2006 King of the Mountain
author: Patrick Vermaak
David beats Goliath
17/19 November 2006
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Dawie Olivier on his way to the overall crown!
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Dawie Olivier achieved a magic double enroute to being crowned the outright 2006 Gydo King of the Mountain. Driving the Mike Beeslaar owned and Mike Lotter developed HOPS Subaru 2.5 R the team had to overcome numerous problems and also enjoyed a little assistance from lady luck. A faulty thermostat and faulty NOS setting saw Dawie and Anton Slabbert share the fastest time on Saturday, the Subaru getting the nod being faster on second times.
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Anton Slabbert - Silvia
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Sunday brought a similar result when Dawie shared fastest time of the day with twice champion, Stuart Kidgell. Once again fortune favoured the Subaru driver and Dawie became the first driver to achieve a hat trick of victories on the Saturday leg as well as taking both the Bloomsbury King of the Hill and King of the Mountain titles. Topping their list of achievements was the 194km/h top speed recorded on a pass where the maximum speed suggested is 70km/h!
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Stuart Kidgell
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Friday 17 November
Arriving at Killarney just in time to see the Noble M400, Ferrari 360 Modena and Ultima GTR being unloaded set the scene for the 2006 Gydo King of the Mountain. Rob Beaumont making a welcome return to motorsport after sustaining serious injuries during a botched hi-jacking.
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Rob Beaumont - Ferrari 360 Modena
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Rob clearly does not retire easily as he also recovered from a badly broken back when he crashed his L39 fighter jet. Well known in both aviation (he owns six aircraft) and motorsport (raced V8 SASCARS) he achieved a fine fourth overall in 2003 behind the wheel of the championship winning Ford Thunderbird of Johan Fourie. His beautiful Ferrari 360 Modena racer the first of some fourteen similar cars heading for SA and it really has the sound and looks to please any motorsport aficionado.
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Deon Auby - Noble M400
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Deon Auby is a SASCAR and Wesbank racer but decided to give his Noble M400 it’s motorsport debut whilst Mike Thompson entered his beautiful Porsche 964 Turbo. Defending champion, Stuart Kidgell, suffered his first shock of the weekend when the dry sump oil pump on the Ultima swallowed a piece of aluminium (legacy from damaged pistons less than two months prior). The awesome Corvette engined 750bhp supercharged Chevrolet Lumina SS Ute of Desmond Gutzeit attracted much deserved attention as this awesome vehicle sounds and looks the part of a serious racer. Even Rob Beaumont found the pace of this “bakkie” extremely impressive. Certainly not shy of pushing the limits Desmond kissed the perimeter wall at Hoals and with Jade at the wheel a drive belt popped on the engine.
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Desmond Gutzeit - Lumina Ute
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Fortunately no damage done as the engine went into safe mode, arriving at the pits in a cloud of hot steam.
Allen Irwin was one of the very first out practicing in his M3 powered BMW 325i and the car performed better than expected straight out of the box. Unfortunately the heat gauge was not connected and unknown to the driver the crankshaft pulley cut through the radiator and only when the engine expired did he realize something was amiss. Gerrit Coetzee, former GTi Challenge champion, entered his Nissan 200SX Turbo but the neat car ran bearings after just three laps.
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Dawie Joubert - before....
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Dawie Joubert posted an impressive 1min17.2 in his BMW touring car powered Lotus Elise Motorsport before retiring the car with a suspected oil pump failure. Charl Joubert suffered a multitude of problems on the 2.4 Turbo Honda powered Lotus Exige whilst Pieter Joubert was quietly confident of a good result in his Toyota 1800 Turbo powered 111r Lotus.
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Pieter Joubert ...after
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Having three very competent brothers racing each other in Lotus products a wonderful privilege to witness.
Rupert van der Merwe had two drifters present, a white Nissan 200SX Turbo as well as a green Nissan Silvia 2.2 Turbo. Anton Slabbert thoroughly enjoying the opportunity to display the capabilities of both cars to the appreciative crowd at the track. Gert Hammond looked determined in his Sampla Belting VW Golf MkI 2.0 as did Daneel Liebenberg in his neat 325kW turbocharged VW Golf MkI.
The Subaru clan arrived with a mixed back of models with streetcar champ, Anton Cronje and Paul Munro, heading their challenge.
One could risk asking the question why compete when you face dedicated monster machines in a winner takes all environment, but the answer is simple. Anyone competing on the mountain returns home a winner in his own right. This is an extreme sport if every sense. That is why anything from the most exotic to classic can compete on an equal basis.
The youngest driver present, Mark Uytenbogaardt, also driving the oldest car present, the 1965 Ford Cortina GT 1600.
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Malcolm Uytenbogaardt - Ford Fairlane
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Dad, Malcolm, had the Wesbank V8 powered 1963 Ford Fairlane 500 present at Killarney and what a glorious sight and sound.
Unfortunately the car munched first gear and being rather unique a replacement clutch could be sourced to get the car ready for Sunday. To Nick Vernon this was turning into quite a special event as he was down to drive his latest 300kW supercharged Chevrolet Camaro V8.
