26 Oct RACE REPORT: DRAG RACING – 23 OCTOBER 2021
PERFECT WEATHER WELCOMES SPECTATORS BACK TO KILLARNEY DRAGS

Some days are diamonds, the song says, and Round 4 of MSA Drag Racing at Killarney on Saturday 23 October was one of those. Despite heavy rain overnight, the sky cleared early in the day, leaving the strip washed clean and ready for the application of fresh track-bite, delivering superb traction for some red-hot runs.
But the cherry on the top for the competitors was the cheering from the stands, with spectators allowed at a straight-line event for the first time since lock-down in March 2020.
Hermann Mostert and his 2JZ-powered Nissan Champ bakkie ‘Jack Russell’ gave the fans exactly what they came for, with spectacular burnouts and foot-flat passes, running consistent low eights all day. His best effort was a magnificent 8.15764 second run at 271.06km/h, the fastest run of the day.
Second in the open forced-induction OS Class was Yaseen Ebrahim in a Nissan GTR at 9.72793 seconds and 242.64km/h, with Morgan Smith third in an astonishingly quick Volkswagen Golf Mk1, with a brilliant 10.31549 second pass at 220.22km/h.
Not even the bikers could match Mostert’s times, although Heinrich Slamet got his Suzuki GSX-R1000 into the eights with a best effort of 8.70455 seconds at 250.57km/h, followed by Bradlee Kiviets’ Kawasaki ZX-14 on 9.47054 seconds and 233.82km/h.
First-generation Golfs dominated the open naturally aspirated OA Class, taking six of the top seven spots on the time sheets. They were led by Saud Bassa (11.34462 seconds at 183.75km/h), Washief Hendricks (11.75249 seconds at 194.61km/h) and Whaleed Manuel (11.89088 seconds at 184.28km/h), with Riaaz Petersen keeping the Japanese flag flying in fourth with a best effort of 12.07384 seconds at 176.69km/h.
Mansoor Parker recorded the quickest time in the six-cylinder forced induction 6S Class in his BMW E30, a creditable 11.07172 second pass at 218.25km/h, just two hundredths of a second quicker that Mierwaan Thomas’ 11.09880 seconds at 205.82km/h seconds in his 2JZ powered E36 M3.
Yusuf Allie took the honours in Class 4A for naturally aspirated four-cylinders in the oldest car on the entry list, the Allie family’s vintage Ford Escort Mk1 ‘Patches’, laying down a solid 13.27578 second pass at 160.21km/h, ahead of Wintzel Willemse’s Honda Ballade (13.40218 seconds at 167.99km/h) and Yale Henderson in a similar Ballade on 13.79976 seconds 167.64km/h.
Leon Engelbrecht took advantage of the extra traction of his all-wheel drive Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG to clinch the Street-Legal Class with an 11.54960 second pass at 189.89km/h, well ahead of Johan van der Merwe’s BMW F30 330d on 12.81610 seconds and 173.61km/h.