Top speedsters in Classic thrills
A thrilling second round of the South African Classic TT series was battled out at the East London Grand Prix Circuit over the past weekend as an exciting two weekends of motorcycling action came to an end.
After round one was held at the track a week earlier, the stakes were raised for the second weekend as organisers decided to run the second round anti-clockwise, which proved to be the first time motorbikes had gone that direction in the track’s history.
“We are happy with the action on the track. It was very interesting over the two weeks, and especially this past weekend, with the guys going around the track backwards,” said Border Motorsport PR Dave Kirkman.
“The top speed recorded was 286km/h just before breaking for beacon, which is extremely quick for these bikes, and it was enjoyed by a much larger crowd than what turned out for the first round.”
Fittingly, history was made by two locals as East London’s Garrit Nel became the first race winner in this layout as he triumphed in the Unlimited Superbikes class, followed closely by Travis Naude, to make it a home one two, while Bert Jonker rounded out the podium in third.
In the SS 600 class Cape Town’s David Enticott took the top honours, while being chased hard by the East London duo of Bradley Rehse and K C Myburgh, who took second and third respectively.
In the Clubmans class, round one champ John Quinn from East London unfortunately crashed out, paving the way for 14-year-old Graigan Nel to take the win ahead of Gerrie Havenga in second and Martin Minnie in third.
The main race, the CSRA SA Classic TT, was, as expected, the most exciting event of the day, and saw round one star Noel “Hitman” Haarhof crowned 2019 champ as he repeated with another superb double triumph. However, this time the South African was pushed all the way to the line by England’s James Hillier, who is an Isle of Man TT podium finisher.
In race one they were separated by seconds, while A J Venter, also from SA, rounded out the podium.
In race two Hillier was troubled by oil pump issues which hampered his challenge, allowing Haarhof to power away for a dominant win, but he still managed to take second place ahead of Ian Pinkerton.
“It was a great equaliser going backwards, and really added an exciting edge to the day’s action,” said Kirkman.
“We also had a lot more local guys competing which was nice to see on the track, and I think it was the perfect way to start the season, as we do not usually have a big international event at the start of the season, and we will repeat it again next year.
“Looking forward we have another wonderful year in store.
“We have the Extreme Festival in midyear, the SA Endurance series in September and then, in November, we have an international sports car race with the Speedstream Classic Sports Car international.
“Along with all our local events, it is going to be a busy year.”