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May 4, 2017

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WHEELS

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… NOW YOU’RE MOTORING

Fastest gravel racers Local racers prepare for Dundee as Hyundai still celebrate after Rally Argentina ALWYN VILJOEN

will make it as riveting to watch on Red Bull TV as the Rally Ar­ IN one of the most electrifying gentina reruns.

World Rally Championship fina­ les in memory, Hyundai Motor­ Battlefields 400 sport’s Thierry Neuville and co­ A lot of gravel also awaits local driver Nicolas Gilsoul claimed a sports presenter and radio per­ stunning victory by only 0,7 sec­ sonality Tony Ndoro, who joins ond in Rally Argentina — the fifth Terence Marsh in the hot­seat of round of the 2017 FIA WRC. the Red­Lined Motorsport team It is the team’s second win in in the Battlefields 400, round a row after Tour de Corse, and two of the South African Cross their fifth WRC victory in total. Country Series (SACCS) on The two WRC wins in a row May 12 and 13. put Hyundai Motorsport second The team will be fielding three in the manufacturers’ champion­ new Nissan Navaras built under ship and will make dealers happy the guidance of Graeme Thorn­ as the old adage, “win on Sunday, ton at the Red­Lined Motor­ sell on Monday” is still the best sport workshop in the Kyalami way to convince buyers of a Business Park. Kwese television brand’s abilities. sports channel will also be shoot­ The next leg of the WRC is in ing a documentary insert of Portugal on May 18 to 21, with Ndoro’s experience as a naviga­ five consecutive gravel events that tor.

Thierry Neuville and co­driver Nicolas Gilsoul on their way to claim a 0,7­second win in the fender­ripping Rally Argentina.

PHOTO: QUICKPIC The Red­Lined team will use the Battlefields 400, based in Dundee, as a “working test” ses­ sion before Marsh and team­mate

Riaan Greyling tackle the Takli­ makan Rally China from June 10 to 24. Also known as the “Orien­ tal Dakar”, the Rally China covers

a route of 6 500 km in the Takli­ makan Desert and takes place over 13 days.

In KZN next weekend, the race headquarters and the designated service park (DSP) for the Kwa­ Zulu­Natal event will be at the Battlefield Country Lodge and Sports Resort on the outskirts of Dundee. Public entrance to these areas and spectator points along the route is free of charge.

The weekend will offer enthu­ siasts a full house of cross coun­ try racing, as it includes an invi­ tation race for KZN bike and quad riders.

Enthusiasts can also follow the race on the RallySafe app for Apple and Android devices.

The app can be downloaded free of charge and plots the posi­ tion of the cars during the race via maps and timing information.

CALLING ALL KZN SPINNERS MARITZBURG’S own spinner mentor Kurt Volmink recently competed for the Western Cape team in the Battle of the Provinces (BOTP) and returned determined to gather a team of KZN spinners to take on the rest of South Africa.

The BOTP spinning format sees two cars compete to get closest to tyre obstacles set out in a narrow arena. The crowd favourite is a high­speed 180­degree flick to reverse park into a narrow bay called “The Kitchen” before spinning out again. Volmink met with top spinners in Pietermaritzburg on Monday and they will next meet in an elimination round in the city on June 16 to select a team to compete Dundee on July 1 an provincial event host­ ed by Dundee’s king of spin, Preshu Singh.

• Drivers who want to be part of the KZN Spinners can contact Kurt Volmink at 082 563 9916.

Mazda vehicles have always been designed and built to the highest standard of performance and reliability and now for complete peace of mind motoring; Mazda Southern Africa has introduced the Mazda Lifetime Parts Warranty which will be effective on new and existing models from January 2017.

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Continuing to defy convention, MazdaSA will repair or replace any part that fails to perform its normal function without any charge to the vehicle owner for the lifetime of ownership.

Claims under this warranty will exclude repair or replacement of parts required due to an accident, misuse, lack of proper maintenance, improperly performed repairs or environmental conditions damage. Incorrectly installed parts, non-approved parts and vehicle modifications as well as parts installed to vehicles that are used for competition, racing or emergency will also be excluded.

