Iconic classic cars entered for Simola Hillclimb in May

A line up of iconic cars from yesteryear will race up the hill on Classic Car Friday as part of the 15th edition of the Simola Hillclimb from May 1 to 4.

The golden oldies and their daring drivers will take on the twisty and challenging 1.9km Simola Hill course as they compete for victory in their respective classes and, ultimately, aim to make it to the final Top 10 Shootout for the 2025 Classic Conqueror title.

“Each year the quality of entry applications received for the Simola Hillclimb gets better and better, and we have very interesting cars and eager participants for this year’s 15th edition,” said Geoff Goddard, sporting director of the Simola Hillclimb.

Classic Car Friday allows a maximum of 65 entrants. The winner receives the prized Jody Trophy, produced exclusively for the Simola Hillclimb in honour of Jody Scheckter, who remains the only South African driver to win a Formula 1 title, which he achieved in 1979 with Ferrari.

One of the main changes introduced for the 2025 Simola Hillclimb is separation of the open wheel single-seaters and the sports/GT cars, each of which has its own category this year. Class H10 is for sports cars and GT cars up to 1985, featuring reigning seven-time winner Franco Scribante and his 1970 Cosworth BDG-powered Chevron B19.

The Chevron is joined in H10 by a 1983 Lotus 7 driven by Bill Annetts, and an intriguing new rival called the Davey 626, a one-off GT sports car that debuted at the 1963 Kyalami Republic Day Trophy meeting.

The car disappeared after its handful of outings in 1963, until Fritz Kleynhans bought it about 10 years ago and started bringing the car back to life. The Davey 626 is owned by Nick Cetinich and has undergone a complete restoration in preparation for its return to action at the 15th Simola Hillclimb, with Temple set to do driving duties.

In the single seaters, Andre Bezuidenhout, winner of Classic Car Friday in 2023, will again be among the leading contenders for the class and overall titles. He was in the mix for the 2024 victory until his 1976 Lola T460 experienced gearbox trouble in the Top 10 Shootout.

There will be many tin top racing legends. Class H8 is for racing saloon cars (six cylinders and above) up to 2000. Among the top contenders are multiple class winner Rui Campos in his rapid 1974 Porsche 911 RSR, Craig Wessels in the 1983 Porsche 911 RSR IROC, former rally ace Enzo Kuun (1989 Ferrari 348), a pair of early-1980s Nissan Skylines driven by Brent Watts and Rane Berry, a 1988 Toyota Supra entered by Nico Nicolaisen and Clinton Laurens in a 1984 Jaguar XJS.

It's a return to the heydays of saloon car racing in class H7 for four-cylinder cars up to 2000. Motorsport and Speedy Car Sales legend Farouk Dangor will return in his stunning 1991 BMW E30 M3 touring car, while Craig Czank will be behind the wheel of Dangor’s 1991 Group N Opel Kadett Superboss. Reigning King of the Hill Dawie Joubert is also joining the classic car fray with a 2000 Lotus Elise.

Tickets can be purchased online at www.simolahillclimb.com