Peter Zeelie achieved this years-long dream of taking the King of the Hill title at the Knysna Simola Hillclimb in 2021, having won the shootout for Modified Saloon Cars that year with a time of 40.402, driving a self-built Toyota MR2 (MR-S ZZW30).
Since then, he’s been busy finding ways to make the car even faster and bring the fight back to the all-wheel drive cars that nowadays dominate the category for road-based cars.
“It’s not easy to win Simola with a 2WD car. In the past we took some data, 4WD cars can gain 1.5-1.8 seconds on us just on the first corner, and making that up is very difficult” -commented Peter in-between practice sessions in this year’s 2023 run.
“I also have less power. Engine-wise we’ve been reliable and don’t want to chase more power”
Peter’s MR2 is of course not running the original 1ZZ-FE engine, and instead relies on a Toyota 2GR-FE 3.5L V6. Unlike the stock V6 found on cars like the Camry or Lexus RX350, this one has been turbocharged and strengthened to produce north of 800 horsepower in a reliable, consistent fashion.
Further developing the winning package from 2021 has proven challenging however: “In 2021 the car handled beautifully, in 2022 we made lots of changes and we went backwards in some of the areas”, said Zeelie. The King of the Hill Shootout time for 2021 was 40.060, more than 1.5 seconds slower than in 2021.
“For us, aero is a black science, so we decided go get a specialist to assist us. We worked with Andrew Brilliant from AMB Aero, which we knew from his successes advising projects in WTAC, NASCAR, F1 and so on. He flew all the way from Japan to South Africa, then 3D scanned the whole car, and did the CFD analysis with a massive computer back at home.”
“Because we were going to manufacture the parts ourselves and didn’t have much time to prepare for the upcoming season, we asked AMB to keep things simple. We got our car 3D scanned by Andrew in November, and in January he had sent us all the parts drawings and CAD files.”
AMB Aero estimates the new aero package to double the previous downforce levels. “With the extreme downforce provided by the new aerodynamics, we had to change a lot of things, like control arm mounting points. Of course we had to revise the suspension because of the car being pushed into the ground much more. This year we also changed from intercooler to charge cooler setup”.
Andrew Brilliant said: “Peter’s team started with a rear wing taken from a prototype car and made some best guesses regarding aero configuration. This took them as far as winning the event once, but it cannot compare with a bespoke solution. Despite doubling the downforce, in the first testing sessions the MR2 already hit the same top speeds as before -power curve unchanged- which highlights the efficiency of the new aerodynamics. Increasing downforce without adding drag is the ultimate goal”.
The updated aerodynamics also had to work within the envelope of several series regulations, including the FIA International Hillclimb Cup, in which Peter’s team also participates. This means the front splitter was limited in size to match the width of the body-work. “AMB always provides a custom, integral solution for each customer, adapted to the series they race in. The large front aero solutions employed by our most well known time attack customers are just but one weapon in our arsenal. We deliver downforce solutions adapted to the constraints set by the rulebook, budget and/or manufacturing capabilities”.
The weather conditions during the 2023 Simola Hillclimb event were not ideal, with light rain being present during most sessions. Peter Zeelie posted the fastest 2WD lap time in the King of the Hill Modified Saloon Car Shootout at Simola, with a 41.722 in damp-road conditions, slotting in between his 2021 and 2022 times -both achieved in a dry course.
Despite less than perfect road conditions, the team also achieved their best lap-time ever during one of the qualifying sessions, with a 40.104.
