After three thrilling days of action in front of an enthusiastic crowd, it was veteran racer Geoff Mortimer who emerged as winner of the Knysna Hillclimb which ended on Sunday.

Despite the cold weather on Saturday and the pouring rain on Sunday, Mortimer blasted his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9 Mortimer up the 1.9 km Simola Hill in 50.637 seconds to pip Wilhelm Baard (Nissan R32) by a mere 0.183 seconds.

Due to inclement weather, organisers were forced to scrap final qualifying and the final run was held under the threat of mist forcing the event to be abandoned.

The initial pacemaker was East London’s Darren Gudmanz (Nissan GT-R) who stopped the clocks on 51.895. It wasn’t long before fellow Nissan GT-R driver Des Gutzeit beat his time by a mere 0.045 sec to take over the lead.

Towards the end of the timed runs Baard stopped the clocks on 50.820 sec and it seemed as though it was all over bar the shouting.

Almost unnoticed, Mortimer crept towards the line and rocketed off the line for a superb and well deserved victory at an average speed of just over 135km/h. “I just tried to get away cleanly and get the right lines. The car was perfect …. better than the driver,” he said afterwards.

Baard was visibly dejected, almost shell shocked as he could not have gone faster. “I had some big sideways moments in a couple of places. It was interesting!”

Gutzeit couldn’t stop explaining, with an ear-to-ear grin how he was on the limit. “At the top corner it got so sideways all I could do was keep the power on and hope it would pull straight and it did, but I used every bit of road there was.

Jaki Scheckter hustled his Nissan GT-R up the hill quick enough to grab fifth place ahead of Fabio Tafani whose superhuman effort in the severely disadvantaged rear wheel drive Autohaus Angel V8 Masters car who described the run as, “scary!”

Subaru driver Anton Cronje just missed out on a top six placing, but got the biggest cheer as he’d raced at Midvaal on Saturday and driven to Knysna overnight to make the start. The fact that he’d missed both Friday and Saturday practice meant his effort was worthy of much more.

An event within an event catered for historic cars and this was almost as closely fought as the main event.

Peter Little emerged as victor as he guided his narrow tyred Cooper up the hill in 1:09.366 to pip the Ulster Imp driven by Dave Alexander by a mere 0.184 sec. Third went to Ron Hollis in an MGC Roadster. Petite Di Dugmore claimed fourth in her Austin Healy Sprite Sebring with Rodney Green (MGB) next as Heyns Stead rounded off the top six in the Miller MG special.

“The 2nd Knysna Hillclimb Presented by Renault was a resounding success and attracted a top class entry of a fascinating variety of cars and a large turnout of past and present motorsport stars,” said Ian Shrosbree of the organising committee. Motorsport stalwart Pater Kaye-Eddie said it was ‘all about the atmosphere and it is the Goodwood of South Africa.”

Title sponsors, Renault South Africa, launched their Renault Mégane RS hot hatch at the event, as well as the latest generation Renault Mégane CC.

Source: Press Release

With five weeks to go to the second running of the Knysna Hillclimb, entries for the event have surpassed all expectations by passing the 100 mark. The inaugural event in 2009 attracted 47 entries with most of them coming in the final two weeks before entries closed, but this year there has been a steady stream of entries flowing in, with the centenary mark being reached last week.

“Talk in motorsport circles warned us that we should expect a good entry, but we have been overwhelmed by the number of entries and all round positive response to the event,” says organiser Ian Shrosbree. “Not only have we received such a good entry, but we have had enquiries from all over the country from spectators wanting to attend the event. The Simola Hotel is already sold out and a number of other establishments are also fully booked.”

The entry list boasts a number of former motorsport champions. While last year’s winner and multiple South African Champion Sarel van der Merwe and rally champion Enzo Kuun are yet to confirm their participation, another former multiple SA champion, Geoff Mortimer, will be driving a very fast Mitsubishi Evo9. Mortimer is one of South Africa’s most versatile motor sportsmen with circuit, rally and off-road championships to his name.

