By: Colin Windell
Port Shepstone - Champions were made and crowned at Dezzi Raceway, Oslo Beach at the weekend in the final round of the KZN Road Racing Club Championships – a day on which double points were on offer and competitors battled mightily for every one they could earn.
This battle for those points made for plenty of close fought battles on the circuit, providing the crowd with entertaining and spirited racing.
In a few of the classes, such as the 300 motorcycles, season-long domination guaranteed the winner and, in this case for Drew Gates, by enough of a margin that he did not need to even show up for the day. But, show up he did, powering away to win the first heat by nearly 12 seconds.
While that absolutely sealed his championship title, he went for a similar result in the second heat only to have an engine problem on his Kawasaki 400. He stopped at the exit of Turn 1 and allowed the field to go past before limping back to the pits. Hasty repairs were attempted and he went back out for a lap before calling its quits.
This gave Jaundre de Beer (3D Printing Durban Yamaha R3) the top step of the podium for the day with Gates second and Arnold Eckersley (KTM RC390) third.
Another class that largely done and dusted before the season finale was the Super GT Class A where Mike McLoughlin aboard the Backdraft Slingshot ruled the roost despite some determined opposition via a consistent performance by Peter Blofield (Bosss Marine Backdraft Cobra) throughout the season.
A late challenge that started only in the second half of the season saw Rob Prece driving Kingsley Woods’ Power King Golf to secure third overall for the series and second on the day behind McLoughlin.
In other classes the situtation was very different. What looked as if it would be a fairly easy run to the title in the 150 Super Production motorcycles for Jessie Conci (Helluvafast Motorcycles Honda 150) turned into a speed wobble in the second half of the season, allowing the superbly consistent Zane Davidson (Husqvarna 85) to close up – with Conci finally finishing two points behind.
On the day, though, Murray Smith (KTM 85SX) had a blinder to win overall from Davidson with Tai Robinson (KTM 85) third and Conci well out of the podium positions following a few technical issues with his motorcycle.
The 150 Class A – the primary feeder class for Super Production – was won in spectacular style by rookie Cayden Potgieter (RMC Auto Repair Honda CBR150) who was victorious in every single race he started throughout the year.
In Class B, Hannah Puren (Honda CBR150) did it for the ladies, winning the class by just one point from Florian Kroeber (Honda CBR150), the pair having had a season-long tussle, resolved only when Kroeber failed to score on the final day.
The Time Attack category, which pits competitors against their own best lap times, is an ideal event for newcomers starting out in motor racing – and, even though a race in the strictest sense of the word, is highly competitive.
Consistency always pays off and it certainly helped Zahid Hassim (Hyundai i30N) to the title ahead of Gayle Erasmus (VW Golf) and Keegan Chetty (JK Training Opel Kadett) even though, on the day the class was won overall by Jordan Edwards (Formula M 1600) from Jonathan Swart (Formula M 1300) and Haamid Raza Wahab (BMW 3000).
For all South Africans, it has been a tough economic year with massive increases in the price of fuel – the lifeblood of motorsport. It remains a tribute to the competitiveness of KZAN motor racing that so many competitors made the effort through the season.
Championship Motorcycles:
150 Super Production
- 1. Zane Davidson
- 2. Jesse Conci
- 3. Murray Smith
150 ‘A’
- 1. Cayden Potgieter
- 2. Sven Christensen
- 3. Felix Kroeber
150 ‘B’
- 1. Hannah Puren
- 2. Florian Kroeber
- 3. Jaydon Weston
Powersports
- 1. Llewelyn Puren
- 2. Duncan Day
- 3. Sven Christensen
300 Class
- 1.Drew Gates
- 2. Felix Kroeber
- 3. Jaundre de Beer
300 Masters
- 1. Kyle Robertson
- 2. Peter St John Ward
- 3. Stephen Puren
Super Motard Masters
- 1. Phillip Niewoudt
- 2. Peter St John Ward
- 3. Craig Dunnington
Super Motards
- 1. Shaun Joffe
- 2. Camerson van der Nest
- 3. Brent Goulding
Formula Extreme
- 1. Stephen Puren
- 2. Calvin da Silva
- 3. Liaan Smit
Championsip Cars:
Time Attack
- 1. Zahid Hassim
- 32. Gayle Erasmus
- 3. Keegan Chetty
Historics Class G
- 1. Mark Kitching
- 2. Craig Hamilton
- 3. Rosh Sooful
Historics Class F
- 1. Dave Armstrong
- 2. Gareth Ferreira
- 3. Rohan Jarvis
Historics Class E
- 1. Darryl Mann
- 2. Cecil Manson-Bishop
- 3. Mike Gains
Sports Cars
- 1. Jonathan Edwards
- 2. Barry Glanz
- 3. Phil Clarke
GT Class A
- 1. Mike McLoughlin
- 2. Peter Blofield
- 3. Rob Prece
GT Class B
- 1. Garry Commins
- 2. Zahid Hassim
- 3. Leo Branders