Volkswagen Motorsport is ready to thrill hillclimb fanatics as it prepares for the Zwartkops’ Top of the Hill Challenge at the Pretoria Raceway in South Africa on Sunday 26 July. Factory race driver Jonathan Mogotsi will be among the star attractions in the team’s wild new hillclimb Golf GTI, backed by Rory Atkinson and Matthew Merton in a pair of standard Volkswagen Golf 8.5 GTIs. This is the same car that was meant to be ready back in May at the annual Simola Hillclimb held in Knysna in the Western Cape. At that event, Volkswagen Group Africa Chairperson and Managing Director, Martina Biene, announced that this new Golf wouldn’t just be another exhibition run car at the next Simola Hillclimb and that the intention was to win the event outright. This Top of the Hill event will be a great test event to see if the GTI does indeed have what it takes. It will be up against some of the country’s top hillclimb cars, one of which is attempting a 3rd overall win at Top of the Hill and has taken top honours at Simola on a few occasions – a 2,000bhp Nissan GT-R from BB Motorsport driven by Reghard Roets.
“The 2000 metre Zwartkops Top of the Hill Challenge is one of our fun events of 2026, and we cannot wait to entertain our many Gauteng fans there, “Mike Rowe, Volkswagen Head of Motorsport, confirms: “We have a special entry in Jonathan Mogotsi driving Volkswagen Motorsport’s new hillclimb weapon Golf GTI backed by Rory Atkinson and Matt Merton in a pair of standard new Volkswagen 8.5 Golf GTIs. Jonathan will debut our highly anticipated and hugely powerful turbocharged 2.5-litre five-cylinder all-wheel drive super Golf. Built by Michael Allers, its highly modified engine uses specialised components from Bartek in Germany with management from our trusted partner Motec and a Sadev ST4-917 and all-wheel drive transmission.
“This most exciting new hillclimb car’s debut has been delayed by parts supply issues, but we’re confident that it has been worth the wait, and that Jonathan will put on a show to remember on Sunday. We also look forward to Rory and Matthew entertaining as they did en route to a class 1-2 in the recent Simola Hillclimb.
“The unique Top of the Hill starts from Zwartkops’ Turn 4 and runs up the track in the reverse direction to the finish at Turn 5 with a Classic Saturday before our contemporary competition on Sunday,” Rowe concludes. “We look forward to sharing the excitement of this unique and thrilling event with our Gauteng Volkswagen Motorsport fans. See you at Zwartkops!”
PVW will be at the event to capture this car’s debut; stay tuned for the nitty-gritty on this special project.