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Marius la Grange
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Running out of brakes after just two corners adequate proof that this project was not complete yet. Of some significance however was the fact that tow of his earlier projects would also be competing. Neville Young driving the Paul Newman replica Datsun 280Z and Marius la Grange his Datsun 240Z.
Leon and Eugene Loubser another father and son combination driving a supercharged 3.2 BMW M3 and Schnitzer BMW M Coupe 3.5. Add a beautiful Porsche developed Audi RS2 Turbo (Shane Naidu) and the genuine 1965 Shelby AC Cobra of John Atkins to illustrate the contrast achieved with entries to this event.
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John Atkins
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Rob Pringle entered his monster 6.3 AC Cobra replica and a very frustrated Clive Corder (supercharged AC Cobra) was present to support his friends. His own car awaiting a new gearbox from America. Charles Arton traded his BMW 530 racer for the comfort of his Porsche 964 Turbo and Andre Davis had plans to post the quickest time in a BMW M5.
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Charles Arton BMW M Coupé
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Saturday 18 November 2006
Escaping the Cape doctor was quite welcome and competitors were met by almost perfect weather at the Veelgewaagd parc ferme on Saturday morning. With spectators entering the mountain from early morning the scene was set for a magnificent day of motorsport action.
The day opened when the black Lamborghini 0 car wound it’s way to the top of the mountain.
Then it was the turn of six very quick motorcycles under the SEESA banner, running at 20sec intervals, to entertain the patiently waiting spectators – they were not disappointed!
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Danie Maritz - Honda
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Watching Danie Maritz in action on board the glorious Honda CBX 1000 sixpack is a sight to behold and he only made it home third fastest!
Gerhard Gerber showed that he could hold his own aboard his Aprilia RSV 1000 by netting second fastest whilst Jacques Geldenhuys stole the laurels on his Suzuki GSXR 1000, matching the outright fastest time set by the cars for the day.
Wynand Basson fourth on his Yamaha YZF R1SP with local ace, Charl van Sittert, fifth on board his Kawasaki Ninja 1000. Had he spent less time on the back wheel he could possibly have posted a better time but he certainly entertained his many followers. Coert Steynberg sixth fastest on the touring Honda 1800.
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Suzuki GSXR1
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Dawie Olivier started his title defence with a slow 3min30 when the new Subaru cut out twice on it’s first run. Then they posted 2min42 but suffered serious overheating and a lack of power. A faulty thermostat was analised and the Scooby came alive on the final run to post a 2min35 at an average speed of 120.77km/h.
Not to be outdone Anton Slabbert posted the exact same time in the Nissan 200SX Turbo drifter. Being the King of the Hill, there could be only one and it was Dawie Olivier who received the accolades. Anton never the less adding the Bloomsbury Most Spectacular Driver of the Day award to his silver collection after some crowd pleasing powerslides.
Charl Joubert managed only a single run in his Honda powered Lotus Exige but it was good enough for a podium position. Paul Munro declared himself hooked on Gydo after placing his Subaru fourth and Anton Cronje celebrated his debut on the mountain with a fine fifth place.
Driving a well sorted VW Golf MkI 2.0 to sixth place was a truly impressive drive by Gert Hammond. Really impressive in this company, well done! Pieter Joubert completed one run in his Lotus 111r before attacking the very effective sandbag barriers, fortunately only damaging his car. His first time good enough for seventh spot but one can only speculate as to what the Joubert trio might have achieved had their cars been more reliable. Be warned, they will be returning in 2007.
The rare Audi RS2 of Shane Naidu quietly slipped into eighth after a pretty consistent outing with the Subaru of James Luccardo ninth and the Subaru of Julyan Gandt tenth.
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Andre Dreyer - Golf
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Yes, it’s another Subaru eleventh with Malcolm Royston behind the wheel and he was followed home by the awesomely powerful MkI Golf of Daneel Liebenberg and the Honda Prelude of Shandor Hrabar. Neville Perkins placed his green Subaru fourteenth and the final driver to beat the 3min barrier, Andre Dreyer, fifteenth in his WBMK / Weskaap Bakwerke VW Golf GTi 2.0 16v. The current King of Mykonos five seconds up on the trio of 325i BMW’s. Pieter Hugo showing great maturity in beating the wily Johann Zulch and Danie Smuts. Three seconds covering the WBMK drivers.
Faizel Adams showing great consistency on his Gydo debut, placing his Renault Clio Sport nineteenth. Probably the most suitable car in the hot conditions the cabriolet SAAB of Mornay Erasmus completed the top twenty. Mark Uytenbogaardt 21st in the classic 1965 Ford Cortina 1600 GT and Marius la Grange the final finisher in his Datsun 240Z.
Sunday 19 November 2006
Overnight storms resulted in a loss of power in Prince Alfred Hamlet on Sunday morning but it was most encouraging to see both Stuart Kidgell and Deon Auby testing conditions at the break of dawn. Nobody even considered the possibility of not running should it continue to rain. Fortunately by midday it temperatures soared to an uncomfortable 42 degrees with not even a whisper of a breeze. Once again good co-operation by the spectators and general public saw the event run as smoothly as one could have expected.
