Words and photos by Deon vdl Photography.
Riders and spectators all battled the cold to be at the weekends racing, this took place at RedStar Raceway.
The MRSSA riders shared the track with some of the RSR Club Race Series riders, 2hich resulted in a fairly epic days racing.
Out first to brave the cold were the 150cc & 250cc classes.
The 150cc class took the front row.
The King Price Extreme Rider #22 Cayden Robert took pole position followed by #110 Bohlale “Little Man” Mafokate and #52 Troy Tonking.
Heat 1.
150cc Class.
In the first race #22 Robert had a good start. Unfortunately, bad luck struck #110 Mafokate as his bike suffered mechanical failure. Robert soon found himself chased by a 250cc that held off Robert’s closest competitor. Robert kept his cool and crossed the line safely in 1st place, #52 Tonking took 2nd and #17 Jarred Geypen was 3rd.
In Heat 2.
Mafokate’s bike was fixed and back on track. He mixed things up a little bit. Robert with another clean start made his way to the front, this time followed by two 250’s and the rest of the pack. He got his perfect day claiming the win. Mafokate and Tonking were left to see who would be taking the second spot and that was Mafokate as he took a close 2nd, with Tonking in 3rd.
Heat 1.
250cc Class.
The 250’s took fourth and fifth slots on the grid.
#12 Simphiwe Mahlobo sitting in fourth, #45 Sylas Karastamatis in fifth and back on the grid was a new rider #24 Kayleigh du Toit.
Mahlobo chased 150cc rider Robert all the way across the line for the 250 win. Karastamatis came 2nd and du Toit placed 3rd.
In Heat 2.
Du Toit did not make it to the grid but still scored points to take an overall 3rd. Karastamatis had the better start this time chasing the leader. Later in the race he lost the lead to Mahlobo who grabbed the win. Karastamatis took 2nd.
Overall Results:
150cc
1st #22 Cayden Robert
2nd #52 Troy Tonking
3rd #17 Jared Geypen
250cc
1st #12 Simphiwe Mahlobo
2nd #45 Sylas Karastamatis
3rd #24 Kaleigh du Toit
Next was the old girls, no not old ladies. The CSRA (Classic Superbike Racing Association), a class where we get to see the older bikes being raced.
Heat 1. (Combined classes.)
Early in the race #29 Sakkie Pottas (F1) found himself up front with #14 Lionel Black (F3) along with the rest of the riders hot on his tail. Leading the race for a few laps, it seemed like Pottas’ bike started to perform ‘less’ and started losing ground. Black pulled ahead and made up some valuable ground.
Black grabbed the chequered flag in 1st place. The dropping of Pottas’ pace gave enough time for #68 Nicolas Jonck from the New era class who took 2nd. Pottas claimed 3rd.
Heat 2.
Exiting turn one, it was an early lead for Black with #59 Gary Edwards (F3) and Pottas not far behind. Pottas found himself sniffing at Black’s tail pipe and they took it to each other for the top spot. It was a close call as the two ploughed down the final straight, the flag waving as the bikes crossed the line almost too close to tell.
It was Black who took his second win by just 0.096 sec. Pottas came in a very close 2nd with Jonck in 3rd.
Overall by classes.
F1 (Bikes 1984 – 1989)
1st #29 Sakkie Pottas
2nd #321 Kevin Kemp
3rd #28 Mark van Belkum
F2 (Bikes 1976 – 1983)
1st #35 Nicolaas Bester
2nd #07 Etienne Louw
F3 (750cc bikes 2 & 4-stroke up to 1989)
1st #14 Lionel Black
2nd #59 Gary Edwards
3rd #174 Ewould Pienaar
New Era (bikes no older than 1999)
1st #68 Nicolas Jonck
2nd #98 Robert Coutts
SAMRA (South African Motorcycle Racing Academy) had their turn to qualify. #110 Bohlale Mafokate had a good run to claim the top spot, #22 Blake Robert and #43 Amolhang Phiri joined him on the front row. Behind them was some cool racing between the Wilson siblings…
Heat 1.
It was Mafokate who got the drop on the other riders and steadily pulled away. The Wilson siblings were where the action was as they kept changing positions. Mafokate took 1st place followed by Robert in 2nd and Phiri in 3rd.
#93 Emily Wilson took 4th, #75 Oliver Wilson, 5th and #19 Tristan Govender placed 6th.
Heat 2.
With Mafokate again taking the early lead, Robert and Phiri pursued him. With pressure from Phiri lurking behind Robert, Robert slid out in lap two and that was the end of his race. Mafokate climbed on the gas and rode to victory. Phiri claimed 2nd which led to a great dice between the Wilson’s for that last podium spot.They certainly kept the crowd entertained and it was Emily who clinched the 3rd spot by 0.102 seconds.
Overall Results.
1st #110 Bohlale Mafokate
2nd #43 Amohlang Phiri
3rd #93 Emily Wilson
The 600cc bikes consisted of two classes. From their qualifying round it was clear that we were going to be in for show. #013 Ryan van Nieuwkerk took pole position, but only just… #171 Taigh Janse van Rensburg took the number two spot. Next to him was #52 Troy Tonking.
