Intro by Clinton Pienaar:
In years gone by, this legendary race has seen more than 40 teams lining up on the grid, each one chasing glory under the Western Cape sun. This year, just shy of 20 teams took part — a respectable number, but there’s no denying the dream of seeing those numbers climb back to over 40.
The truth is, every rider who has ever raced in South Africa should mark this event as their annual pilgrimage — a final lap around the track to end the year on a high note. It’s not just a race; it’s a celebration of South African motorcycling history. Imagine the energy of old rivals, seasoned veterans, and new challengers coming together for one unforgettable showdown. Collectively, we have the power to make it bigger, better, and more special than ever before.
One of the race’s most remarkable aspects is the incredible range of riders it attracts. From wide-eyed rookies to seasoned pros, from teenagers to riders with decades of experience, everyone shares a common goal: to cross that finish line. Some take it seriously, strategizing every pit stop and turn, while others are there simply to outlast their buddies in a friendly rivalry. But no matter the approach, every rider leaves with a story — and that’s the magic of the 8-Hour Endurance Race.
Race report by Hayley Zaayman.
Photos by CLR Photography.
Saturday 14 December saw the final short circuit event of the 2024 season on Killarney’s kart circuit –for the FibreProd 8 Hour International Endurance Race for Lightweight Motorcycles.
At exactly 10:00 am, with the riders lined up for the traditional Le Mans start, Clerk of the Course, Paul Lehmann dropped the MSA flag to start the 42nd edition of this event, Killarney’s longest running annual fixture.
Fifteen minutes into the race, Bright’s Motorsport’s CBR150, crewed by Craig Benn, Caden Wiese, Dylan Grobler and Ruan van Zyl went down coming out of the 180s. Marshals were quickly on the scene to recover the bike to the pits for hurried repairs. Five minutes later it was back on track.
Shortly after, marshals retrieved a stray exhaust pipe on the inside of the 180s – but they didn’t know whose it was!
Seconds before the one-hour mark, the BMS Racing machine of Raymond Bezuidenhout, Mark Edwards, Clinto Bush and Brendan Schultz pulled off to the side in the middle of the 180s and had to be pushed back to the pits.
At the end of the first hour, Missile Motorcycles (Kewyn Snyman, Jason Linaker, Jonny Towers and Dorren Loureiro) were leading, setting the best lap time at 47.003 seconds.
Project Sixty SA/Team Wayward (Slade van Niekerk, Tristin Pienaar and former SA Superbike champion Greg Gildenhuys) were second and the SunScan SA Youth Team (Ryan van Niekerk, Ethan Diener, Arno Erasmus and Max Munton) third.
Coming up to the halfway mark, Missile Motorcycles, Project Sixty SA/Team Wayward and the SunScan SA Youth Team still held the top three slots.
Shortly before the end of the fifth hour, the Missile Motorcycle went into the pits for a few seconds and lost the lead they had held from the start as they were overtaken by Project Sixty SA/Team Wayward.
With three hours to go, Team Green Machine (Mario Mc Bride, Ross Alchorn, Andre Kotze and Johnny Dickens) and Team Jannie 2 Stroke (Jannie Le Roux, Andrew Marshall, Schalk Pretorius and Shannon Eckerman) were involved in a racing incident exiting the 180s. Double yellow flags were brought out and the bikes were recovered to the pits for further assessment.
During the sixth hour, the SunScan SA Youth Team dropped to fifth as Hillbilly Racing (Jacques Ackerman. Rob Cragg, Rob de Vos and Sharl Wasserfall) and then Powerflow Salt River (Dick Bate, Paul Medell, JP Friederich and Nian du Toit) overtook them.
Twenty minutes later Team Naartjie (Paul Andrew Livings, Altus Marmetschke, Andrew Wettergreen and Marco Swart) – came to a standstill exiting the 180s and dropped from 16th to 17th position.
The SunScan SA Youth Team regained a position halfway through the seventh hour, moving from fifth to fourth in the span of minutes.
After seven hours, Project Sixty SA/Team Wayward were still leading from Missile Motorcycles and Hillbilly Racing. With just half an hour left on the clock Missile Motorcycles set the fastest time of the day with a lap of 46.930 seconds.
Five minutes before the flag, the SunScan SA Youth Team machine went down exiting the 180s – but they were back up and running in seconds to retain their fourth position.
And at exactly 6:00 pm, 18 of the 19 starters crossed the finish line to complete the final Short Circuit event of the year.
Project Sixty SA/Team Wayward took line honours with a record 577 laps, ahead of Missile Motorcycles on 576 and Hillbilly Racing on 548 laps.
Top Three.
