By: Colin Windell
A state of ‘semi-retirement’ seems to do little to phase the supremely talented KwaZulu-Natal motorcycle ace, Malcolm Rudman, who made a rare appearance at Dezzi Raceway, Oslo Beach at the weekend, winning both heats of the Formula Extreme series as if he had never missed an outing.
However, it was not so clear cut for the local Super Motard riders. A contingent of competitors from Johannesburg made the trip to the South Coast and, even giving the locals a 20-second start, took less than three laps to get amongst the leaders.
Admittedly, the up-country crew all compete in the short-circuit nationals and do much more racing than the KZN riders but, it was still a hard lesson.
Overall for the day it was Aston Nesbitt (Husqvarna 450) who took top honours from Dorren Loureiro on the Family Fitness Husqvarna 450 and Tai van Rensburg (Husqvarna 450) – however, getting there involved some pretty intense racing through the two heats.
In the opening round it was Chris Wright (MVC KTM 450) who made the running through the pack and took the chequered flag from Loureiro and Nesbitt. The second heat turned things on their head with Nesbitt racing through to take line honours from Loureiro with Taigh Janse van Rensburg (Husqvarna 450) coming home in third place.
In the Super Motards Masters category the top step for the day went to Adrian Jansens Ter Laeck (Husqvarna 450) from Peter St John Ward (Durban West Auto Yamaha 450) and Hayden Nadauld (KTM 450).
On four wheels the action was equally intense with a most entertaining battle in the Modified and Super Modified category. In the opening heat it was a nose-to-tail battle between Elton Fuchs (Mtrac VW Golf) and Keegan Sansom (R&M Plant Hire VW Golf) for all 10 laps with Fuchs eventually emerging as the victor, with Nicole Lombard (PSA Africa VW Scirocco) taking third place.
It all went wrong for Fuchs in the second encounter and an issue with the Golf saw him drop out of contention, leaving the battle between fourth-placed man from the first heat, Gary Commins (Mobile Auto Repairs VW Golf) and Sansom.
Commins eventually won the encounter to cross the line ahead of Sansom with Dane Thompson (Panel and Paint VW Golf) occupying third place.
In the overall standings for the day Fuchs still won the Super Modified class with Sansom winning Class A. In Class B the honours went to Greg Ogilvie (Automotive Repair BMW 318i) from Richard Loynes (VW Golf). Class C went the way of Gary Brown (Impro Mobile Ford Escort), followed by Shaun Erasmus (VW Golf) and Greg Bennet (Dubcorp Opel Kadett).
The ever-popular Retro racers also provided some good racing despite a small field with several cars missing that were being prepared for an away race at Zwartkops in Johannesburg.
Despite some heavy pressure from the Ford Escort of Greg Steen, it was Ollie Broome (East Coast Classic Ford Escort) who went out to win both heats with Steen finishing second in the first race ahead of Darryl Mann (Aero Natal Datsun 1800) and Quentin Willis aboard his brother’s Hopgood Ford Escort.
Not a great day out for brother Meredith Willis in his other Hopgood Escort and niggles with the car kept him well out of the points places.
In the second race it was Broome from Mann with Cecil Manson-Bishop (Ford Anglia) in third place with Steen having some issues that dropped him to a lowly seventh.
After a long lay-off as a result of injury, Jesse Conci made a welcome return to racing to show he had lost nothing in that time, winning both heats of the 150 Super Production class on the Helluvafast Honda CBR150 – taking the honours from Zane Davidson (Husqvarna 85) and Arthur St John Ward (Brink Towbars Honda).
In Class A Cayden Potgieter (RMC Auto Repairs Honda) won overall from Sven Christenson (Paarl Brewery Honda) with Quinn St John Ward (Brink Towbars Honda) winning Class B from Florian Kroeber (Honda) and Riley Day (Dream Ahead Honda).
Honours for the day in the 300 Class motorcycles went to Drew Gates (Kawasaki 400) from Arnold Eckersley (KTM 390) and Felix Kroeber Yamaha R300). The 300 Master was taken by Kyle Robertson (Brink Towbars Yamaha 300) from Peter St John Ward (Durban West Auto Kawasaki 400), while the Powersports class was won by Llewelyn Puren (Honda NSR 426) from Duncan Day (Yamaha 450) and Zane Davidson (Husqvarna 85).
Despite a small fire caused by a piece of rag catching fire in the engine bay, Stuart Kidgell piloted his Ultima to overall victory in the Super GT category from the Fuchs Toyota Corolla of Shaun Tilley while the Sports Cars segment went to Christopher Wooley (Lotus 7) from Dylan Mordaunt (Allied Transport Lotus 7).
Spectators are welcome at the circuit and the next race is on June 11.