Giving a serious international flavour to the Simola Hillclimb will be the presence of renowned Rallycross driver, Petter Solberg, and the Polo R WRX Supercar, showing off some of the best driving skills and racing car tech currently in the world.
With two Drivers’ titles and two Teams’ FIA World Championship wins, the Polo R WRX Supercar is arguably the most successful race car of the modern Rallycross era.
Volkswagen Motorsport has announced the line-up of drivers and cars that will be competing in the annual Simola Hillclimb racing event. Now in its 13th year, the Simola Hillclimb event will take place from 4 to 7 May 2023.
Petter Solberg’s partnership with Volkswagen started in 2017 when he set up the PSRX Volkswagen Sweden team in partnership with Volkswagen Motorsport. Solberg won the Team's Championship in both 2017 and 2018 before his retirement from full-time racing. We are thrilled to have Petter come out of retirement to race for us in South Africa,” said Mike Rowe, Head of Volkswagen Motorsport.
But just how powerful and quick is this super Polo? The Polo R WRX Supercar develops 419 kW of power with a torque peak of 650 Nm. The four-cylinder engine is coupled to a sequential, six-gear racing transmission and it takes just 1.9 seconds to complete the 0 – 100 km/h sprint… quicker that an F1 race car or a MotoGP bike, according to most info.
The Volkswagen Motorsport line-up this year will also include its factory drivers, Jonathan Mogotsi and Daniel Rowe, who will be competing in the new Golf 8 R. The Golf 8 R’s drive output is generated by a 2.0-litre four-cylinder EA 888 engine.
The Golf 8 R accelerates to 100 km/h in just 4.8 seconds with the top speed of 250 km/h. The Golf 8 R impresses with the combination of 400 Nm of torque, cutting-edge running gear and the most progressive all-wheel drive in its class.
Graeme Nathan will be the fourth driver representing Volkswagen Motorsport. Last year, Graeme came a close second in the Class B2 finals in one of the closest margins in the history of the Simola Hillclimb – 0.016 seconds. He will once again be competing in the Polo SupaCup racing car this year.
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has initiated legal proceedings against Chinese automotive manufacturer BYD in the Netherlands, alleging that its BYD Ti7 SUV may infringe intellectual property rights associated with the Land Rover Defender.
For 75 years, Nissan Patrol has gone further, tackled challenging terrain and taken generations of customers on adventures around the world. From its beginnings in Japan in 1951 as Nissan's first four-wheel-drive vehicle to today's seventh-generation model currently built in Japan, Patrol has been defined by capability, durability and a daring spirit.
South Africa's used vehicle market gained momentum in October, with sales increasing strongly month-on-month and year-on-year as average prices continued to soften.
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Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?
George Carlin
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has initiated legal proceedings against Chinese automotive manufacturer BYD in the Netherlands, alleging that its BYD Ti7 SUV may infringe intellectual property rights associated with the Land Rover Defender.
South Africa's used vehicle market gained momentum in October, with sales increasing strongly month-on-month and year-on-year as average prices continued to soften.
Parts supply is the question most often put to newer Chinese brands in South Africa. The number of Chinese brands in the local new vehicle market rose from eight in 2024 to 15 in 2025, according to naamsa’s 2026 Automotive Trade Manual. Motoring commentators have flagged delays in accident repair parts as a common complaint, while pointing to brands with a longer local presence, such as GWM and Chery, as better established.
