27 Aug DRAG RACING ROUND 7 & NATIONAL BIKES – 24 AUGUST 2019 – REVIEW
NATIONAL BIKES LIGHT UP KILLARNEY DRAG STRIP
The large and enthusiastic crowd of spectators at Round 7 of the MSA Drag Racing series at Killarney International Raceway on Saturday 24 August was treated to a spectacular display of straight-line motorcycle racing at its best, as the competitors in the SA National Drag Racing championship made a rare visit to Cape Town.
Sadly, defending Class SB champion Peter de la Rey suffered a clutch failure in practice and was unable to compete, but the rest of the field certainly made up for it in sheer excitement, making the most of the extra 17 percent power afforded by bringing their machines to sea level.
Nevertheless, the biggest cheers of the day were reserved for local hero Reece Robertson, who achieved a new personal best on his Suzuki GSX-R1000, breaking the 8.6 second barrier after almost a year of trying, to record an 8.569 second pass at 252.63km/h.
He was also the only Class A rider to break into the eights, ahead of Abbas Brenner’s best run of 9.012sec at 246.56km/h on a BMW S1000 RR and Class B hotshot Yusuf Patel (Suzuki GSX-R1000), who laid down a creditable 9.572sec pass at 237.44km/h.
In both rounds of Class SS racing, Zafar Hoosen (Suzuki GSX-R1000) beat local veteran Sharief Reynolds (on an older Suzuki GSX-R1000) for the win, with Alister Bloy’s Kawasaki ZX-10R taking third.
The same happened in Class B Eliminators, with De la Rey bringing his machine to the line for both his races and withdrawing after the green light so as not to default. The win for the day went to Josh Rich (BMW S1000 RR), from Stephan Lottering (Kawasaki ZX-6R) and Jevon Johnson (BMW S1000 RR).
The fastest time of the day on four wheels was recorded by Ralph Kumbier in Shaheen Barmania’s brutal twin-turbo Chev Lumina Ute ‘Suspect’, with a thundering 9.420second pass at 224.73km/h. Second in the Open Turbo class was Rudi Roode in a Volkswagen Golf, at 10.040sec and 220.26km/h, ahead of Clifton van der Mescht’s front-wheel drive Audi TT, (10.283sec at 239.42).
Class OA for naturally aspirated machines was dominated as usual by Shaun Zurich’s immaculately prepared Honda Civic. His best on the day was 9.669sec at 227.79 – more than 1.5 seconds quicker than Jason Williams’ Volkswagen Golf, and 2.2sec quicker than Saud Bassa, who took third in a Toyota.
There was only entry in Class S for multi-cylinder naturally-aspirated cars, the Nissan GT-R of M Parker, who recorded a 9.709sec pass at 231.47, while Class 6S for turbo multis went to Hermann Mostert’s old-school Toyota Corolla (9.753sec at 194.79km/h) ahead of Brian Canterbury in a Mazda RX7 (10.226sec at 212.36km/h) and Lester Mackay (BMW 335i), who laid down a dramatic 11.605sec pass at 204.67km/h.
Moeneeb Parker took Class 4A for naturally-aspirated four-cylinder vehicles in a Nissan Champ with an 11.543second run at 216.83 km/h, from the similar bakkie of Hilton Diener (12.272sec at 183.56km/h) with Oscar Volkwyn third in a Volkswagen Golf 2L third on 12.534sec and 175.85km/h.
Class 4S for turbo fours was a Volkswagen Golf benefit, with Naeem Logday’s 7R topping the table at 10.803sec and 208.13, followed by Robert Janse van Rensburg (12.943sec at 178.51) and Johan van der Merwe on 13.158sec and 178.33km/h.