From soapboxes to Supervan, slot cars to a kart grand prix, the 2011 Knysna Speed Festival promises a week of motoring action.

Building on the success of the Renault Knysna Hillclimb, which first took place in 2009 and has since led to a bigger and more involving event in 2010, the organisers have opted to run the climb as the climax of a week-long festival of speed in 2011.

To take advantage of more favourable weather, the Knysna Speed Festival commences on May 13/14 with an innovative and spectacular Kart Grand Prix to be run as a day/night race (like the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix) on Thesen Island Harbour Town, a street circuit unparalleled anywhere in the world. Counting for both the Western Province club and Eastern Province regional karting championships, the grand prix will surely be a hotly-contested affair between the high-speed, all-action karts.

Sunday May 15 will be a more relaxed day with the annual Garden Route Motor Club’s car show being held on the Knysna High School sports field on Waterfront Drive. A wealth of auto classics will be on view, together with displays from the local motor trade.

From Monday 16 to Wednesday 18 it is planned to hold a slot car challenge at the Knysna Slot Car Club’s premises in the centre of town. At this stage, details have still to be finalised but the intention is to have a challenge for schoolchildren during daytime and for adults in the evenings. Lots of itchy thumbs will be flexed controlling these miniature racers around the club’s challenging, purpose-built, multi-lane track that will provide plenty of thrills and spills.

Thursday May 19 is allocated to a charity golf day at the Simola Resort at which motorsport celebrities will be teamed up with regular golfers for a fun day on the fairways. Will the stars drive their clubs as well as their cars? Local charities will be the winners at this fun event.

May 20 is ‘free fall Friday’ when 20 of the local schools will compete in a Soapbox Derby. The local schools will be provided with soapbox kits donated by local businesses, and it will be left to the children to assemble, paint and, ultimately, pilot their machines down a portion of the Simola Hill. Also on the Friday, from 14h15 there will be a parade of many of the cars involved in the festival – and especially the Hillclimb – driving through the centre of town before being put on display in the Waterfront, a cavalcade that over the last two years has proved to be a major attraction for residents and visitors alike.

The festival’s star event will be the Renault Knysna Hillclimb, run over a two kilometre course up the hill to the entrance of Simola Country Estate. Entries are now open but the field will be limited to 80 vehicles and amongst the star drivers expected to entertain the crowds are the previous two year’s winners, Sarel van der Merwe and Geoff Mortimer, along with Ian and Jaki Scheckter, Robbie Smith and, making his event début, Grant McCleery. Travelling from France especially for the event will be former world motocross champion Jean-Michel Bayle who will compete in a Renault. The types of cars that will be on view encompass road cars, racing saloons and single-seaters, sportscars and the ever-popular and soul-stirring historics, all of which will run throughout the Saturday and Sunday.

The 2011 Renault Knysna Hillclimb is bound to be a motorsport spectacular.

Further information can be found on the festival’s website www.speedfestival.co.za.

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