Serviceable parts; parts replaced under the provisions of the Manufacturer’s warranty; batteries, additives, oils, seals, gaskets, trim items and glass or any parts replaced at the owners request that were deemed inappropriate or unnecessary by the Mazda dealer will also not be included under this warranty.

The Mazda Lifetime Parts warranty applies to those replacement parts fitted by a Mazda authorised dealer and fully paid for by the vehicle owner; so the vehicle owner will be required to produce the original repair invoice when returning to the dealer for repairs under this warranty.

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WitnessWheels MOTORING ELECTRIC

2

May 4, 2017

NEW EVEE IN OLD SHAPE

China’s best selling all­ electric car in March was the BAIC EC180, of which 2 800 units were sold.

PHOTO: LEBLOG AUTO.COM

MITSUBISHI Motors celebrates its centenary in North America by re­creating a modern model of its 1917 Model A on the chassis of the Outlander PHEV, proving our prediction at Wheels that imagination is the only limit to what future electric cars can look like.

Featuring a highly efficient 2.0­litre gas engine and two high­performance electric motors, and Mitsubishi’s superior Super All­Wheel Control (S­AWC) system, the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV delivers SUV capabilities and EV fuel economy.

PHOTO: MITSUBISHI

Truck power in small Slovenia hub motors SLOVENIAN company Ela­ phe introduced its leading in­ wheel technology to local and international automotive au­ dience at the 2017 Shanghai motor show.

Delivering the keynote ad­ dress at the ninth Transmis­ sion Syposium hosted as part of the motor show, CEO of Elaphe Propulsion Technolo­ gies Gorazd Lampi said Ela­ phe’s in­wheel system is 10% more efficient compared to the latest central electric mo­ tor and its inverter.

“Our high torque motors are based on the Elaphe elec­ tromagnetic topology, which enables all of the desired prop­ erties of an in­wheel electric motor. The core innovation in the electromagnetic part was developed in co­operation with the accomplished Slo­ vene physicist, innovator and philosopher Andrej Detela and is part of a 20­year­old vi­

Future car platforms: A flat battery pack and hubwheels allow for true customisation, as Mitsubishi showed with a modern 1917 model (top). PHOTO: ELAPHE sion that has been brought to life by the Elaphe team.

“We constantly expand the theory and integrate new solu­ tions into our motors.”

Elaphe demonstrated this with a 4×4 fully electric in­ wheel driven SUV on the show and a video of the SUVs during recent winter testing.

During a presentation on

in­wheel technologies, Dr Zhang Zhojun from Shanghai eDrive also presented the many possible applications of in­wheel motor technology.

In Zhojun’s study, even with not too recent data, one of the old Elaphe in­wheel motor de­ signs had the highest specific torque (27,8 Nm/kg).

Based on this independent

analysis, Elaphe currently has the leading in­wheel motor technology on the market.

Five hub motors have been developed, serving from cars to trucks, with either air or liq­ uid cooling systems.

The smallest hub motor for cars weighs only 23 kg, but makes 75 kW and 700 Nm, and as the motors are electric, all the power is available from the first revolution.

An air­cooled hub motor suitable for scooters or trike cars weighs 20 kg and makes 20 kW and 225 Nm. Elaphe competes with the Chinese company Protean, but the Slovenian company said it can jump start a small to medium series production line or provide support to large series equipment manu­ facturers for high volume pro­ duction anywhere. Protean is still testing its prototypes.

— WR.

LUNAR QUATTRO IN SPACE MOVIE BEFORE REAL MOON TRIP AUDI has announced that its Lunar Quattro will make an appearance in the new mov­ ie Alien: Covenant, the Ridley Scott­directed sequel to 2012’s Prometheus.

The crew use the Lunar Quattro to explore the un­ known terrain of the planet in the movie, which opens on May 19.

The real Lunar Quattro goes back to 2015, when Audi teamed up with Ger­ many’s Part­Time Scientists

The Audi Lunar Quattro in the movie Alien: Covenant PHOTO: SUPPLIED

to compete in Google’s X Prize programme.

