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Three-pointed star scored overall victory in the road going production
Clint Weston won the road standard road car class overall behind the wheel of the new Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S E Performance. Picture: Mercedes-AMG
The 15th running of the Simola Hillclimb turned out to be a bittersweet weekend for everybody due to the unfortunate passing of seasoned campaigner Pieter Joubert, who was killed when his Lotus left the road at high speed.
At the request of his extended racing family, the event continued, and this is when Mercedes-AMG’s big guns came out blazing and dominated the hill.
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The team from Mercedes-Benz South Africa’s AMG Driving Academy not only walked away with the coveted King of the Hill title for standard road-going production cars, but also third place in the same category.
With a time of 43.174 seconds, the 1.9 km Simola Hotel & Country Estate yield first place for AMG boss Clint Weston driving the new Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S E Performance.
Courtney Nicholl drove the AMG C63 S E Performance to third place with a time of 44.599 seconds. The third member of the AMG onslaught, Natalie Weston, finished seventh overall with a time of 47.436 seconds in an AMG GLC 63 S E Performance.
The boys from down the road, Cristiano Verolini from the BMW Driving Experience and BMW’s racing champ Leyton Fourie pushed the Mercedes-AMG team hard all weekend, with times of 43.872 and 45.932 seconds in their lighter, but less powerful, M4 Competition and M2 entries securing second and fourth place respectively.
Simola regular, Gordon Nicholson, finished fifth in his Audi R8 V10 with a time of 46.103 seconds to lock out a German Top 5.
Garth Mackintosh came in sixth in his McLaren 720s with a time of 47.018 seconds, while Yash Rampersad was eighth with a 47.789-second run in his Porsche 718 Cayman.
Completing the top 10 were Paul Munro with a time of 48.738 seconds in his Toyota Supra and cars.co.za motoring journalist, Ashley Oldfield, with a time of 49.231 seconds in the all-electric MG Cyberster.
The weapon piloted by Weston is capable of getting from 0-100 km/h in 2.8 seconds, making it the fastest Mercedes-AMG model ever made.
Under the bonnet sits a 4.0-litre V8 bi-turbo V8 combined with an electric motor and battery that produces a combined 600kW/1 420 Nm. Besides its sub-three-second claimed acceleration time, the GT 63 S E Performance will go 320 km/h.
Systems such as the AMG Active Ride Control suspension with semi-active roll stabilisation and active rear-axle steering ensure a widespread between driving dynamics and everyday comfort.
The active aerodynamic element, which is hidden in the underbody in front of the engine, contributes to the easy-to-control driving behaviour. It is standard on the AMG GT top model.
This carbon profile is an exclusive AMG development and protected by patents. It reacts to the position of the AMG driving programmes and automatically extends downwards by around 40 millimetres at a speed of 80 km/h.
This creates the so-called Venturi effect, which additionally sucks the car onto the road and reduces the lift on the front axle and contributed massively towards Weston being able to hustle this coupe up the hill like he did.
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