The winner of the Classic Conqueror title at the Jaguar Simola Hillclimb in Knysna is Franco Scribante, who claimed the title behind the wheel of a Chevron B19 – creating more than a bit of a stir in the process.
In second and third place were two more well-known motorsport names Ross Lazarus and Peter Lindenberg. Lazarus campaigned a Ford GT40 while Lindenberg competed in a Shelby Daytona Coupe.
The Classic Conqueror title goes to the fastest car overall to get up the hill on Classic Car Friday. Scribante’s time of 41.811 guaranteed his win while also being a record-breaking time overall (previously set at 41.932), setting the bar high for the competitors who will challenge the hill on Saturday and Sunday.
Scribante has entered the main event with his Chevron B19 so the possibility does exist he could produce an even quicker time later in the weekend.
Six categories competed on Friday, H1 to H6. The H1 class, for pre-war cars, saw Roy Jones and his Riley TT Sprite replica in first place with Robert van Zyl’s Bugatti T37 and Brian Bruce’s Ford Model A Speedster in third place. With Jones’ Sprite the fastest at 1:15.584 this class might not threaten the sound barrier, but they certainly brought style to the proceedings.
H2 is the class for pre-1966 road cars and the Sunbeam Tiger of Malcolm Uytenbogaardt took the win in a time of 56.618 with Ron Hollis in his Jaguar E-Type and Chris Champion driving his MG A in second and third.
Road cars built before 1975 qualify for H3 and the Jaguar E-Type of Jason Furness proved quickest (55.449) with Dr Ivan Marx and his Ford Shelby GT500 CR second and Ashley Ellis taking third behind the wheel of his Jaguar XJ6.
Race cars dated earlier than 1966 make up the H4 class and the MG Spider of Heyns Steed was the fastest to climb the hill (1:08.331) with Clive Winterstein hot on his heels in a Porsche Elva. The MG Special of Roger Lewis closed off the top three.
Race cars built prior to 1975 fall into the H5 category with Scribante’s Chevron B19 finished ahead of Graeme Nathan’s BMW CSI entry and the Porsche 911R of Kobus Brits.
Re-created cars, effectively cars which feature the silhouette of the original but making use of modern running gear, form class H6. Here Lazarus’ Ford GT40 proved unbeatable with Lindenberg and his Shelby Daytona Coupe taking second ahead of the Lotus 7 of Antony Ashley.
There are two days of hard racing ahead for Jaguar Simola Hillclimb competitors who will crown the 2014 champion on Sunday evening.