This year’s Knysna Speed Festival drew to a close yesterday with the final King of the Hill shootout (part of the Renault Simola Hillclimb) crowning off the week-long festivities. The finale pitted some of the fastest cars in South Africa against one another in a race up the hill to the Simola Golf Estate, and in the end Jade Gutzeit emerged victorious in his Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R.
Of course the triumph for Gutzeit wasn’t without challenge; his Top Secret-tuned 1 000 hp (745 kW) Nissan was shadowed by another GT-R – that of his dad Des. Jade eventually set a fastest time of 41,933 seconds up the 1,9 km course, while Gutzeit Senior was a smidgen of a second behind with 41,945 seconds.
Jaki Scheckter, in a modern R35 GT-R, wasn’t too far behind either, managing 42,019 seconds – enough for a third place overall and a class win. The next four places overall were all scooped up by GT-R-badged Nissans, driven by Darron Gudmanz, Greg Parton, Shane Gutzeit, and Leon Loubser. Former Renault Simola Hillclimb champion Geoff Mortimer managed eigth overall with a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX (44,275 seconds), with Mike Beachy Head in a Porsche 917 1973 Le Mans replica ninth (46,476 seconds), and Thouca Mechanicos’s 2004 Mercedes AMG rounding off the top 10 with 53,860 seconds.
The DJ Challenge, which saw top radio show hosts from around the country pilot RenaultSport Meganes up the hill, was won by Jacaranda’s Arod, with 53,646. Second-placed DJ Ready D managed 54,019 seconds.
Classic-car Friday had pre-1974 cars run up the Simola Hill in a separate challenge, with Corban Slabbert’s 1965 Austin Mini Cooper S taking top honours with a best time of 58,881. Ron Hollis came in second with a 1966 Jaguar E Type 4,2 (1 minute 00,198 secons), and Lewis Baker with a 1967 Ford-powered Mallock.
CAR’s track tester Deon Joubert put on quite the performance for the spectators in the Jaguar XKR-S, putting on a drift exhibition while chasing down Chad Wentzel in a McLaren MP4-12C in the A8 class. Wentzel achieved a best time of 46,393 seconds, while Joubert managed to bring the Jag to within a second and a half of the McLaren – recording a best of 47,643.
For a look at the full results of the 2012 Renault Simola Hillclimb, click on the DOCUMENTS tab to the top-right of the above image and download the sheet.