Rosslyn, South Africa – Nissan South Africa and the high-performance team at dealer group BB Nissan is saddling up nearly 2 000 horses for its charge up the hill at this year's Simola Hill Climb in Knysna.
The team is preparing two very different Nissan GT-Rs for the festival, which will be held from 6 to 8 May. The first GT-R is dubbed "Godzilla" and will showcase the unrivalled tuning capabilities of the GT-R engine and platform; it will also aim for the overall title of 'King of the Hill', while the second Nissan GT-R will compete in the supercar class.
"The GT-R has a cult following among performance enthusiasts the world over. By entering two GT-Rs at different sides of the performance spectrum, we hope to showcase the unmatched technical range of this supercar," says Xavier Gobille, Managing Director of Marketing, Sales and Aftersales at Nissan South Africa.
'Godzilla' will feature uprated engine components, stronger turbos and different suspension componentry to deliver more than 750 kW – or 938 kW at the flywheel – and over 1 000 Nm. A special aerodynamic package is being fitted that will help keep this uber powerful GT-R low and pointed on its charge up the hill.
The 2011 King of the Hill, Wilhelm Baard, will pilot Godzilla. He is a Vehicle Testing Specialist at Nissan South Africa and past winner of both the Simola Hill Climb and the Long Tom Hill Climb.
"The competition is increasing every year and to take the fight to some of the custom-built machines heading to Knysna, you can expect quite a few GT-Rs with power output north of 1 000 horsepower," says Baard. "With that kind of power on tap and the GT-R's dynamic capability, one of us will surely break the 40 second barrier up the hill."
Baard explains that the four-wheel drive GT-R has a distinct advantage at the upper portion of the hill climb course. Here, he explains, the fast switchbacks are no match for the GT-R's perfect weight balance and high-speed sure footedness, giving the driver the ability to attack virtually all the corners without lifting a foot off the accelerator.
The second GT-R will feature only minor upgrades and will showcase the inherent engineering brilliance of the stock Nissan GT-R. With a few performance tweaks, this GT-R delivers 424 kW and 847 Nm on the tarmac or 530 kW and 1 059 Nm on the flywheel.
The second car will be raced by racing legend Jaki Scheckter. Scheckter has competed extensively in motor racing abroad and at home, and he participated at King of the Hill at the Ceres Hill Climb and has finished third in a standard R35 Nissan GT-R in the 2012 Knysna Hill Climb, where his time was a mere 0.07 s behind the highly modified racing GT-Rs.
"I'm very grateful to be part of the Nissan team and race the awesome Nissan GT-R in standard form up the hill at Knysna. The hill climb will show what the GT-R is capable of when compared to the other supercars in the race.
"We can only see how we are doing after a few runs up the hill in terms of the King of the Hill shootout against the highly modified cars, but for the new supercar group we are looking very good and we definitely aim on winning the class with the GT-R!" says Scheckter.
The two GT-Rs are currently undergoing final preparation and testing at BB Nissan Hatfield's High Performance Centre. Both GT-Rs will take part in a special Track Attack open day at Zwartkops on Monday, 2 May.
The vehicle development process was led by Baard and BB Nissan Franchise Director Arnold du Plessis, who both have extensive knowledge in preparing and racing GT-Rs. The duo imported the first Nismo GT-R in GT Racing spec in 2010, which they raced in the Altech GT Challenge. This model became a test bed for further performance and handling development, which the team shared with Nismo engineers in Japan.
The Nissan GT-R has been an overwhelming favourite at South Africa's premier hill climb event in Knysna since its inception. In 2014, four out of the top ten finishers drove GT-Rs and last year, 6 GT-Rs claimed the top 10 positions, while a GT-R R34 was crowned the overall winner.
About Wilhelm Baard
Wilhelm Baard is one of a 13-member vehicle assessment team for Nissan Global. In this role, he travels the world to test pre-production vehicles and to assess new vehicle projects. Baard has also consulted as a professional vehicle testing specialist for various vehicle manufacturers in Europe.
Baard's racing career includes several podiums and wins in Group N in the 1990s and the Nissan Saber Cup Challenge, where he was the top privateer. He also raced in the GT Challenge in 2010 and 2011 with a Nismo Nissan GT-R.
Baard won the Simola Hill Climb in 2011 and the Long Tom Hill Climb in Nelspruit in 2014.
About Jaki Scheckter
Jaki Scheckter has competed and won multiple championships both in South Africa and abroad. He was crowned Formula Ford Champion in 1992 with four races left in the series, won the Barber Dodge Pro Series Shootout in the USA in 1994 and was crowned Barber Dodge Pro Series Champion in 1995.
Scheckter competed in Indy Lights and tested for Formula 3000 in Europe before returning to South Africa to race in Stannic Group N. He is a regular in historic racing and was crowed class champion in the Legends of the 9 Hour Historic Racing class in a 1965 Ford Galaxie in 2013. He also competes in GT racing, where he pilots a Ferrari F430 GT3 Scuderia.
Scheckter is a Pablo Clark Ferrari Driving Experience coach and instructor.
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