Des is King of the Hill
There were more than 12 000 spectators during the three days.
DESMOND Gutzeit of Oslo Beach was the talk of the day when winning the 2015 Jaguar Simola Hillclimb in Knysna, in the process setting a new lap record of 40.148 seconds on his very last run.
“It was a fantastic weekend, and I thoroughly enjoyed it,” said Des, who raced in his Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R.
“We set out to win this event after coming so close last year, and I’m really glad we achieved our goal. My crew did an amazing job with the car, and I have to thank the organisers for putting a splendid event together.
Des blitzed Franco Scribante’s existing 2014 record by almost a full second.
Des’s son Jade, a past Roof of Africa champion, had qualified in second place in his newly built Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 7 (600kW), but then experienced mechanical issues which affected his final challenge, and he had to settle for seventh.
His younger brother Shane (in a R32 GT-R), better known for his drifting, managed to claim fifth place.
Despite convincingly taking the 2015 King of the Hill trophy, Des is already looking ahead to the 2016 event. “I’m not sure if I can go any faster, but next year we’ll definitely try break the 40 sec barrier,” he said.
