Dakar 2026 tough on South African participants
The 2026 Dakar Rally delivered one of the most thrilling and competitive editions of the world’s toughest off‑road endurance race.
- Industry News
- 19 January 2026
It has come to the attention of Knysna Speed Festival, the owner of the Simola Hillclimb, that Zwartkops Raceway has used Simola Hillclimb’s event regulations for its Top of the Hill event to be held in October.
This issue came to our attention at the Festival of Motoring at Kyalami held recently. We had no idea that Zwartkops had used our regulations for its event until competitors approached us about it, having assumed that we had to somehow be involved owing to the identical regulations.
We therefore issue this statement to clear up any confusion in this regard. To be clear, the Simola Hillclimb is in no way whatsoever involved in this race meeting.
While we encourage the running of additional Hillclimb events in the country, the use of our regulations, classes, naming conventions, event format, competitor selection process, graphics and other intellectual property in which we have invested many years of time, effort, experience and money, without permission is unacceptable and we have communicated this to the event organisers accordingly.
The 2026 Dakar Rally delivered one of the most thrilling and competitive editions of the world’s toughest off‑road endurance race.
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Time to enter is running out for prospective participants in the 16th Simola Hillclimb, which will be held in the Knysna region later this year from 30 April to 3 May.