By Malusi Msomi

Suzuki Auto is set to race up the Simola Hillclimb for the second consecutive year as a first-tier sponsor, with a new addition to its team. The automaker will be fielding a three-car Suzuki Swift Sport team, comprising of Wesley Greybe, Sudhir Matai, and Kumbi Mtshakazi. Of the three drivers, only Greybe has competed before, making Matai and Mtshakazi rookies at the famed Simola hill climb.

Chelsy Pinto, Product Planning and Sales Development Co-ordinator at Suzuki Auto and Team Manager for the 2023 Suzuki Swift Sport Team at Simola, said that the automaker added another car to the mix to prove that you don’t need experience or deep pockets to get the best out of your Swift Sport. Mtshakazi is a seasoned motoring writer and content creator but has never competed in any form of racing before.

Greybe, a professional precision driver, has experience on the hill as a competitor and an exhibition driver. Last year, he set a top time of 54.580 seconds on the 1.9-kilometre track. He will be working closely with Mtshakazi, who will be piloting an automatic Swift Sport model, while Greybe will take the automatic Swift Sport this year. Matai, a seasoned journalist with several seasons of track racing under his belt, will be driving the Swift Sport manual.

The three Suzuki Swift Sport models will compete in Class A1 for production vehicles with a turbo or supercharger, and no mechanical changes have been made to the cars. Racing starts on Friday, May 5, with the Classic Car Racing and will start for Team Suzuki on Saturday morning with the first practice runs.