Group N Champion Robbi Smith will be reunited with the car that is synonymous with many of his racing exploits – a BMW 325iS. This car was at the height of the South African Group N wars in the late 1980s and early 1990s going head-to-head with the Opel Kadett Superboss and Ford XR6.

Multiple enduro and off-road motorcycle champion, Jade Gutzeit will also compete in a Skyline R34. Gudzeit competed in the WesBank V8 Series for a few years and is just as fast behind the wheel as he is on a motorcycle.

Franco Scribante will enthral the crowds in his racing Ferrari F430, as will Wilhelm Baard in his specially prepared Nissan GTR. While he never won a championship, Baard was a front runner in Group N in the heyday of the formula and will be one of the favourites to set the fastest time up the hill. Current WesBank V8 competitors Desmond Gutzeit (Skyline R32 and Chev Ute), Darron Gudmanz (Nissan GTR) and Martin Van Zummeren (Nissan GTR34) will all also be serious contenders for overall glory.

Let’s not forget two of the fastest cars and drivers from last year; Anton Cronje, who lost out on the King of the Hill title to Van der Merwe by just 0.3 seconds last year, will return in his 380kW Subaru Impreza in an effort to claim the crown. Making Cronje’s attempt even more impressive is the fact that he will be competing in the last round of the Super Saloons Championship at the Midvaal Raceway in Meyerton on the Saturday. He will leave the circuit directly after his last race to drive through the night to be in Knysna for Sunday’s elimination rounds and final.

The second very fast car is Thouca Mechanicos’ AMG Mercedes. The car is said to be the most powerful Mercedes in the country. Mechanicos finished fourth fastest last year and is determined to improve on that this year.

For more information about this year’s Knysna Hillclimb visit www.speedfestival.co.za.

Following on the success of the inaugural Knysna Hillclimb in 2009, the scenic Western Cape town of Knysna will host its second annual motorsport hillclimb on the weekend of 22-24 October 2010.

Drawing competitors from across the country, the 2009 event saw a wonderful mix of 47 modern and classic cars compete for the honour of the King of the Hill title. It was an accolade eventually won by South African motorsport legend Sarel van der Merwe who took the honours by just 0.3 sec as he reached speeds of over 240 km/h.

This years event will be held on a slightly lengthened 2 km section of public road running up to the acclaimed Simola Estate and Golf Course. With more interest in this year’s event, the organisers have decided to add an extra day to the program to accommodate all the entries, which will once again cater for modern, classic and historic road, sports and race cars.

Pre-entries include historic cars such as two 1961 LDS Formula 1 cars to be driven by Brian Tyler and Fred Philips, a 1952 Formula 2 Cooper Bristol driven by Rod Green, the Dave Alexander 1934 Riley Ulster Imp and the 1952 MG Single Seater of Roger Lewis. Official entries will open on 1 July. Modern and exotic cars already entered include a Ferrari F430 race version, Porsche GT3 RS, Nissan 370Z, KTM X-Bow and an Ariel Atom.

With the event extend to three days, pre-qualification for new contestants will take place on Friday the 22nd October. Participants from 2009, plus special invites, will be guaranteed entries for Saturday (23rd) and Sunday’s (24th) racing.

While the pre-qualification is in progress, the guaranteed entries will kick off their activities with a drive through Knysna at lunch time (13h00 – 14h00) on Friday followed by a public viewing of the cars in the afternoon (14h00 – 16h00) at the Knysna Yacht Club and Waterfront.

Practice and qualifying runs will take place on Saturday and Sunday morning, before the finals on Sunday afternoon. Track activity will be from 9am to 4.30pm on Saturday and 9am to 3.00pm on Sunday.

As per the inaugural event, the goal of the event is for it to contribute to the Knysna community via not only attracting visitors to the town, but also by contributing to local charities. The Knysna Municipality and Knysna Tourism have once again embraced the event and given it their full support and backing.

For further information, supplementary regulations and entry forms visit www.speedfestival.co.za.