Entry applications open for 2025 Simola Hillclimb

The 15th edition of the Simola Hillclimb will take place in Knysna from May 1 to 4 2025.

First held in 2009, the event has become one of South Africa’s most popular motoring and motorsport events, attracting cars and drivers from across the country. The 2024 event saw more than 19,000 spectators, with nearly 423,000 livestream views, 60% from local audiences and 40% from international viewers.

Next year's event will feature a range of road and race cars competing on the challenging 1.9km Simola Hill course. As an invitational event, applications for participation can be submitted on the Simola Hillclimb website from October 1 to January 31 2025, with successful applicants notified by February 14.

The event is divided into two main categories. "Classic Car Friday", scheduled for May 2, will host up to 64 entries in 10 different classes. This includes new classes for open-wheel single-seaters and racing sports and GT cars. Classes have been revised to expand the range of eligible vehicles, particularly Formula Atlantic single-seaters. The pre-war cars competing in class H1 will continue to race in a handicap format.

On May 3 and 4, the "King of the Hill" competition will take place, with up to 84 cars competing. The competition features three categories, each offering a Jody Trophy (named in honour of South Africa’s only F1 champion, Jody Scheckter) for the winner.

Class A includes road-going vehicles with no modifications other than safety features, while class B features modified saloon cars. A notable addition to class B is the B10 category, which allows for modified, road-legal cars. Class C, for single-seaters and sports prototypes, remains largely unchanged, with a new class added for hybrid, electric, or hydrogen-powered cars.

The 2024 King of the Hill winners were JP van der Walt in the standard saloon category, Dawie Joubert in the modified saloon category and Robert Wolk in the single-seater category. The overall record for the Simola Hillclimb is still held by Andre Bezuidenhout, with a time of 34.161 seconds, though he was unable to compete in 2024 due to mechanical gremlins.

More details can be found on the official Simola Hillclimb website.