Danie Maritz traded the Honda for his regular SEESA Suzuki GSXR 1000 and really gave it his all on the first two runs. The extreme heat clearly influencing performance as Danie could not match the Saturday pace of Jacques Geldenhuys, and neither could he. Going for outright victory Danie made a rare error and the Suzuki flipped over at close to 200km/h, disappearing down the side of the mountain. Thanks to the stringent safety measures of the motorcyclists Danie escaped with little more than a severe bruising, but the Suzuki was reduced to scrap.
Jacques Geldenhuys decided not to put in a third run but retained second spot with Wynand Basson third, Gerhard Gerber fourth, Charl van Sittert fifth and Coert Steynberg sixth. Staying focused after such an incident is never easy and one cannot but admire the dedication of these SEESA team members. Thank you for the spectacle you provided.
On the car side much was expected and for the second consecutive day the overall result had to be determined on split times when Dawie
Olivier (HOPS Subaru 2.5R) and Stuart Kidgell (Ultima GTR) turned in fastest times of 2min35. Unfortunately for the defending champion a steering rod broke midway on his second run and with no replacement part available the Ultima was reluctantly retired for the day. Dawie Olivier had drama of his own when a waterpipe burst as he prepared for his second run. Anton Cronje had earlier run bearings on his Subaru and sportingly offered the team whatever spares they required from his car. Having learned of the Kidgell retirement really motivated the team and the black GT returned to the line for a third and final lunge up the mountain. Dawie taking a very popular and important win for Subaru by equaling the time set by the Ultima and setting the highest top speed for cars at 194km/h. Splitting times handing a double victory to the HOPS team.
Stuart Kidgell and his team magnanimous in defeat, not enjoying the idea of taking victory whilst being parked on the trailor. Third overall went to Desmond Gutseit and his crowd pleasing supercharged Chevrolet Lumina SS Ute. Every once in awhile a unique vehicle arrives on the motorsport scene, this one certainly got my vote as being exceptional and hopefully we will see it return for many a year. Good news is that Desmond is currently having 1000bhp Nissan GTR Skyline built in Japan and they intend having this car present in 2007. Rob Beaumont proved that he lost none of his skills by placing the sweet sounding Ferrari 360 Modena fourth. Fourth however does not please him much and he has vowed to return with a Ferrari capable of overall victory in 2007! Now if we could have those serious Porsche challengers return?
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Enzo Kuun
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Anton Slabbert fifth in the Nissan 200SX Turbo with Ian George impressive in sixth with his Noble M400. Enzo Kuun showed that rally experience certainly provides a slight edge when driving blind and he proved quite spectacular in his Porsche Carrera S. Anton Cronje managed only a single run before the engine of his Subaru cried enough but it was good enough for eighth overall. Leon Loubser ninth in his awesome supercharged BMW M3 and Deon Auby tenth in the black Noble M400.
Paul Munro next in his Subaru and in twelfth spot it was Hermann Mahnke in his trusty 3.1 Flora Bay Resorts BMW M3. Possibly not the most exotic car on the day but driven with such verve and determination that he was voted as the Bloomsbury Most Spectacular Driver of the Day. Thirteenth spot going to Gydo debutant, Herman Scholtz in the Porsche Carrera cup racer (no 156 in the series of 156 cars). Charles Arton next in his Porsche 964 Turbo with the BMW M5 of Andre Davis next and the Schnitzer M Coupe of Eugene Loubser the final car to break the three minute barrier.
Rob Pringle a busy man behind the wheel of his 6.3 AC Cobra with Mike Thompson a cautious eighteenth in his Porsche 964 Turbo. Neville Young taking nineteenth slot in the Paul Newman replica Datsun 280Z and John Atkins twentieth in the rare Shelby AC Cobra. John even fitting in a spin for good measure. Paul van Eeden concluded his debut at Gydo with 21st spot in his neat VR6 powered VW Golf MkI and Nick Vernon classified as the final finisher in his monster V8 Chevrolet Camaro.
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Stuart John
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Summary
Congratulations to Dawie Olivier and the HOPS Subaru 2.5R team. Taking a third consecutive King of the Hill title was impressive and adding the outright King of the Mountain title rewrote the history of the mountain race. This also the first occasion where both events had two teams post exactly the same times.
Stuart Kidgell and Anton Slabbert the unfortunate ones who had to concede defeat, but both have vowed to return in full combat mode in 2007. The Joubert brothers had a miserable weekend whilst Desmond Gutseit certainly started his personal fan club with impressive drives in the Lumina Ute. Expect both Desmond and Rob Beaumont to return with serious challenges.
Vast improvements regarding crowd safety saw no incidents during the running of the event and for that the conduct of the spectators deserve credit. Ian George impressed as newcomer to the mountain as did the Sasol SA Rally Drivers champion for 2006, Enzo Kuun. Paul Munro and Anton Cronje proved impressive in their Subaru’s and Gert Hammond was most impressive in his normally aspirated Golf MkI.
Do not miss the 2007 event on 16/18 November!
There can be only one!
Pictures to follow.
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