Action-packed weekend at Killarney

PETROLHEADS are in for a triple bonanza on Saturday 13 October when Killarney International Raceway hosts three events on one day. Round 5 of the WPMC Club Drag Racing Championship, with classes for street cars, modified cars, including the spectacular supercharged and nitrous-boosted V8 monsters, superbikes and screaming Pro Street motorcycles, capable of shredding the quarter mile in well under 10 seconds from a standing start is set to wow crowds.

This meeting will also have an international flavour, with nine entries coming from Namibia to join in the action.

Generally, race direction will match up the competitors according to practice times to give you, the spectator, the closest and most exciting racing, but at the end of the day the winners of each class will be decided on their fastest time of the day, rather than who they were racing against at the time.

The one exception to this is Bracket Racing, where the starting lights are staggered to allow drivers in different classes to compete head to head – and whoever crosses the line first is the winner. Drag racing, derived from the illegal street racing of the 1940’s and 50’s in the United States, is arguably the purest and certainly one of the most spectacular to watch.

At the same time, there will be a sound-off competition in the new pit area, under the globally recognised International Auto Sound Challenge Association (IASCA) rules, to see (or hear) whose car stereo is the loudest, measured by a Termlab Magnum device that records not only the sound pressure (decibels) generated by the car’s speakers, but also the true power output of the system, and even the voltage of the battery powering it.

The results will be posted on the IASCA website and any records set will be recognised worldwide; South African cars currently hold world records in six of the 22 internationally recognised categories.

The event will also be the third and final round of the national Speed and Sound Hot Hatch, a sound-off series for street-legal hatchbacks, after previous rounds in Johannesburg and Durban. Cars from all around South Africa have entered in a bid to improve their positions in the final standings and the competition will be intense.

Just as intense, however, will be the Short Circuit racing on the ‘Half Main’ circuit, which includes Quarry Corner, the infamous ‘kink’, Rose Sweep and a purpose-built link from the Joubert Straight to the exit of KFM Corner in a tight, demanding one-kilometre circuit ideally suited to small, nimble racing cars and motorcycles.

There will be classes for 150cc motorcycles (with separate races for riders over and under 18 years of age), Super Singles (180cc two-stroke and 260cc four-stroke motorcycles), motards, Class X (lightweight Powersport machines such as KTM RC390s, Kawasaki 300 Ninjas and Yamaha R3s) as well as Formula M cars – miniature F1 replicas powered by motorcycle engines.

The Killarney Trackside Bar and Grill at the clubhouse will be open all day, as will the New Pit Lounge, with a bar and restaurant, kiddies activities and rides, big-screen TVs and comfortable seating with a spectacular view of the drag strip.

Gates open at 7.30am and the action starts at 10am. Entry will cost R80 for adults, R20 for scholars under 16, and it’s free for under 12s to attend.