- Lightweight Suzuki passenger cars show their mettle at 2025 Simola Hillclimb
- Suzuki GSX-8R sportbikes also in action
- Event concludes on Sunday with Class Finals
Day one of the 2025 Simola Hillclimb saw three lightweight Suzuki passenger cars – all in stock standard form – take on the twisty route up the now famous hill. As a Tier One OEM sponsor of the event, Suzuki Auto South Africa (SASA) is well represented at this year’s Hillclimb, not only in terms of competing cars, but also thanks to two brand new GSX-8R sportbikes, doing demo runs up the track.
Today’s action started with four practice sessions, though the final practice session of the day was cancelled following delays earlier in the schedule. Despite having their practice time curtailed, all three Suzuki competitors not only set competitive times within their respective classes, but consistently improved their times during the course of the day.
Practice was followed by the first three Qualifying rounds, which is where the business gets serious. Competitors need to place within the Top 3 of each class in order to make it through to the Class Finals, which are held after the lunch break on Sunday. With that said, Sunday’s action starts with three more Qualifying rounds, giving the competitors another bite at the cherry.
One man who is almost certain to feature in a Class Final is Sean Nurse, who is driving the 3-door Suzuki Jimny in this year’s competition. Nurse’s practice times hovered around the 1min 9sec mark, but the AutoTrader scribe did everything in his power to improve on his times.
“It’s actually a lot better than I thought it was going to be. A lot more stable and predictable than I expected. I’m just third gear flat the whole way. Basically, I lift for the bridge a little bit, and the rest of the time the car is flat out in third gear. But I don’t know how much more time there is in me. We’ve taken the spare wheel off and removed some stuff from inside the car. I think just shortening the hill for myself as much as humanly possible might make a difference. If you apply too much steering angle, traction control tends to come in and you can’t switch it off,” explained Nurse.
His strategy clearly worked, as the Joburger set a time of 1min 6.761sec in the final session of the day – improving by the best part of 3sec over his earlier times. While this clearly proves that there was more time to be found in the Jimny, the point is somewhat moot, as there are only three competitors in Class B9, where Nurse competes. This means that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, the Jimny will be taking part in the applicable Class Finals tomorrow.
The fight in Class A1, where the other two Suzuki cars are competing, however, is a different kettle of fish. There are seven entrants in this class, including some serious metal that outpowers the two Suzuki Swifts many times over. But motorsport is also about having fun, and Suzuki’s aim with the Simola Hillclimb has always been to show that one doesn’t need hugely expensive cars or massive power in order to have fun. With this in mind, TV presenter for ALL THINGS MOTORING and owner of Performance with Page, Ernest Page, is campaigning a 4th gen Suzuki Swift GLX, which offers 60kW of power from its 1.2-litre three-cylinder HEARTECT powerplant. Page’s morning times saw him clearing the hill in 1min 5sec on average, but there was more time to be found, as he explained:
“It was an interesting experience. There’s surprisingly way more grip than I thought there would be. We managed to drop three seconds from our first run to our second. I was a bit cautious on the first one because we weren’t sure of the grip levels. But the hill provides more grip as the weekend goes on, and the car is lightweight, so I’m literally just daring to go flat everywhere. There’s one more section where I’m lifting off a little bit and I’m starting to lift less and less.”
Page decided to try some more tricks in order to identify the best possible scenario, and as a result his experimental times didn’t accurately reflect his efforts during the afternoon. In an effort to ‘bust or confirm’ some myths, the motoring presenter attempted the hill with the car’s standard air conditioning switched on – which resulted in a deficit of 3sec. He also attempted a run with the wing mirrors folded in, but the gains were negligible. At the end of the day, his best time had dipped below the 1min 5sec mark, with a run of 1min 4.8sec – good enough to show just how good the Swift GLX’s power-to-weight ratio is, but too far off the Top 3’s pace to vie for a Class final.
“We are having lots of fun,” he said after today’s runs. “And that’s the most important thing, really. We came here to enjoy the experience; to have fun; and to show that a standard Suzuki Swift can put a big smile on your face without breaking the bank.”
The final Suzuki entry in this year’s event is the 3rd gen Swift Sport, in the hands of Wiele2Wiele’s Jeanette Kok-Kritzinger. This is the seasoned driver’s first visit to the Simola Hill as a competitor, and she steadily improved her times throughout the day. Her first run, however, was a bit of a fiasco as she explained:
“I completely forgot everything! I’ve been practicing on a sim and I can tell you one thing: it’s much easier in real life than on a sim. And in true blonde style, I actually forgot to change gears. But it was a blast and on the second run, the nerves were gone. I could really start focusing and my time came down three seconds. We’ve got the right tyre pressures, everything is working, the grip is there. Now I can just go quicker.”
And that’s exactly what the Capetonian did. She quickly whittled her time down to the 57sec mark, though her best Qualifying time of 57.142sec sees her in 5th position in Class A1. The gap to a Top 3 slot is less than a second, however, and some clean runs tomorrow morning may just see Kok-Kritzinger sneak into the Class Finals.
“With a car like this, it is all about the power-to-weight ratio. The Swift Sport’s light weight means that it handles and grips extremely well, and with the cool morning air, tomorrow’s last Qualifying rounds may offer the conditions I need to find those elusive seconds to make it into the Class final. One thing is certain: I’m having a great deal of fun. But I know I’m a fast ‘tannie’, and I’d love to be in the Top 3 in my class after tomorrow morning’s runs,” concluded Kok-Kritzinger.
The Simola Hillclimb has become synonymous with Suzuki Auto SA, thanks to the manufacturer’s sponsorship of the event. For Suzuki’s Brendon Carpenter, Brand Marketing Manager, there is a lot more to it than just sponsorship.
“Hillclimb racing is actually quite deep-rooted in Suzuki’s global racing heritage. Anyone who knows anything about international hillclimb racing will be familiar with the name of ‘Monster’ Tajima, whose exploits at Pikes Peak and Silverstone Race to the Sky are legendary. For us, our participation at Simola is an opportunity to give some local flavour to that heritage. This is a chance to celebrate that history, and the livery of our cars this weekend was actually inspired by a few of Suzuki’s iconic race cars from the past.”
The 2025 Simola Hillclimb will conclude tomorrow, with a morning warmup, followed by the final Qualifying rounds. The Class Finals are up next, before the spectacular Top 10 shootouts for Road and SuperCars, Modified Saloons and the Single Seaters and Sports Cars.