Using its component pro­

totype 3D metal printer at Audi’s headquarters in Ingol­ stadt, Germany, Audi devel­

oped many of the 29­kg Lu­ nar Quatro’s parts, including the solar­powered powertrain The team are no longer in the X Prize competition, but still plan to send the Lunar Quattro to the moon on­ board a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as part of a mission to deploy two lunar rovers in the Taurus–Littrow lunar val­ ley, where the last manned mission to the Moon landed in 1972.

— Wheels Reporter.

Nissan LEAF to race in Mongol Rally TO silence the doubters on the durability of electric ve­ hicles, UK company Plug In Adventures will enter a spe­ cially modified Nissan LEAF in the Mongol Rally to race

To advertise your company in

16 000 km in June.

Dubbed the LEAF AT­EV (All Terrain Electric Vehicle), the vehicle is based on a standard 30 kWh Nissan LEAF Acenta, which offers a

range of up to 155 miles/250 km on a single charge. The modifications in­ clude narrow wheels and tyres for better performance on wet dirt roads, a plate to

protect the underside of the wishbones, braided brake lines and a 6 mm aluminium sump guard. The interior has been stripped to provide more storage space. — WR,

Call Avir Thulsiram on 084 278 3447 OR 033 355 1152 email: Avir@witness.co.za

A future without a fuel tank Total and Continental prepare for oil demand to start falling ALWYN VILJOEN AS the students who built Stella Lux last week did the school run in their low­slung solar­powered, four­seater family saloon, two large companies announced their plans for a fuel­free future.

José Avila, head of Continental’s powertrain unit, said the company expects gradually falling demand for newly developed mechanic and hy­ draulic engine components, which is what Continental sells.

This is why the group will reduce its expenses in the old technologies step by step and instead invest more than $300 million to expand its electric car and hybrid tech­ nologies over the next five years.

Avila predicts electric and hybrid car sales will ac­ count for 40% of the new car market by 2025.

Meanwhile, Total SA, one of the world’s biggest oil producers, predicts battery powered vehicles will cause demand for oil­ based fuels to peak in the 2030. Total chief energy economist Joel Couse said at Bloomberg New Energy Fi­ nances (BNEF) conference in New York EVs will make up between 15% and 30% of new vehicle sales by 2030.

After that, demand for inefficient internal combustion engines “will flatten out”, Couse said, adding the demand may “even decline”.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc chief execu­ tive officer Ben van Beurden said in March that oil demand may peak in the late 2020s. It set up a business

unit to identify the clean technolo­ gies where it could be most profita­ ble.

While Africa still burns fuel, in Eu­ rope and the U.S. electric cars are be­ ginning to compete with petrol mod­ els on price and performance. Batter­ ies in particular, which can make up half the total price of an electric car, are dropping by about 20% after re­ cent developments.

China, the world’s biggest market for new car sales, announced new ze­ ro­emission standards for automak­ ers at the Shanghai motor show.

This includes counting hybrid cars as fuel­burning cars, which was bad news for Toyota, which now has to add batteries to its hydrogen­fuel plan, but plans to phase out fossil fuels cars totally by 2050.

In India, Tata Motors is also de­ veloping electric Jaguar and Volvo models, while in Eu­ rope Mercedes­ Benz, VW, General Motors are releasing dozens of new models.

They will all be competing against China’s top selling electric brands — most of which South Africa have not heard of — BAIC, BYD, Chan­ gan, Chery, Horki, JMC, Kandi, Lif­ an, Zhidou and Zotye, who between them sell over 32 000 all­electric cars a month.

“By 2020 there will be over 120 different models of EV across the spectrum,” said Michael Liebreich, founder of Bloomberg New Energy Finance. “These are great cars. They will make the internal combustion equivalent look old fashioned.”

‘By 2020 there will be over 120 different models of electric vehicles across the spectrum.’

Stella Lux, a four­seater family car that runs on sunshine only.

