The fourth practice session was cancelled after one of the cars dropped oil on the track, so the King of the Hill moved straight into the first of three qualifying rounds for the day.
The 2021 King of the Hill champion and international competitor Pieter Zeelie asserted his place at the sharp end of the field by posting the fastest Q1 time of 38.434 seconds in the Toyota MR2 Super GT. This was his fastest-ever run at the Simola Hillclimb, beating his 2024 Top 10 Shootout time by seven-hundredths of a second, and just 0.029 sec off Dawie Joubert’s winning time from last year.
Dawie was second in Q1 on 39.264 seconds in the Ferrari-powered Lotus Exige, followed by his brother Charl Joubert on the Honda-engined Lotus Elise on 40.091 seconds. Johan Kristoffersson is chipping away at his times, crossing the beam at the top of the hill in 40.358 seconds for this run.
Reghard Roets had a bit of a wild moment on the dirt in Turn 2, posting a slower time of 40.494 seconds in the Nissan R35 GT-R, with Aldo Scribante (Audi S4) sixth on 41.568 seconds.
Robert Wolk had posted 37.099 seconds in the Gould GR55B but clipped a corner limit marker and his opening qualifying run was cancelled.
