2025 Marked the 15th edition of the iconic Simola Hillclimb, an event which proved to be an exhilarating, yet sad event.
Whilst Sunday saw the passing of the esteemed Simola racer and previous class winner, Pieter Joubert, the family wished to see the event continue in Joubert’s honour.
A shortened programme saw not only intense racing, but also a new track record as Pieter Zeelie stopped the winning time at 37 seconds, beating the two Nissan R35 GT-Rs of Reghard Roets and Franco Scribante. Zeelie’s Toyota MR2 Super GT ultimately bested Scribante’s previous record (2022) by 1.039 seconds.
This is an astonishing time, as Zeelie himself won the event in 2021 with a time of 40.042 seconds. This shows the rapid progression of the event.
The 2024 winner, Roets, had to make due with second place, posting a time of 38.370 seconds, whilst the full-electric Volkswagen Polo RX1e saw the Swedish World Rallycross Champion, Johan Kristoffersson, finish in an exhilarating and impressive third place.
A new King of the Hill was also crowned in the single seater category as Andre Bezuidenhout and Robert Wolk were both forced to sit this edition out, due to logistical reasons.
Byron Mitchell took victory in his Reynard Formula VW in a time of 41.696 seconds. Rick Morris finished (Formula Ford) finished second with a time of 47.444 seconds, whilst the 16-year old, Klayden Cole Ensor-Smith finished third in his MSA4.
The Road Cars and Supercars category also saw equally exhilarating action as Clint Weston edged his competitors by racing up the hill in 43.174 seconds. His Mercedes-AMG GT 63 SE E Performance bested the likes of Christiano Verolini in his BMW M4 Competition (43.872 seconds), and Courtney Nicholl in another Mercedes-AMG C63S SE E Performance (44.599 seconds).