PHOTO: IDTECHEX

MOTORING WitnessWheels

May 4, 2017

3

FLYING CARS LAND AT MONACO A bargain at about R7,2 million before import taxes, Dutch company PAL­V launched its Liberty Pioneer Edition gyrocopter at Top Marques Monaco last week. Competing with the much more expensive Aeromobil (right), PAL­V looks set to sell its target 90 units. Large fuel tanks give the Liberty a flight range of 490 km, or 1 300 km on the road.

After the prince of Monaco launched the AeroMobil flying car at the very exclusive Top Marques car show last week, Slovakian company AeroMobil started taking orders for an initial 500 units, each selling for an eye­watering R17,3 million. A 2.0­litre turbocharged boxer engine provides power to the propeller through a bespoke transmission. The wings fold within three minutes at the touch of a button and offers a cruising range of 750 km and a road range of 700 km, carrying 240 kg. PHOTOS: MOTORINGRESEARCH.COM

Prison for driving drunk Vehicle sellers support minister’s call for mandatory jail for driving while over the achohol limit THE Retail Motor Industry (RMI) has welcomed national Transport Minister Joe Maswan­ ganyi’s call to introduce a prison sentence for drunk driving Maswanganyi wants to intro­ duce harsher sanctions to com­ bat drunk and negligent driving — including a mandatory prison sentence of at least two years if a motorist is convicted of either offence.

The minister’s call comes in the wake of a shocking 51% in­ crease in the number of fatalities

on South Africa’s roads during the recent Easter long weekend in which 235 people were killed in traffic accidents. Half of those who died were passengers in ve­ hicles, while pedestrians ac­ counted for just under 25% of the fatalities.

According to latest statistics released by Arrive Alive, up to 12 702 road deaths are reported annually in South Africa.

The figure shows that much needs to be done to reduce the number of fatalities, the death

count representing only the number of people who lose their lives at the scene of an accident and not those who succumb else­ where due to their injuries.

The RMI fully supports the United Nations’ Decade of Ac­ tion for Road Safety campaign, under which South Africa’s De­ partment of Transport has com­ mitted to reduce road deaths by 50% over a 10­year period that ends in 2020.

International studies have found that safety awareness is

paramount in reducing the num­ ber of road accidents — whether applied to roads, vehicles or road users. Locally, statistics show that 10% of motor vehicle acci­ dents are caused by non­road­ worthy vehicles.

According to an assessment by the Road Traffic Man­ agement Corpora­ tion, contributing factors in fatal crashes include burst, dam­ aged or smooth tyres (36%), faulty brakes

‘Wheels24’ readers respond to call for jail SISTER publication Wheels24 asked readers if harsher penalties would deter motor­ ists from driving drunk?

Thirty­eight percent (5 825 votes) said yes and 42% (6 533 votes) said no, while 20% (3 149 people) think there is not enough evidence to support either side. Below are extracts from some readers: Ros: Take away the drivers’ licences of those whom are guilty. Only way to stop this.

Eben: I think alcoholic prod­ ucts must indicate that driv­ ing under the influence is dangerous and the volume of the product, according to your weight, that will most

probably place you over the limit and that you should not drive a car. This infor­ mation must at least take up a third of the label space on each and every drink that contains alcohol.

Masango: I think the rea­ son people drive drunk is that they don’t feel safe walking because of high lev­ els crime in our country.

Everyone feels safe in his/ her car.

Dumisani: As a start, the driver’s licence should be confiscated when a person gets arrested for drunk driv­ ing until the case is finalised in court. When the matter is finalised court should make

an order whether the licence should be suspended or re­ turned to the driver. That would make people think twice about getting behind a wheel after drinking.

Andre: Driving under the in­ fluence is dangerous and ir­ responsible, but to compare it to rape and murder is simply ridiculous ... So, now they want to send a young person to prison with real rapists and murderers, when all he/she did wrong was to make a poor decision during a night out? All they would have accomplished through this was to create another hardened criminal ...

