BMW Group South Africa signs off from 2023 Simola Hillclimb in electrifying form
The 13th Knysna Simola Hillclimb run on Saturday, 6 May and Sunday, 7 May solidified the event’s status as the must-attend hillclimb on the local motorsport calendar.
For BMW Group South Africa, which fielded cars in the hillclimb’s Classic Car Friday and King of the Hill events, Knysna proved a fitting environment to display its icons – past and future – as it celebrates 50 years in South Africa.
Following the BMWs Classic Car Friday display, the final leg of the exhilarating experience did not disappoint. During the King of the Hill challenge, several of South Africa’s fastest machines – including electric vehicles from BMW – battled it out up the hill.
Saturday’s practice and qualifying rounds were contested in clear skies, but rain overnight trickled into the next day to create wet and uncertain conditions on Sunday.
Despite Sunday's weather conditions, the BMW drivers drove admirably to secure Class Final finishes in the Road-Going and Super Car category for the rear-wheel drive, manual BMW M2 driven by Rob Gearing, and the BMW iX3 driven by Bradleigh Boshoff. Journalist Thomas Falkiner (BMW i4 M50) was unable to better the electric vehicle record set at Simola in 2022 in a similar BMW i4, despite finishing second in the A8 Class. Fellow journalist Ashley Oldfield, driving what was arguably the biggest vehicle on the hill this weekend, took top honours in the EV A8 class with the hybrid BMW XM.
