KNYSNA, South Africa, 8 April 2021
Ruan Gouws emerged victorious in round 2 of the highly anticipated Virtual Knysna Simola Hillclimb by just one hundredth of a second ahead of Willem van Rensburg, and round one winner Lorenzo Gualtieri.
The final results were delayed as the Clerk of the Course had to impose time penalties on competitors that found a way to illegally improve their run times. The track has now been modified to prevent competitors being able to gain an advantage.
As in round 1, the competition was fierce with the leader board changing daily as the competitors fought for position. The top three were eventually separated by just 0.084 seconds with less than a second covering the top 19 competitors, and the top 52 all within 2 seconds.
Gouws eventually took the win with a time of 37.517 seconds from Van Rensburg (37.528), Gualtieri (37.601), Adriaan Nel (37.758), Denis Mitchel (37.779) and Quayde Claassens (37.799).
Round 2 ran from 29 March to 4 April using the Tatuus FA01 single seater as the specified race car. Ninety-three unique competitors signed up for the round and over 4 100 official runs (excluding private practice runs) up the hill were recorded.
Unexpectedly the F3 Tatuus single seater time did not beat the fastest time set in round one by the Lotus 49 (36.694), leaving Andre Bezuidenhout’s record time in the real Simola Hillclimb of 35.528 seconds looking safe from being eclipsed by the virtual competitors throughout the qualifying rounds.
With his win in round one and podium finish in this round, Gualtieri maintains his lead in the standings on 192 points from Gouws on 187, Willem van Rensburg 185, Adrian Nel 182 and Charl Wilken on 181. In total 119 participants have scored points over the two rounds.
Round three started on 5 April and runs to 11 April with the selected car for the round a Mercedes-Benz AMG GT3 car. The final qualifying round will be from 12 to 18 April.
The scores from all four rounds will produce the Top 10 competitors to qualify for the finals on 8 and 9 May, and the winner after those two days of competition will be crowned the Virtual King of the Hill that Sunday evening.
Championship Points – Round 1 and 2
Competitors must have Assetto Corsa (PC version only) and a valid steam account. To compete, the add-on Virtual Knysna Simola Hillclimb track must be downloaded and installed. Entries in the Virtual Knysna Simola Hillclimb competition is free and no age restrictions are applicable.
Full rules are available on the Knysna Simola Hillclimb here with updates and news posted on our website and social media channels as follows:
Knysna Speedfestival Facebook
Virtual Knysna Simola Hillclimb Facebook
Ends.