Result: Best manufacturer times up Simola Hillclimb

At the 2023 edition of the Simola Hillclimb: Suzuki and BMW, along with Volkswagen, Ford and Honda took to the hallowed grounds as original equipment manufacturers (OEM).

Despite the dozens of privateered models from each of the aforementioned firms, there were also showroom floor models prepared for the event.

Here is how the bone stock models fared on the 1.9km stretch of Knysna road on the Sunday class finals and King of the Hill Shootout.

Suzuki

Suzuki entered a trio of Swift Sports into the event, with the affordable and peppy hatchback quietly silencing the critics with respectable road holding and brisk cornering.

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Of the three models entered, two managed to qualify for the class finals with the quickest of the bunch managing just over a minute on during the rain-sodden surface.

BMW

BMW who had also been involved in sponsorship had several models tackle the track. The behemoth plug-in hybrid XM and unreleased M2 were chief on the agenda for spectators to gawk at.

Sunday saw the models tackle the wet weather with the rear-wheel drive tippy-toe on the damp track. Qualifying times from the day before were undoubtedly faster.

Volkswagen

Volkswagen had a spectacle in store for viewers and spectators with Petter Solberg’s purpose-built WRC R Polo.

His four-wheel drive traction and mastery at the controls meant that in both dry and wet, the super-hatchback managed a time no other class competitor could match but since it is not available to the consumer, has not made the list.

That being said, other R models with similar DNA took to the hill in the form of the Golf R, with Henning Solberg piloting the one.

Honda

Honda’s freshly released Civic Type R arrived in Championship White. Of only 60 models being brought into local shores, this one needed to set the record straight and prove that it is the ultimate front-wheel-drive hot hatch out there.

Ford

Ford also had one solitary model competing the uphill stretch but it would be unlike anything expected to take to the hill. The new Ford Ranger Raptor, despite its heft, was the only bakkie to challenge for a time.

Final results

• Mika Salo – Mercedes-AMG A45 S – Class A2: 47.876
• Clint Weston – Mercedes-AMG A45 S – Class A2: 47.981
• Ashley Oldfield – BMW XM – Class A8: 48.473
• Jonothan Mogotsi – Volkswagen Golf R – Class A2: 50.537
• Daniel Rowe – Volkswagen Golf R – Class: 50.587
• Robert Gearing – BMW M2 – Class A3: 52.488
• Thomas Falkiner – BMW i4 M50 – Class A8: 53.311
• Deon Joubert – Honda Civic Type R – Class A1: 55.368*
• Bradleigh Boshoff – BMW iX3 – Class A8: 55.985*
• Wesley Greybe – Suzuki Swift Sport – Class A1: 1:00:809*
• Anthony Taylor – Ford Ranger Raptor – Class B9: 1:02:064*
• Sudhir Matai – Suzuki Swift Sport – Class A1: 1:02:667*

* Note: Times set during Class Final with damp track – all other times were set during Road Going Saloons and Supercars Shootout which only included 10 vehicles from qualifying with slightly more favourable conditions.

Article first appeared on carmag.co.za.

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