17 Oct Race Report by Hayley – R&R Racing wins Fibreprod’s 4-hour Endurance Race at Killarney’s Short Circuit – 12 OCT 2024

A cool and overcast start to the day brought on the 7th round of Short Circuit racing, including round 3 of the Fibreprod 4-hour Endurance Series, held on 12 October 2024 at Killarney’s Karting circuit.
Qualifying progressed with the NSF100s making their way down to the circuit followed by MiniMotos, HSC Racing 150 Juniors & Seniors, Access Auto 125 Juniors & Seniors and Thermofires Club Sport & Super Motards.
As the Genasy’s NSF100s engines started, race one of their category went underway. Bertus Taljaard started the race in P1, leading the pack of three through turn one. On the final lap of the race, race leader Taljaard lost control of his bike coming out of the last corner just before the start/finish line.
Despite his defeat, Taljaard crossed the finish line with the help of nearby marshals, resulting in second place – pictured below. Rookie, Tyler Agnew, won the race with Taljaard behind him in second and Tyler King in third.
Race two of HSC Racing 150s Jnrs & Snrs saw that of Robert Lategan lose control of his bike in Golf Club ensuing a racing incident, resulting in a DNF, dropping his position to last.
Slade van Niekerk finished race one of the HSC Racing 150s in first place with Jason Linaker in second and Nicholas Hutchings in third.
Luke le Roux of the Thermofires Club Sport & Super Motards’ second race start did not go as planned as he pulled off on the warm-up lap, not starting the session. For the rest of the field, race two went down without any difficulty, making the results as follows: Tristin Pienaar in first place wheeling his way over the finish line, David Enticott in second place and Slade van Niekerk in third place.
The Auto Access 125 Jnrs & Snrs had a smooth sailing start to their third race, with Ewert Koortz leading the field into the first corner. Unfortunately, with 2 laps remaining, the smooth start soon resulted into an unwelcoming finish for Jaques Ackerman as his bike failed going into the 180s, having to push it across to a nearby safe zone with the assistance of a marshal.
Race 3 of the Auto Access 125 Jnrs & Snrs was won by Koortz with Julian Ferreira in second and relative Mario Ferreira in third.
The MiniMotos, also known as the “Peewees” had an interesting start to their third and final race of the day. Trinity King who was supposed to lineup in the third grid slot, accidently positioned herself in fourth before the lights had gone out. Luckily, race secretary – Megan Henning – and marshal – Frikkie – noticed the mistake and aided her to the correct position. Albert Carstens who was supposed to be in the fourth grid slot did not start the race.
Rogan King took first place for the MiniMotos in race three while Mia Pienaar scored second place and Trinity King third.
With the last race done, and the sun starting to peer out from the clouds, qualifying for the 4-hour had begun with seven bikes on track. A trouble-free session completed, the grid for the endurance series was as follows: SunScan in P1 with a best lap time of +49.737, HSC Racing in P2, R&R Racing in P3, Mag Workshop Moto in P4, Lots of Fun Racing in P5, Dark Horse Racing in P6 and Jannie2Stroke in P7.
Two laps into the endurance race, race leader – SunScan – had slid off the track exiting the 180s and hit the tyre barrier. After a little struggle, they rejoined the race before making their way to the pits for repair. SunScan returned to the race four laps behind the field.
Similar to SunScan, on their 28th lap Jannie2Stroke lost control of their bike leaving the last corner of the 180s and spun off into the tyre barrier before making their way to the pits.
One hour into the four hours, the results were as follows: HSC Racing in first place with their last time being +49.503, R&R Racing in second place with a time of +51.873 and SunScan with a time of +50.374 in third place.
With five minutes to go before reaching the two-hour mark, race leader – SunScan – ‘s chain had snapped on the inside of turn one, making the team pit early for a quick fix before rejoining on the 156th lap.
On the two-hour mark, HSC Racing had been in the lead with a lap time of +50.555 with R&R Racing following closely behind in second with a lap time of +52.509 and Mag Workshop Auto in third with a lap time of +51.991.
After the completion of 174 laps, Mag Workshop Moto went down on the inside of the 180s, got back up and swiftly rejoined the race with a brush of a shoulder.
Later, HSC Racing was seen pushing their bike back to the pits on the 189th lap after a mechanical issue had struck the bike.
The three-hour benchmark had arrived with R&R Racing taking the lead with a time of +51.974 while HSC Racing scored second place with a time of +52.958 and Lots of Fun Racing in third with a time of +53.592.
SunScan had, unfortunately, retired with fifty minutes left to go on the clock. Following the DNF, Jannie2Stroke had an incident on the exit of turn one where the bike had lost control and went down, subsequently returning to the rest of the field.
Dark Horse Racing experienced mechanical problems inside of the 180s, making the bike come to a stop before pushing the bike to the pits to solve the problem with twenty minutes left until the checkered flag.
The winners of round three of the Fibreprod 4-hour endurance series is R&R Racing, with Lots of Fun Racing in second place with a time of +52.534, and Mag Workshop Moto in third with a time of +52.408.
Congratulations to Caden Weise, Craig Benn and Bradley Rehse on the win. Be sure not to miss the next round of Short Circuit on 9 November 2024. See you there!
Image and Text by Hayley Zaayman