Burning rubber in Knysna

Ballito’s local speed freak Reghard Roets went back to Knysna last weekend to defend his 2017 Jaguar Simola King of the Hill title.

Swapping his boat racing wetsuit for a racing overall, it did not take him long to set the pace up the 1.9km course in a 408kW twin turbo Nissan GTR R35.

Despite no modifications allowed in the supercar class his Melrose Nissan was no slouch and can sprint to 100kmh in less than three seconds.

The main contenders for the crown came from last year’s podium finisher Dawie Olivier in a Jaguar SVR as well as a trio of Maclaren supercars and a gaggle of other exotic vehicles all chasing this prestigious title.

All practice and qualifying runs were done on Saturday with Roets just edging out the opposition in preparation for Sunday’s grand finale.

“Sunday’s tickets were sold out with 20 000 spectators lining the route while a live feed kept the fans at home on the edge of their seats cheering for their favourite teams.

“The NXGEN car was on fire and won its class in the final run before the top 10 shootout,” said Roets.

Ballito was well represented with Shaun Duminy and Jason Evans from SMD both standing on the podium in their respective classes.

The King of the Hill was a mix of the top 10 fastest times in all classes going head to head with the slowest off first.

Dawie Olivier’s Jaguar set the pace with his quickest time of the weekend, resulting in a nail-biting finish with Roets’ Nissan being the last car to attack the steep Simola Climb. After some anxious moments the Motul Nissan team erupted when Reghard’s winning time of 44,892 seconds topped the screen, beating second place by 0,05 of a second and making SA racing history by winning the title back to back for the first time.

Despite a standing start this equates to an average speed of 152kmh up the tight and twisty hill making the Nissan GTR the undisputed King of the annual Simola Hillclimb with the GTR of Wilhelm Baard winning the modified class as well.

The team is already planning on defending the title in 2019 and Roets’ aim is to keep the title in KZN.

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