Ultimately, I agree that

friends, family and society will have a far greater im­ pact on curbing this menace than government ever could ... Focus on the real problem at hand — the taxis, who do whatever they want and the police, who do nothing about it!

Peter: I agree that heavier sentences for drunk driving can create serious problems for the family, but impound­ ing the vehicle on the spot, for it to be retrieved from a pound after a fine is paid, would create sufficient mon­ etary and time inconven­ ience to make the offender think seriously before driving under the influence ... — WR.

(25%), faulty or unsafe steering (24%), or other causes (15%).

And statistics from eNatis, re­ leased in October 2016, show that of the 11 957 075 vehicles registered on the system, only 2 590 736 (21,7%) were required by law to be tested for roadwor­

thiness. The CEO of the RMI, Jakkie Olivier, says the organisa­ tion supports endeavours by the National Department of Trans­ port to implement a regular vehi­ cle testing regime in this country, the aim being to reduce road deaths. — Supplied.

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Helmet lights up In one of those why­did­I­ not­think­about­it ideas, California­based startup Brake Free successfully crowd­funded the Brake Free, a brake light that fits any bike helmet with 100 ultra­bright LEDs, incorporating in a weather proof casing an accelerometer and gyroscope sensors to light up independently of the motorbike’s electronic system. A lithium­ion rechargeable battery works for eight hours on a charge.

Brake Free is expected to become available in April 2018, at a retail price of $149, about R2 000 locally.

PHOTO: SUPPLIED

Our friendly sales team is equipped to deal with all enquiries and have a wealth of knowledge in the motoring field. We pride ourselves in delivering exceptional service and products to our clients and therefore have a stringent quality check process in place to make sure that every product complies with our requirements and is in top order.

Tel: Cell:

035 789 0464 53 Bullion Boulevard 035 789 0754 Richards Bay CBD 084 357 1082 Richards Bay eastcoastengines@gmail.com

WitnessWheels MOTORING

RACING

4

May 4, 2017

Apprentices at the Jaguar Land Rover Training Academy in Centurion, Pretoria, prepared this iconic Jaguar XJ­ S to race at the weekend’s Jaguar Simola Hillclimb near Knysna.

PHOTO: MOTORPRESS

Pietermaritzburg’s 600cc rider, Caitlin McKelvey. PHOTO: FILE

KZN riders duke it out at Dezzi’s COLIN WINDELL

Simola ready to roar KZN’s Martin to set off a fine collection of 64 classic cars at annual hillclimb PRETORIA — This year’s edition of Classic Car Friday, at the Jaguar Simola Hillclimb, will see the iconic Jaguar XJ­S make a return to racing tomorrow.

The annual race starts with the Classic Car race, featuring 64 entries spanning a total of 58 years of motoring and motor racing pedigree, along with some of the most iconic names in the automotive business.

For the King of the Hill race up the challenging 1,9­km Hillclimb course on Saturday and Sunday, 84 cars have en­ tered, comprising everything from pur­ pose­built Hillclimb monsters with over 1 100 kW on tap to specialised light­ weight single­seater race cars, exotic su­ percars and stunning road cars.

A dozen Nissan GT­R cars will com­ pete in the various production, modified and supercar classes at the 2017 Jaguar Simola Hill Climb. Of these, 10 are GT­R

models from different areas and in differ­ ent stages of tune, making it the most popular vehicle at the Hill Climb by some margin.

Among the registered contenders for the 2017 Hill Climb is the R32 GT­R of KZN’s Desmond Gutzeit, which is ru­ moured to have even more power than the 1 800+ horsepower it delivered last year, R34 GT­Rs and several standard and highly modified R35 models. This year also sees the first entry of a unique wide body Liberty Walk R35 Nissan GT­R. Nissan South Africa has supported several of the contenders and is directly involved in the Hill Climb campaigns of the 1 000+horsepower BB GT­R, which will be driven by Nissan racer Wilhelm Baard, and a standard production MY17 Nissan GT­R driven by Jaki Scheckter.

