We attended the 2026 Simola Hillclimb

The 2026 Simola Hillclimb took place this past weekend (1-4 May) in Knysna. Double Apex was, once again, in attendance by the good graces of Suzuki Auto South Africa. We were trackside for most of the action. Aside from this post you can catch plenty of video content on our Instagram and Facebook pages which we posted live from the race weekend.

Sleepy Hollow Comes Alive

The 16th edition of this annual event attracted competitors from all parts of South Africa. The town of Knysna was buzzing with competitors and petrolheads who flocked to this, usually, sleepy town which becomes the epicentre of speed for one weekend every year. The event, as per tradition, started with a parade through the streets of Knysna. Fans got to see the cars up close and to mingle with the drivers. The action part of the evening saw drivers smoke the wheels of their rides for the entertainment of the camera-wielding crowds.

Classic Action

Ian Schofield claimed his second Classic Conqueror title on Classic Car Friday. He drove his 1977 March 77B Formula Atlantic single-seater to a 40,881-second run up the 1,9-km course. Schofield said, “There wasn’t much left on the table on the final run, and it all came together perfectly”. Franco Scribante finished second in a 1970 Chevron B19, with Reghard Roets wrapping up his first Classic Car Friday on the podium in a 2000 Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R. “I love driving the R34 GT-R, and it gives me such a big smile. It has good power, and the handling is phenomenal,” Roets said.

As time marches on there are several cars that now qualify for the Classic Conqueror competition. These include the Nissan GT-R, in all but R35 guise, Lotus Elise, several Porsches as well as Ferraris. We are likely to see even more ‘classic’ cars enter in years going forward.

Modern Machines

The action ramped up over the three days with the extremely powerful and quick modified saloons and single-seaters taking to the hill on Saturday and Sunday. They were joined by road cars from just about every brand you could name. The wildly modified barrage of GT-Rs, both road and race versions, proved to be popular as did the crazy, Audi A3 and TT of the Scribante family. Both are rumoured to have in excess of 1 000 hp from turbocharged five-pot engines. There were countless other interesting race machines, including several off-road racing bakkies.

When all was said and done it was Pieter Zeelie who claimed the coveted King of the Hill in the Modified Saloon Car category for second consecutive year is his wild Toyota MR2. “I’m absolutely ecstatic. We had a challenging time yesterday as I was struggling with rear grip, but we pushed today and it all came together,” Zeelie said. “I couldn’t have gone faster, as we ran maximum downforce and boost on the final run. We’re all very happy with the way it turned out.”

OEM Involvement

Simola is not just about racetrack runaways and purpose built machines. The event welcomes regular road cars. Once again Suzuki showed it isn’t afraid of showcasing its wares on a major stage. This year there were four Swift hatchbacks for media personalities to challenge each other. Motoring personalities Sam Da Fonseca, Avon Middleton, Yolanda Kukhele and Ziphorah Masethe had an intra-team battle all weekend. Ultimately it was De Fonseca who was the quickest of the quartet.

Mercedes-AMG had a few of its high-performance coupes in the mix, with Weston (as mentioned) taking overall honours in the supercar class. BMW, too, was in on the action with several M cars. There were a few Alfa Romeos, one of which was the electric Junior, Minis, Volkswagen and Chinese automaker Changan with two battery powered machines.

The event, now with international reach and appeal continues to grow with each successive year. The 17^th edition of the Simola Hillclimb will take place from 29 April to 2 May 2027.