Scribante claims 'King of the Hill' title

THE Jaguar Simola Hillclimb had its share of spills and excitement at the weekend. One of the most expensive accidents was when a Jaguar F-Type ran off the tight track and rolled several times.

Driven by former racing driver and RPM TV presenter Deon Schoeman, the mostly aluminium Jaguar was extensively damaged. The super-sports car is valued at about R1-million and may be repaired depending on the extent of damage.

Schoeman was not hurt as he was well strapped in and his helmet took an impact.

The car is owned by Jaguar South Africa who said at the prize-giving that they had started an evaluation of the vehicle and hoped to rebuild and enhance it to use as a Simola Hillclimb feature car.

Another car to suffer extensive damage was a Mitsubishi Evo. The Hillclimb was won by Franco Scribante who claimed his title just two days after finishing at the top of the standings in Classic Friday where he campaigned his Chevron B19 to be crowned Classic Conqueror.

Scribante posted a record time of 41.811 seconds on Friday and then raised the stakes to finish in 41.159 seconds on Sunday – not only setting a new record but making history as the only competitor to win both the Classic Conqueror and King of the Hill titles. The Scribante family from Port Elizabeth have been in motor racing in SA for many years.

Aldo Scribante built the PE raceway which is still used today and also ran the Lotus 72 "Lucky Strike" Scribante racing team along with world famous driver Dave Charlton.

Second was Desmond Gutzeit in the Nissan Skyline GT-R and Darron Gudmanz and his Nissan Skyline GT-R. The margin of victory for Scribante was a very slim 0.546 of a second with Gutzeit ahead of Gudmanz by just 0.195 of a second.

With an entry list that comprised Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche, Jaguar, BMW, Nissan, Ariel and Subaru, and with a selection of hot hatches thrown in for good measure, the Jaguar Simola Hillclimb provided something for every automotive taste. - Bobby Cheetham