The specially prepared XJ­S shown

above has a V12 engine and will be driven in tomorrow’s classic car race by Ameri­ can racing champ Randy Pobst, who is also participating in the King of the Hill event in a mighty Jaguar F­TYPE SVR, with a 423 kW supercharged V8.

The XJ­S has been prepared at the Jag­ uar Land Rover Training Academy in Centurion by skilled apprentices, who replace important seals, bushes and vital fluids to ensuring the car is ready to de­ light fans when its V12 roars up the hill at the hands of its guest driver.

Owner of Backdraft Racing in KZN, former racer Tony Martin, will be waving the Classic Car Friday and King of the Hill competitors on their way.

Martin is probably best known for his success at the 1984 Daytona 24­Hour race as part of the all­South African team alongside Sarel van der Merwe and Gra­ ham Duxbury. The trio dominated this

legendary event in the famous Kreepy Krauly March 83G­Porsche.

Competing against the likes of Scheckter and Dave Charlton, Martin al­ so raced in the fabled Formula Atlantic series, winning the South African Motor Racing Drivers Championship title in 1980. In 2002 he established Durban­ based Backdraft Racing in Prospekton in 2002, which is one of the world’s top producers of AC Cobra replicas, most of which are exported to the U.S., while several are developed into high­perform­ ance racing cars for local customers.

“I feel quite privileged and honoured to be invited to fulfil the role of Grand Marshal,” he said. “The Jaguar Simola Hillclimb is a specially exciting event, where you see the most spectacular gathering of cars and drivers in one place. You simply don’t find this else­ where in SA.” — WR.

Gildenhuys and Seller in best Superbike race yet in SA A LARGE crowd was treated to some of the best motorcycle racing seen in South Africa when the DEOD SuperGP Cham­ pions Trophy made its way to the East London Grand Prix Circuit for the sec­ ond round of the 2017 championship on Saturday, April 29.

Qualifying on Friday afternoon gave indication of things to come in the Su­ perGP category. Clint Seller (MiWay Yamaha Racing R1) looked like he had done enough to grab pole position for the first race despite only being able to complete one flying lap before suffering fuel problems.

A red flag brought the session to a halt and once it re­started Seller was unable to go out for another quick lap. Michael White (Consortium Shipping Yamaha R1) came up with his best lap of the day to take pole position, demoting Seller to second with Greg Gildenhuys (Auto­ haus Towing / Transport.co.za Kawasaki ZX10R) completing the front row of the grid. Lance Isaacs (SupaBets LIR BMW S1000RR), AJ Venter (Team Hygenica Yamaha Racing R1) and Brandon Goode (Linex Yamaha R1) filled the second row.

Venter got a flyer of a start in the open­ ing race, grabbing the lead from the sec­ ond row of the grid but Seller didn’t take long to work his way to the front and start opening a gap.

It looked like he was going to pull away and take a comfortable win, but Gilden­ huys had other ideas. He slowly reeled the former champion in and, in the end, was able to get past and open a slight gap to take the win. Seller came home in second, ahead of Isaacs with early leader Venter having to settle for fourth.

AJ Venter leads in the opening stages of the first SuperGP race.

PHOTO: MOTORPRESS Garrick Vlok (Diamond Core Drilling / Shop #74 Yamaha R1) ended in fifth ahead of David McFadden (Sandon Auto / BMW Motorrad S1000RR) who had to work his way up from the back of the grid after he failed to set a time in qualify­ ing.

The second race turned into one of the best Superbike races yet seen in South Africa. Seller started from 20th on the grid as he only managed one quick lap in qualifying and set about working his way through the field.

Before half­distance he joined White, Gildenhuys, Isaacs, Venter and Goode at the font of the field. Positions changed almost every corner, but eventually Sell­

er took the flag just ahead of Gildenhuys with White taking third by less than half a bike length from Isaacs. Venter fin­ ished fifth ahead of Goode.

Speaking after the race Seller said, “I could have done another 10 laps. We were just having so much fun together.

“Even if I had finished third I would have had an awesome race, but I was lucky to come away with the win, espe­ cially considering where we started.”

