We take a closer look at what fans can expect in our 2025 Simola Hillclimb Preview. 

The annual Simola Hillclimb has become one of the premier motorsport events on the SA motorsport calendar. The 2025 event takes place this coming weekend, from 1-4 May at the Simola Golf Estate in Knysna. The event is loaded with plenty of entertainment for petrolheads, from Classic Car Friday all the way to the King of the Hill shootout on Sunday afternoon.

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What to Expect

The 15th edition of the event promises spectacular cars, intense competition, non-stop adrenaline and action. It kicks off on 1 May with scrutineering of the classic cars and and a parade of the golden oldies along Waterfront Drive. The older cars race up the 1,9-km course from 08:00 on Friday morning culminating in the Top 10 Shootout in the afternoon to crown the Classic Conqueror for 2025.

The two-day King of the Hill, event starts on Friday 2 May with scrutineering, the open-to-all FanFest as well as the King of the Hill Parade in the centre of town. Racing action starts on Saturday morning and ends on Sunday afternoon.

Highlights

The event attracts a wide array of four-wheel race machinery from across SA. From the smallest hatchbacks to fire-breathing AWD turbocharged hillclimb monsters, and everything in between, just about every brand is represented. Among the highlights this year will be seven-time World Rallycross champion Johan Kristoffersson who will make his first appearance at the event. The Swede will be competing with an all-electric 500 kW Polo RX1e. He will also be doing demo runs in the 2016 Volkswagen Polo R WRC.

Kristoffersson will, no doubt, be going up against the quickest cars that have been racing at the SHC over the years come Sunday afternoon. There are several extremely quick Nissan GT-Rs (most of which were built specifically for this event) as well as some proper Frankenstein Lotuses (Lotii?) that boast all manner of drivetrains and modifications. There are, of course, many modified road cars, all vying for a class win. World-renowned stunt driver Terry Grant will be returning to the Simola Hillclimb once again. He will be aiming to drive a showroom-stock Polo up the Simola Hill – on two wheels; what a loon.

Livestream

Simola Hillclimb organisers have you covered if you can’t be there in person. Regardless of where you are in the world you can follow all the action via the livestream, which is free to access via the website Speed Festival website. All three days of action will be shown live. The livestream will include in-car footage from some of the top competitors, as well as pit lane coverage.