Simola Hillclimb

Following the super successful, internationally acclaimed 2024 Simola Hillclimb, it’s party time in 2025 as the Hillclimb celebrates it’s 15th edition scheduled for 1 – 4 May 2025. Fifteen years is a significant milestone so we have some exciting plans to make it an event to remember for the fans, our partners, competitors and all other stakeholders. It will definitely be an event you do not want to miss!

Looking back on the 2024 Hillclimb we are stoked to report that fans of the event arrived in droves, resulting in a new record of 19 089 people entering the grounds over the three days. Pre-event ticket sales were nearly double 2023 and the ‘Sold Out’ signs went up earlier than ever for pit, grandstand, hospitality and parking tickets.

Based on the success of the past two years, we are expecting another record crowd of spectators and corporate guests in 2025, and an oversubscription of competitors wishing to compete.

With so much interest in the Simola Hillclimb amongst local and international competitors and OEMs, we are expecting some very exciting cars and more high profile drivers to contest the event over the next few years. This will ensure that the on-track action is sure to be hotter and more competitive than ever. We suggest you book your tickets sooner rather than later. Ticket sales will open in August. Please subscribe to our newsletter on the link below to be kept up to date on when ticket sales open.

Competitors can lodge their intentions to enter via this website from early October 2024 until end January 2025 after which the field will be set and we get ready for action. Please subscribe to our newsletter on the link below to be kept up to date on when the intention to enter process opens.

For those that can’t make it to trackside, we will once again convey the track action in the best manner possible via television, live stream, media and social media.

Please browse the site for more detail on the 2025 and previous events.

A little background

When we set out on this journey, we were told that few would come to Knysna for a motorsport event, but with vision and hard work we have built a local motorsport lifestyle showcase that attracts competitors, spectators and broadcast viewers from around the globe.

In our striving to always keep improving we have evaluated what was good and not so good from previous years, listened to all our stakeholders, looked at other global events for inspiration and ideas, and then decided which factors to implement with the view to making the Simola Hillclimb a better experience for all.

This constant striving to improve has seen it continue to grow and become a must-attend event for competitors and guests alike. Having international drivers of the caliber of Petter Solberg and Mika Salo singing its praises and wanting to come back, and the OEMs wanting to showcase exciting road and race cars, bodes well for the future.

From a media perspective we had over 170 media personnel apply for accreditation and attend in 2024. Our media coverage value for the 13th edition (we are waiting for 2024 numbers) was over R130 million between January and mid-June, our website had almost 330 000 visits to the end of May, our Facebook reach was over 425 000, Instagram over 383 000 impressions and Twitter had over 83 700 impressions. To date, thanks to our social media partner, Hillclimb Monsters, the event has been viewed over 28,5 million times on its Facebook platform and 8.6 million times on its You Tube channel. The Simola Hillclimb You Tube channel has delivered over 204 100 views excluding the live stream element.

On track the fastest car remains the Gould single seater in the hands of Andre Bezuidenhout with his record time of 34.161 sec at an average speed of 200.228 km/h – from a standing start – set in 2022!

What does the 2025 Simola Hillclimb hold in store? Time will tell, but no doubt it’s going to be bigger and better and the action will more entertaining than ever. Don’t miss it …. live in Knysna or on your device or tv!

Fast fact: The number on the car in our logo changes each year to reflect the edition of the event.