The town of Knysna in the Western Cape hosted its first hillclimb event with the inaugural running of The Knysna Hillclimb this past weekend. Known for the famous annual oyster festival that takes place in July, the tranquil town hosted what is sure to become one of the country's most anticipated motorsports events.
Over 6 000 spectators attended the practice runs, eliminations and finals over Saturday and Sunday, held on the 1,85 km climb to the acclaimed Simola Estate and Golf Course, set on a hill that overlooks the Knysna Estuary and Heads. A total of 47 drivers started, while the elimination round sent only 21 through to the finals.
Motorsports legend Sarel van der Merwe's V8 Masters Ford Mustang and Anton Cronje's highly-tuned Subaru Impreza WRX fought for outright glory, with the Impreza marginally faster than the V8 racercar in the qualifying runs. In the final however, Supervan pipped the victory by half a second to claim the first Knysna King of the Hill title.
Third fastest overall went to Fanie Theron, who also piloted a V8 Masters Mustang racing car. Although hampered by a cracked exhaust manifold, Cronje's Subaru still won in its class, in which Thouca Mechanicos took second and fourth fastest overall in his Mercedes-Benz C55 AMG.
Fifth-placed John Amm was a crowd favourite in his PVP Rotax 250ccc Superkart, and former rally champion Enzo Kuun placed sixth fastest overall in an Audi R8. Both won their respective classes.
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