Local racer Pieter Zeelie set the pace in his class at the inaugural Speed Classic Cape Town held in October, posting a 47.372-second run in his 2000 Toyota MR2.

Zeelie finished ahead of Roy Obery in a 1979 Porsche 924 GTP Tribute (47.871 seconds) and Farouk Dangor in a 1993 BMW M3 E30 (49.257 seconds).

The inaugural invitation-only hill-climb event drew an impressive crowd of nearly 15 000 spectators, with over 180 000 fans tuned in via livestream to watch the action unfold on Phillip Kgosana Drive beneath Table Mountain.

Zeelie, a seasoned racing veteran, began drag racing in 1996 with a Cobra and earned the South African National Champion title in the Super Street Class for four consecutive years. His journey through motorsport has taken him from circuit racing to representing South Africa in the FIA International Hillclimb Cup in Europe, where he earned Protea colours.

Reflecting on the event, Zeelie expressed enthusiasm for Cape Town’s newest motorsport gathering.

“The Cape Town Speed Classic is a fantastic event that will undoubtedly grow into one of the country’s premier motorsport festivals,” he said.

On the Saturday, he entered his ‘lemon’ car, built for less than R55 000, and won the 4-cylinder race car class.

“My main goal was just to learn the circuit, so winning was a bonus.”

He continued, “On Sunday, I competed with my MR2 Super GT and was consistently the fastest overall. Unfortunately, in the final run, I pressed the accelerator too hard, causing the stopper behind the throttle to bend. This led the electronic control unit to enter limp mode, preventing a potential victory. That’s motorsport – you can’t win them all. But I’ll be back stronger next year.”