2025 Speed Classic Cape Town Records a Successful Inaugural Event

On 25 and 26 October 2025, the Mother City played host to the inaugural Speed Classic Cape Town, where nearly 15 000 spectators lined Philip Kgosana Drive to witness the first Cape Town-based hillclimb event in 60 years. We recap the highlights.

Speed Classic Cape Town

Image: Speed Classic Cape Town

The inaugural Speed Classic Cape Town took place at the foot of Table Mountain on 25 and 26 October. The Philip Kgosana Drive-based 1.8 km hillclimb featured two events: Classic Car Saturday and King of the Mountain Sunday. The former showcased around 70 classics, modified road cars, and vintage single-seaters, while the latter featured nearly 80 supercars, track specials, modified saloon cars and modern single-seaters. Each day included practice and qualifying sessions, followed by class finals in which the quickest drivers went head-to-head for the title of fastest in class.

Classic Champion

Day 1 of Speed Classic Cape Town concluded with the class finals, where 24 competitors battled for the fastest time in their respective classes. The event then culminated in the Classic Champion shootout, featuring the top 10 drivers from all classes going head-to-head for the 2025 title. Participants reached speeds of up to 220 km/h.

Charles Arton was crowned as the Classic Champion in his 1979 March 79A, setting a time of 40.143 seconds on the 1.8 km course. Franco Scribante claimed second place with a time of 40.362 seconds in his Chevron B19. Despite setting a sub-40-second time in the H8 class final, Scribante was unable to best Arton for Classic Champion honours. Third place was awarded to James Temple, who recorded a 43.245-second run up the hill in his Shelby Daytona Coupé; besting his Class Final time of 44.614 seconds.

Unfortunately, the Jaguar TWR XJS that Jan Lammers was expected to compete in blew a piston ring before the weekend had begun. However, the Dutch racer arrived on the day in a 1971 Porsche 911 T, which he loaned from Laude Classic Cars.

King of the Mountain

On Day 2, the third round of qualifying was cancelled, and the drivers got started with the shootouts in the road and supercar, modified saloon car, and single-seater and sportscar categories. Several drivers clocked top speeds of around 240 km/h, recording sub-36-second runs up the hill.

Franco Scribante came out on top; earning the title of King of the Mountain with a 35.859-second run in his purpose-built 2018 Nissan GTR R35. Second place went to Reghard Roets, with a time of 35.859 seconds in a modified 2014 Nissan GTR R35. Dawie Joubert took home the bronze medal with a time of 37.407 seconds in his extensively modified Lotus Exige, affectionately named ‘Lorari’, denoting its Ferrari 488-derived powerplant.

Notably, Pieter Keelie stayed ahead of the competitors throughout the day, setting the pace in both qualifying rounds. Unfortunately, he dropped out of the final run owing to a faulty start.

The inaugural Speed Classic Cape Town was a success, with close to 15 000 spectators attending the event and almost 180 000 livestream viewers throughout the weekend. Most importantly, no major incidents or injuries were recorded. Speed Classic Cape Town Event Director Garth Mackintosh says he expects the Speed Classic Cape Town to establish itself as a premier hillclimb event in the years to come. “To see our vision come to fruition has been extremely satisfying. I think you can only get bigger and better from here, and we are ready to invest and create a future event that can only go from strength to strength.”

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The post 2025 Speed Classic Cape Town Records a Successful Inaugural Event appeared first on CAR Magazine.


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