What Top of the Hill Report
Where Zwartkops Raceway, Pretoria
When 25-26 July 2026
Community South Africa National
Thompson, Schofield & de Beer Kings of Pretoria Hill
Double winner Ian Schofield, Lee Thompson, and Willie de Beer emerged as the Kings of Zwartkops’ third Top of the Hill Challenge following a fraught two days of hill climbing at the Pretoria Raceway over the weekend. Schofield, who won both the Classic and Single Seater classes, Contemporary racecar winner Thompson and Street King de Beer made the weekend their own.
Starting with Classic Saturday and running through Contemporary racing Sunday, more than 75 radical machines kept the crowd rapt with cracking action right at the limits of adhesion throughout the weekend up the two kilometre climb from turn 4 and up the reverse direction to the regular track to Turn 5.
Classic Saturday commenced with four qualifying runs per category before the Class Finals and the Classic Conqueror Saturday evening. That saw Ian Schofield take his H9 class ex Nols-Nieman Formula Atlantic March 77B Cosworth BDD to a 56.141 second win over H8 winner Devin Robertson’s classic Nissan R32 GT-R and Franco Scribante’s former 1970 Kyalami 9 Hour Team Gunston Chevron B19. Fourth placed James Temple took Class H6 in his Shelby Daytona Coupe, Andre de Lange’s Opel Kadett won H5 and Josef Kotze’s Porsche 911 Class H4.
Contemporary Sunday’s three categories followed a similar program. Several cars and drivers showed great promise through practice and into qualifying, but three of them. Robert Wolk’s all conquering Gould single seater, Jonathan Mogotsi’s all new Volkswagen Motorsport mega Golf and Silvio Scribante’s wild Audi S3 all ran into issues and sadly failed to start their finals.
Which left one of Zwartkops’ favourite sons, Lee Thompson to emerge quickest of all with a 52.219 second Modified Saloon run aboard his Class B4 Lotus Exige. It was super close, however. Class B5 cousins Franco’s Nissan GT-R and Aldo Scribante’s Audi TT both ended within half a second of the flying Thompson. Anton Cronje’s Subaru won Class B3 in fourth, from B7 victor Mark du Toit’s B7 Ford GT1 and Jared Rossouw’s B10 Volkswagen Golf R. Craig Czank took B4 in his BMW M3 and Chris Tait B2 in his VW Polo.
Wolk’s issues meant that team boss, Ian Schofield became the first man to win two Zwartkops King of the Hill categories in the same year, when he doubled up to take his Mygale SJ to a 57.2 second win in Sunday’s Contemporary Single Seater and Sports Car Shootout. He ended up half a second clear of JM Gerber’s Van Diemen, with Josef Kotze and Clive Wilmot’s Birkins and Tinus Botes’ Lotus 7 next up.
Willie de Beer dominated the Road and Supercar Shootout for the second year in a row. His one minute run in his Class A4 Porsche 991 Turbo S saw him end two seconds clear of Class A3 winner Brandon Dean’s Ferrari 296 GTB and Eugene van der Berg’s Porsche. Fourth overall, Aqil Singh’s Audi TTS took Class A2, Anton Pommersheim’s Shelby Mustang won A7, Matt Merton’s Volkswagen Golf GTi took A1 and Nicolai Nicolaisen’s Alfa Romeo Junior Elettrica won Class A8 to close a memorable weekend up the Hill.
Issued on behalf of Zwartkops Raceway
Photography by: Andre Laubscher
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