Nelson Mandela Bay drivers excel at Simola Hillclimb

The 14th edition of the Simola Hillclimb delivered the goods on so many levels with adrenaline-fueled action and drama keeping the record crowds entertained during the four-day Speed Festival in Knysna, and for some Nelson Mandela Bay racers it proved to be a happy hunting ground with three drivers winning their classes.

In the highly competitive B5 class for all-wheel drive cars with more than five cylinders, Aldo Scribante walked away with the coveted title in his Scribante Concrete & Tavcor Motor Group Audi S4, beating his brother Silvio, his cousin Franco, as well as the much fancied Reghard Roets, who all suffered mechanical failure in the qualifying rounds.

Scribante then followed up his class win by finishing fifth overall in the modified saloon King of the Hill shoot-out that was won by Dawie Joubert in a Ferrari-powered Lotus Exige.

Dayaan Padayachey had a dream event debuting his new Porsche Cayman GTS, where he surpassed his goal of breaking the 50 sec barrier by winning the A5 class with a run of 49.322 sec to take class honours.

Daniel Rowe finally got the better of his VW Motorsport teammate Jonathan Magotsi to take the B2 class win is his VW SupaPolo by the narrow margin of just 0.3 sec.

Defending A6 class champion Gordon Nicholson proved to be a solid mix of consistency and class as he powered his Audi R8 to victory in the class that he has literally made his own since inception.

There were further accolades for the Scuderia Scribante Team when they won the coveted Spirit of Dave Charlton Award that is awarded to the person or team that reflects SA race legend Dave Charlton’s spirit of impeccable attention to detail, meticulous preparation and commendable performance.

The ultimate King of the Hill award for the fastest time of the weekend was won by Robert Wolk driving a 4l Nissan-powered Pilbeam MP58 single seater in a time of 37.133 sec.

The class winners were:

Road Cars and Supercars

A1: Thomas Falkiner — Suzuki Swift Sport: 53.784 sec

A2: Nico Nel — BMW M135i X-Drive: 56.928 sec

A3: Farhaad Ebrahim — Toyota Supra: 45.264 sec

A4: JP van der Walt — Porsche 911 Turbo S: 43.513 sec

A5: Dayaan Padayachey — Porsche Cayman GTS: 49.322 sec

A6: Gordon Nicholson — Audi R8 V10 Plus: 47.003 sec

A7: James Temple — Shelby Mustang Super Snake: 47.833 sec

A8: Clint Weston — Mercedes-AMG GT63 E-Performance: 44.134 sec

Modified Saloon Cars

B1: Shuaib Dhansay — Ford Fiesta: 57.850 sec

B2: Daniel Rowe — Volkswagen Polo SupaCup: 44.058 sec

B4: Dawie Joubert — Lotus Exige (Ferrari V8): 38.966 sec

B5: Aldo Scribante — Audi S4: 41.413 sec

B6: Paul Munro — BMW M3: 46.874 sec

B7: Pieter Joubert — Lotus Exige (Mercedes-AMG V8): 43.373 sec

B9: Arnold du Plessis — Nissan Patrol Black Hawk): 54.457 sec

B10: Steve Clark — Nissan R34 GT-R: 43.544 sec

Single Seater, Sports Car and Sports Prototypes

C2: Ian Schofield — Mygale SJ Formula Ford: 42.048 sec

C3: Robert Wolk — Pillbeam MP58 (Infinity Indycar V8): 37.133 sec

C4: Josef Kotze — Birkin S3 (Toyota): 54.411 sec

C6: Rui Campos — Shelby CanAm (Ford V8): 41.826 sec

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