When Roets and Patrols Take the Crown

Imagine this for a sec : You’re on the edge of your seat, knuckles white, palms sweaty (cue Eminem’s Lose Yourself in the background), and just when you think you’ve seen it all, Reggie Roets comes in hot, like a caffeinated Jack Russel chasing the last Sixty60 Scooter, and clinches the inaugural Zwartkops Top of the Hill title by—wait for it—a mere three hundredths of a second. Three hundredths. That’s faster than you can sneeze after catching a whiff of Godzillas exhaust fumes.

BB Motorsport, the Pretoria-based petrolheads, didn’t just come to play—they came to dominate. It was a weekend packed with sweat, gears, and enough horsepower to make even Mustang drivers feel inadequate.

Reggie Roets, piloting his BB Motorsport Nissan GT-R, was neck-and-neck with Peter Zeelie in a time-attack that made everyone question their fitness levels. Roets' winning time? A blistering 53.257 seconds—just shaving off Zeelie’s 53.295 seconds. Close enough that you’d need a magnifying glass and a stopwatch from NASA to tell the difference.

If you think that was intense, throw in the Nissan Patrol Blackhawk—a 2.6-ton beast that sounds more like a fighter jet than something you’d take to the grocery store. And who was the brave soul behind the wheel? Reuben van Niekerk, veteran motoring journalist and part-time speed demon, who stepped up to the plate at the last minute like a hero in an action movie. With Arnold Du Plessis, CEO of BB Motor Group, away on business, Van Niekerk had to tame this mechanical mammoth. And tame it he did, pulling off a 1-minute-12-second run in the finals, snagging yet another class win for the team.

Van Niekerk, still alive after a weekend wrestling the Patrol around the twisty Zwartkops track, casually commented: “Jumping into the big Nissan Patrol Blackhawk at the last minute was a bit daunting at first…” Sure, Reuben, it’s just a 2.6-ton vehicle with a supercharged V8. Totally not nerve-wracking at all.

For BB Motorsport, this victory was more than just a trophy. It was sweet, sweet redemption after their transmission troubles at the Simola Hillclimb left them with less reliability than a politician’s promises. But, as manager Demar du Plessis proudly pointed out, the team has worked tirelessly, and this weekend’s results are proof that they’re heading in the right direction—right to the top of that proverbial hill.

In case you missed it, the Zwartkops Top of the Hill event saw cars trying to beat the clock across 2000m of the Zwartkops raceway (The wrong way round), which is as twisty and tricky as trying to fold a fitted sheet. But this isn’t just any hillclimb—it’s the South African version, where horsepower and heart (if you want to call them that…) go head-to-head. And BB Motorsport? Well, they showed everyone how it’s done, Pretoria-style.

As the dust settles and the engines cool, we can’t help but think the Zwartkops Top of the Hill event has some real legs—big, GT-R powered, turbocharged legs. And as Reggie Roets said, "This time attack style of motorsport has real potential." With BB Motorsport leading the charge, we might just see this event becoming the next big thing in local motorsport—because let’s be honest, who doesn’t want to see big cars, big horsepower, big wings and even bigger wins?

Until next time, keep your eyes peeled for the next BB Motorsport masterpiece, because when they’re involved, you know it’s going to be a show…