Western Cape, Knysna, Renault Simola Hillclimb 20/ 21 May 2012- Fabienne took part in her first ever Hill Climb event this weekend in the Renault Simola Hillclimb which is part of the Knysna Speed Week with Legends Racing cars.
As the only female in the 80 entriy list she was undeterred and excited at the weekend’s new challenge. Cars of various classes including race cars, historics and supercars each take turns to race up the twisty and treacherous 1.9km Simola Hill in a quest to set the fastest time.
Fabienne was joined by South African rally star Gugu Zulu who was a natural at this type of event, he was on hand through the event to pass on tips and advice to Fabienne.
“I have never done a proper standing start pull off uphill, so was a good challenge to try and master the art. After a few attempts of trial and error, I got the hang of it and my lap times were coming down quite substantially. It was a challenge to get the optimum gearing up hill,“ commented Fabienne.
Fabienne with Gugu Zulu
Fabienne was in practice mode for most of Saturday and on Sunday she qualified second in class, only the top three in each class go forward to the shootout finals.
Fabienne’s team were up against some superfast machinery including Lamborghinis so it was a chance to drive flat out in the smaller 1300cc Yamaha engined Legends car.
In the final charge up the hill Fabienne completed her fastest time and finish in a credible second place in class.
“I want to give a big thank you to Legends Racing SA for the amazing experience and to the team for all the help and advice” said Fabienne.
Fabienne charges up the hill at Kynysa Speed Weekend