Heat 1.
Exiting turn one, Janse van Rensburg was leading. A few laps later van Nieuwkerk took over, but that changed as J.v Rensburg hit the front, he stayed in front almost all the way… but Van Nieuwkerk stole the win at the very end of the race.
J.v Rensburg settled for 2nd with #57 Diego de Ponte in 3rd.
In Heat 2.
It was J.v Rensburg and Van Nieuwkerk who quickly made their way to the front and started pulling away. The two riders entered lap two right next to each other.
At the end of lap 2, J.v Rensburg was seen entering the pits and this left Van Nieuwkerk to ease his way to 1st place. #57 de Ponte crossed in 2nd with Tonking in 3rd
Overall Results.
SBK 600.
1st #013 Ryan van Nieuwkerk
2nd #57 Diego de Ponte
3rd #52 Troy Tonking
RSR Core 600 Cup.
1st #113 Myron Gubler
2nd #68 Nicolas Jonck
3rd #11 Aiden Karastamatis
It was time for the all 400 classes & Sub 500 & 300cc riders to see what times they could do and the best time was set by #26 Oratilwe Phiri followed by #20 Tyler Richardson and #69 Tyler Morgan.
Heat 1.
Hurling down the second straight, Phiri led the charge as the pack followed right behind. He started increasing his pace for some breathing room and took a comfy win. Richardson crossed in 2nd and Morgan finished in 3rd place.
Heat 2.
Phiri was going to have his hands full in this race and he found that out very quickly, when Richardson took the lead.
It was a proper dice between the two. Richardson in full form had a blistering pace that carried him to take the chequered flag in 1st, Phiri followed shortly in 2nd with Morgan taking another 3rd place.
Overall Results.
Sub 500
1st #20 Tyler Richardson
2nd #26 Oratilwe Phiri
3rd #69 Tyler Morgan
RSR 400cc Cup
1st #106 Jhandre Fourie
2nd #17 Jarrod Geypen
RSR 300cc Cup
1st #89 Robert Jonck Jnr.
Now onto the biggest bunch of riders for the day, 19 riders and four classes. Pushing their bikes hard in the crisp cold air, the flag came out ending the qualifying session.
Pole position went to #44 Tristan Matthews. The two alongside him were #110 Jordan King and #11 Christo Pienaar.
Heat 1.
The race went the way of #110 King until a few laps in when the red flag came out. Pole man Tristan Matthews lost control of his bike and crashed on the final straight. The racers made their way back to the pits so the medics could do their job. Fortunately the rider is okay. The track was cleaned and the riders made their way back to the grid, lights on…lights off and it was back on!
King once again did what he does best riding the rubber off his wheels to grab 1st place. #45 Tyron Piper came in 2nd followed very shortly by #11 Pienaar in 3rd.
Heat 2.
King shot off the line like a bullet and pulled an early gap, but Piper slowly crept up. By lap three he was behind King and hungry for the win. He waited till the very end to snatch the win from King by 0.822 seconds. #3 Jordan Gaines with a great race came through in 3rd place.
Overall Results.
OSBK Premier
1st #45 Tyron Piper
2nd #110 Jordan King
3rd #19 Siya Tshabalala
OSBK Novice
1st #3 Jordan Gaines
2nd #6 Malcolm Govender
3rd #350 Jannie Potgieter
RSR Core 1000 Cup
1st #97 Clinton Pearson
2nd #22 Christo Niemand
RSR Beginner 1000 Cup
1st #99 Danie le Grange
The last race of the day was a combination of the SBK1000, BOTTs and Masters classes. We saw some fast dices and impressive skill in the turn.
#028 Adolf Boshoff took top spot. The times for second and third could not have been any closer! On spot number two was #88 Damion Purificati and third was #24 Themba Khumalo who was just 0.001 seconds off Purificati’s pace.
Heat 1.
With the SBK1000 riders dominating the qualifier, it stayed that way as the front four riders took the lead. #028 Boshoff was the fastest of them all from the get go.
He grabbed 1st place, Purificati took 2nd and Khumalo took the 3rd spot.
Heat 2 and the pack saw Boshoff go into turn one ahead of them all. He stayed there throughout the race and claimed a perfect day. Behind him was where things got interesting as a battle for the steps was being duked out by three riders. It was an action packed performance. It was also very close as they crossed the line just a second from each other. Purificati was the first across the line in 2nd and #28 Tiaan Fouche took a close 3rd place just ahead of Khumalo. What a race!
Overall Results.
SBK1000
1st #028 Adolf Boshoff
2nd #88 Damion Purificati
3rd #28 Tiaan Fouche
Masters
1st #43 Jaco Gous
2nd #41 Giuliano Smargiasso
3rd #27 Ryan Futter
BOTTs
1st #46 Alan Hulscher
2nd #45 Leon Horn
3rd #72 Mick Landi
A great day of racing always keeps us hungry for more. MRSSA is heading for Kyalami next. Round 6 will join Round 4 of the SAES Four Hours of Kyalami motor vehicle race.
This will take place on the 2 & 3rd of August.
See all you petrolheads soon.
