing series including Group N, SA Touring Cars, British Touring Cars, Asian Touring Cars, Production Cars and V8 Modifieds among many others.
Briggs, a nine-time champion, said: “Racing at the Jaguar Simola Hillclimb is such an exciting opportunity, and to do it in a powerful EV like the I-Pace will make all the more interesting.
"With such instantaneous torque delivery and all-wheel drive, I think this car will raise some eyebrows in May. We’re competing in a class for EVs and Hybrids, but I suspect it’ll outrun some seriously sporty petrol cars in the overall results.”