In the SuperMasters category Hein­ rich Rheeder (BMW Motorrad / Rheeder Racing S1000RR) had a great day, taking two comfortable wins from Hendrik de Bruin (Yamaha R1).

In the opening race they were joined

on the podium by Johnny Krieger (Team Hygenica Yamaha Racing R1) while Beau Levey (Motos Blu Cru Yamaha R1) took third place in race 2.

In the absence of Adolf Boshoff (Mi­ Way Yamaha Racing R6), he damaged his hand in a practice crash on Friday, and Steven Odendaal who was in Spain for the opening round of the European Moto2 championship, the other riders had the chance to bag some valuable championship points.

After a slide in the first race, Blaze Bak­ er (Uncle Andy Racing Suzuki GSXR600) was back on the grid, thanks to team­mate William Friend agreeing to donate some parts from his bike to fix Baker’s damaged Suzuki. He repaid Friend’s generosity with a lights­to­flag win ahead of Hayden Jonas (Samurai Racing Kawasaki ZX6). Kevin Redman (Coral Tree Cottages Yamaha R6) and Jesse Boshoff (Phoenix Payroll Systems Kawasaki ZX6) had a great battle for the final podium position, Redman taking it by two tenths.

In the SuperJunior category, Taric van der Merwe (Evolve Nutrition KTM390) was untouchable, taking both wins by a comfortable margin. In the opening race Riccardo Otto (Otto Racing KTM390) was a comfortable second with Sam Lochoff (Samurai Racing KTM390) third. In race two Otto and Lochoff had a great battle with Otto again taking second, but this time by less than half a second.

The DEOD SuperGP Champions Trophy returns to the track for round three at Zwartkops Raceway in Pretoria on May 13. — Gas Sports.

LUAN van Zyl and Matthew Herbert duked it out to share the honours after a hard day of racing at the Dezzi Race­ way near Port Shestone on Saturday.

Each rider scored a heat win — Van Zyl taking the first heat and top spot because of a slightly better race time with Herbert the second in the Break­ fast Class.

Despite the fact there were no re­ gional or national points at stake and the race meeting formed part of the South Coast Bike Festival activities, the riders approached the day with the same fervour as if the championship itself was up for grabs. The Breakfast Class saw another titanic battle for third place between Cameron Venter and Nokolai Conci, the pair each get­ ting a third and fourth on the day and Venter gaining third spot on elapsed race time. Bryce Hills finished up firth overall for the day.

The result in the Breakfast B Class was a little more clear cut and, al­ though Peter Blofield and Pieterma­ ritzburg’s Caitlin McKelvey each had a heat win, her efforts were thwarted somewhat in heat 2 when Clinton Massey­Hicks managed to get through to finish second — the final honours going to Blofield, McKelvey and Massey­Hicks, with Stephen Pur­ en fourth ahead of Stanley Ndlela.

In the Open Class it was a mirror image for the victory with Llewelyn Puren and Duncan Day each getting a heat win but Day taking the top step of the podium on overall race time.

Gary Edwards finished up third fol­ lowed by Tyrone Edwards and Deon du Toit.

Jesse Conci dominated the day in the CBR150 Class with two fine wins ahead of the hard chasing Leo Booys­ en and the equally determined Jacques van Eeden. Sven Christensen was fourth ahead of Max Smith with Ken­ dra Trevethan out of the top five after a dreadful day that saw the lady racer have two bad starts.

Her placing might have been worse but for the second heat and a second chance at the start after the race was red flagged when Jake Jansen went down on the first lap — new rules fol­ lowing an incident in Cape Town ear­ lier this year meaning an automatic red flag and restart if a rider is lying on the circuit following a spill.

In the Motards category — essen­ tially off­road bikes running on slick tyres — the spoils went to Bryce Hills from Dane Searle, and Peter Blofield with Craig Tarlington fourth, and Pe­ ter Hills fifth.

• The KZN Road Racing Club has an open day at the Watercrest Mall in Waterfall on May 28. All drivers and riders welcome. More details on www.kznrrc.co.za.

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