Fish Hoek racer Emile Botha gears up for historic Speed Classic hillclimb

A car nut for as long as he can remember, Emile Botha is thrilled to be among the drivers making history with the return of the Speed Classic Cape Town at Philip Kgosana Drive. The revival of the hillclimb racing tradition in the Mother City will take place on Saturday and Sunday October 25 and 26.

The 36-year-old Fish Hoek resident will be behind the wheel of his silver 2004 Nissan 350Z in the King of the Mountain competition on that Sunday.

He’ll be among a field of modern speed machines battling it out on a 1.8km track along the closed-off Philip Kgosana Drive. Saturday, in contrast, will be reserved for classic cars.

Describing the upcoming weekend, Botha says it’s a very special occasion for him to be part of the first event held on that historic road since 1962.

“The Simola Hillclimb events are huge on the motorsport calendar, both for competitors and spectators, so the initiative to bring back the Philip Kgosana event is a big win for Cape Town and a great way to introduce the sport to a new audience,” he said.

“Having been to Simola, I think this event is going to be an even bigger success with huge spectator value."

Botha says he knows of some very interesting cars taking part and promises to give it his all.“I certainly will be doing my best to put on a good show for the crowd as well,” he said.

Botha calls this particular event “the big one”, both for the competitors and Cape Town’s petrolheads.

He believes locals have a unique relationship with the road and says that being crowned King of the Mountain at this initial revival would be nothing short of monumental. Spectators are also in for a treat, with highly specialised machinery roaring up the mountain as Table Bay glistens in the background.

Botha has always had a deep love for cars and has owned a number of modified vehicles over the years. But is passion accelerated when he received an invitation from the Porsche Club of Cape Town to attend the Hillclimb event in Grabouw and wound up on the podium, despite being the only non-Porsche driver competing on a regular basis.

“Needless to say, two races in, the racing bug had bitten firmly. I sent the car to GT Clubsport to be fully stripped and built to race car specs, full slicks, everything.

“It’s been a very slippery slope since then with the car now running a modified 6.0L LS2 V8 engine.”

So far in his racing career, Botha singles out winning the Index Performance Award in the 2021 One-Hour Endurance Race as his personal highlight. The index is calculated as a measure of consistency between a driver’s fastest and slowest laps and Botha’s performance stood out.

“This was my first taste of endurance racing and also my first national-level event,” he says. “With a grid of 68 cars, it was the best racing I’ve ever done.”

Looking ahead, Botha has his sights set on even longer formats.

“My goal is to race in one of the SAES 9-Hour Events. The amount of seat time you get in one of those is more than most drivers would get in an entire racing season,” he explains.

“I’d also love to get a proper result in a hillclimb event since that’s really where my racing roots began.”