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• Bergrivier 1Swartland Bergrivier
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27 Maart 2019
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27 Maart 2019
•EXCITEMENT FELT IN THE WEST COAST AIR
Saldanha hosts Airstrip Assault
The Saldanha Airstrip Assault was in the making for a long time. And last weekend the quaint little town of Saldanha had its heart jumpstarted with speed hungry racers coming down from all over South Africa. Why were they here? They were here for glory. They were here for bragging rights. Most importantly they were here to enjoy responsible motorsport in what is undoubtedly the most well-attended top end drag racing event in the Southern Hemisphere. Saldanha Airstrip Assault was a collaborate event between West Coast Racing and RaceSA from Johannesburg. The event was dubbed JHBvsCPT and the idea was to have some fun by pitting the best cars and drivers from up North against the best from Cape Town. Prior to the gates opening on Friday at 5pm, trucks with cars from up North had already set up their spots in the pits while West Coast Racing and RaceSA crews set up the track, ensuring that all safety criteria were met. During the day a few of the bigger, more high powered cars from Cape Town and Johannesburg were given the opportunity to do some shakedown runs on the open track to tune their cars for the madness that would ensue the following day. Friday night was the customary Outlaw Quarter Mile Drags. This allowed anyone a chance to take their car down the legendary Saldanha Drags Airstrip for a 400m timed run. It also gives all the drivers who entered for the main event a chance to test their cars one last time before the 804.6m assault the following morning. People in the know might notice the strange 804.6m number. Well spotted, if you caught that. Usually Saldanha Drags is run over a distance of 800m. This, however, was not a regular Saldanha Drags. This time around a true half mile track was run which measures exactly 804.6m. This was to stay in line with what is the international norm and gives the drivers a good indication of how they compare to cars abroad with regards to speed and times. The Outlaw Drags proved to be invaluable to some of the teams. Joburg Autotech in particular had new found appreciation for having a shakedown with their 2J Powered BMW E46. On one of their runs they grenaded their gearbox and worked through the night repairing the car. With the sun peaking over the horizon on
race day, most out of town teams were already on track baaring the two Porsche GT3R’s from ACS Motorsport, one of which had a puncture, forcing the crew to wait for Porsche road side assist to come and repair it. The local Cape Town boys who had not opted to run Outlaw Drags started rolling in to get scrutineered and ready to assault the 1/2 mile strip. The NXGEN crew from up North had taken full advantage of the previous evening’s track time with the 2 Lamborghini Huracans, Porsche 911 Turbo S and army of Nissan GTR R35’s. Maistry Motorsport was on the scene early with their R35, Mercedes Benz C63 and VW Polo’s. As always, the Pertamina Fastron GTR was on the scene with their Nissan GTR R35 and pitted next to the CPI Innovations Crew who rolled in with their Nissan GTR R35 and a squadron of AWD Volkswagens. It was also hard to miss RMZ Motorsport`s stunning Audi TTRS. Saying that this car is quick,
is a massive understatement. Another car from up North was the BB Motorgroup Nissan GTR R35. In the pit we also had the two-wheeled demons of Kampi1, Pretoria North Motors and Racing Mayhem. The day was kicked off with the customary parade lap just after the drivers` briefing. The parade lap is a firm tradition with the drags and really gets the fans excited and gives them a taste of what’s to come. Racing kicked off shortly after and it was not long before some big numbers were seen on the board. Achmat Israel took his Kawasaki zx 14 on gas down the strip to set a top speed of 308.6km/h. Due to issues with the Kawa he was unfortunately unable to go out again. It was of little consequence though, because no one was able to fetch his speed, which stayed until the end of the day making him the fastest rider with the fastest bike on the day. Grant Steenfeld
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