Following President Cyril Ramaphosa’s declaring a national state of emergency last night over the coronavirus pandemic the organisers of the Simola Hillclimb have announced that the event will be postponed to later in the year.
The event, held in Knysna and due to take place from 7-10 May 2020, has become South Africa’s premier motorsport lifestyle event with approximately 17 000 people from around the globe attending over the weekend.
“We are naturally very disappointed to have to move the event to later in the year, but the health of our employees, sponsor staff, competitors and their support crew, fans, suppliers and the general containment of the virus is the most important issue to consider at this time,” said the organisers via a statement.
“We will obviously monitor the situation as it develops in the country, but it is our intention to run the event later in the year when this becomes sensible, safe and possible. We believe that this would be the outcome that most of our stakeholders would like to see happen.”
The organisers are now engaging with Motorsport South Africa, event partners and suppliers to determine when would be the most suitable timing for the event later in the year.
We will communicate further information once we have clarity on the new date. In the interim we ask for patience from all parties while we plot the way forward.