Bikers blaze into town
More than R30 000 raised for Cansa and PE economy boosted
IT was a fast and furious feast of bikes, beer and burnouts when nearly 5 000 motorcyclists roared into Beachview, Port Elizabeth, at the weekend for the Dolphin Rally. The spectators shrugged off rain between Friday and yesterday to gather at the resort hosting the province’s biggest annual bike festival.
And while the poor weather prompted a majority of the bikers to leave the resort early yesterday, the extensive trail of tell-tale tyre marks left behind was proof that the notoriously boisterous event was no drag.
Officials were pleased with the event and the bikers’ behaviour, although three people suffered “minor injuries” as rallyists took part in doughnut, wheelie and drag-racing competitions.
Dolphin Motorcycle Club president Gona Puckreesamy said there had been no major problems.
“Three people were injured during the drags on Saturday. They were not serious and one of the accidents involved someone on foot and not on a bike.
“The injured man went for treatment for a few broken ribs, I think. He was back at the rally a few hours later. Everything went very well,” Puckreesamy said.
Reacting to rumours that a fight had broken out among spectators, Puckreesamy said the incident was minor and was more of an argument.
“Obviously this is a biker rally. I tell people that we are not selling chocolates here, so we expect people to enjoy the atmosphere, but also to behave themselves.
“Safety is always our first priority and we do not take any nonsense as far as this is concerned. Having said that, everything went well. There were no arrests made or any trouble that I am aware of,” he said.
A mass bike ride held at the Kings Beach parking lot on Saturday was also hugely successful with hundreds of bikers participating.
“The whole event attracted about 2 500 bikes, so it was fantastic.
“Also, the rally generated huge rev- enue for the area with around 60% of the bikers coming from out of town,” Puckreesamy said. A significant number of bikers opted for accommodation that was around Beachview and in town.
“There was one rider who came all the way from Richards Bay in the far north of KwaZulu-Natal. Most of the out-of-town participants were from Cape Town, though.”
Puckreesamy said that more than R30 000 had been raised for Cansa’s Tough Living with Cancer (TLC) programme for children and teenagers diagnosed with or affected by cancer.
He said the event itself had raised R15 000 of the money, which his club had then doubled to make the R30 000 donation.
A PORT Elizabeth school pupil is the fastest man on two wheels in the Eastern Cape.
Grade 11 Pearson High School pupil Dayaan Padayachee set a new track record with the fastest quarter mile time ever recorded on a super bike in the Eastern Cape last weekend in East London.
The 17-year-old taught his older competitors a lesson at the “Strictly Street” event at the Old Grand Prix race circuit.
He broke the record in a time of 9.3 seconds on his BMW S 1000 over the 400m drag-strip.
He also took the title of best drifter and top stuntman in his BMW M3 sportscar.
“I set myself the goal that I would need to run a low nine seconds on the drag. I ended up doing it twice, running the two best times of 9.3 and 9.4 seconds,” Padayachee said.
He has a learner’s licence and a Motorsport South Africa track licence which allows him to participate in track events.
All of the motorcycle drags were run according to a time-trial format.
Old Grand Prix Circuit chairman Andrew Karshagen confirmed the time: “This is one of the first times anybody has been able to run early nine seconds at this track on a bike.” The previous record was 9.7 seconds.
Aldo Scribante Raceway event organiser Sparky Bright said: “To the best of my knowledge the record at Scribante stands at a high nine seconds . . . [which] is very fast.”
Dayaan’s father, coach and mechanic Dayalin said: “He just keeps getting better. He shattered the old record twice in one day, despite the side wind being very strong.”
Among his achievements, Dayaan also took the title of King of Drags at the Strawdogs Rally in Graaff-Reinet.
He was second at the Swallows Rally in the Western Cape earlier this year. He also finished second at the Dolphins Rally.