Wolk fastest as Top Of The Hill entertains at Zwartkops
Robert Wolk set the new Top Of The Hill Challenge record this past weekend (21-22 November), piloting his Investchem 2005 Gould GR 55 in his first outing at the annual event held at Zwartkops Raceway.
Wolk, a multiple South African Touring Cars and Single-Seater champion, set the pace on Friday against his Single-Seater & Sports Cars rivals, 2024 winner JM Gerber (2007 Formula M Van Dieman), and Josef Kotze (Top Products 2023 Birken S3), but was confident that he could still find some more pace in his WCT Engineering-prepared Gould. This confidence was backed by a stellar performance in Saturday’s Shootout, where he recorded a 48.530-second run, the fastest of the weekend. Wolk, Gerber, and Kotze also took the Class C3, C4, and C2 wins, respectively.
The celebration didn’t stop here for the WCT Engineering camp. Ian Schofield (Investchem 1977 March 77B) successfully defended his Classic Conqueror title. Schohfield also dug deep in the Shootout to set his best time of the weekend, 59.953, beating James Temple (Shelby South Africa 1965 Shelby Daytona Coupe) by 0.390 of a second. Jonathan du Toit (Trans Africa Racing 1995 Opel Astra) completed the podium, while Seef Fourie Jnr took both fourth and fifth places. While these results were achieved while driving a Chev CanAm and a 1962 Lolette, he competed in three cars, also piloting a 1959 Austin A35.
Schofield also took the Class H9 win. Temple’s Class H6 win made him the first driver to win a class at all the major South African course time attack events. Du Toit topped Class H8. Class H1 was won by Stuart Greig (1957 Cooper F2), H2 saw John Ten Doeschate (1964 GSM Flamingo) dominate, while Djurk Venter (Shelby South Africa 1968 Ford Escort) took the Class H5 win.
The other consecutive champion came in the Modified Production Car challenge, won by Reghard Roets (BB Motorsport 2014 Nissan GTR R35), who also took his second of two course time attack titles in less than a month, with a time of 52.467. He was kept honest right throughout by Franco Scribante (2016 Nissan GTR R35). Jonathan Mogotsi (Volkswagen Genuine Parts 2020 Volkswagen Polo GTI) completed the podium. A notable absentee in the latter stages of the weekend was Peter Zeelie, another of the favourites to take the honours. However, his weekend came to an end when he hit the pit wall in the fifth qualifying session, and the team was unable to source all the required components to repair his Zeelie Auditors 2007 Toyota MR2 in time for the Class Finals. Silvio Scribante also looked strong throughout the weekend, but a launch-control issue on his Cemza 2020 Audi RS3 in the Shootout rendered his superb efforts in vain.
Class B1 was won by Joshua du Toit (1996 Honda Civic EK) in his debut outing. Mogotsi took Class B2, with Charles Fowlds (www.0861clearview.co.za 2011 Subaru WRX) winning Class B3. Roets took the B5 win. Class B6 went to Mark du Toit (Trans Africa Racing 2007 BMW Z4). While he was the sole competitor in Class B7, he was unable to partake in the Class Finals due to mechanical issues with his 2004 Ford GT1. Jason Loosemore, one of the weekend’s late entrants, took Class B10 in his 2020 Volkswagen Polo GTI.
Willie de Beer (W.D Towing Services 2017 Porsche 911 Turbo) is the new Road Car & Supercar Champion. His 1:00.768 saw him beat last year’s winner, Vic Champher (2019 Porsche 911 RS). Strati Yiannakis (Gapcon Developments 2022 BMW M4) completed the podium, in one of the most bizarre sets of circumstances, where he mistakenly thought that he had not progressed through to the Shoutout.
Brandon Dean won Class A3 (2024 Ferrari 296 GTB) while De Beer took Class A4. Campher took the A5 win, with Paul Malatji (Shelby South Africa 2017 Shelby Mustang Super Snake) taking Class A7. Alan Poulter (2024 Volvo EX30) started the weekend as the sole Class A8 competitor, but was joined by Arnold du Plessis in a BYD Seal after his horrific accident in the BB Motorsport 2022 Nissan Patrol in Friday’s practice sessions.
The Volkswagen Rookie Cup & Media Challenge had a different look to it in 2025. While it again featured four regular drivers and four media personalities, this time they were split into teams of four, each consisting of a regular driver and a media personality. Unlike the rest, their results were based on aggregate times, with all drivers competing in similar Volkswagen Polo Vivo GT race cars.
This year’s title went to Mauro da Luz & Nicky Netshifhefhe, who beat Christopher Tait & Jeanette Kritzinger, and Uzair Khan & Mpho Maboi.
After two successful summertime Top Of The Hill Challenges, the 2026 edition will be held on 25-26 July. This weekend’s event also concluded this year’s motorsport calendar at Zwartkops Raceway, with the next event being the 25th anniversary of the Passion For Speed Festival, which will mark the start of the 2026 South African circuit racing calendar.
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