By Deon VDL
South Africa’s battle against the United Kingdom has been ongoing on and off for 100 years, with a couple of interruptions here and there for the First World War, the Second World War and one or two other events, but personally we do hope this particular battle lasts another 100… War, we want war!
A seriously important battle like this should always be a part of history. A lesson to share with the youth for ages to come. All should know of the blood sweat and tears shared between the two countries at historic circuits. It’s an invasion, as the UK sends hordes of their legends to fight our finest. Young and old come together bringing weapons of mass destruction from the extremely old to a little less old – all in premium condition.
Gladiators of the race circuit of all ages doing things most of us can only dream of clashing on historic battlegrounds. A race for the not so faint of heart, many have done the Isle of Man – “It’s like climbing a mountain and once you do it, you feel very excited and kind of feel like you achieved something.” explains The Legendary Steve Parrish.
TT Champions gracing our shores to take on our own local talent.
After the centennial 2nd Round of all out racing, we bid farewell to that first 100 years of motorcycle history and look forward to the next 100.
We could carry on about the history of this series for ages… but let’s tell you what happened in Round 2 of the SA Classic TT race at Kyalami. And if you missed it, you seriously missed out! It’s been a long time since the Kyalami track saw so much motorcycle action.
For round 2 of the SA Classic TT series, the track was shared by a very exciting first round of MRSSA Series, with the Classic TT circus dominating the day’s proceedings.
More on MRSSA soon.
It was fantastic! A lot like the 80’s and 90’s, with the pits heaving and a great sense of excitement. Bikes of all shapes and sizes and – most importantly just about all era’s were represented for the day. From the very latest superbikes right down to bikes like the 1930 and 1933 Rudge coming out to play. Add to this a parking lot full of spectators on bikes and in cars, food stalls, tee shirt printers, Sunglass sellers… you get the idea. It was epic!
Kyalami was a hive of activity. it was like 90’s all over again.
And we normal people got to rub shoulders with SA and UK motorcycle royalty. Sheridan Morais – always friendly, Steven Odendaal, Daryn Binder to name but a few were out shaking hands, entertaining the kids and making the pretty girls swoon. International personalities like Steve Parrish, Danny Webb, Ian Simson, James Ellison, James Hillier to name a few were all out and about having great chats and giving out autographs. It was a seriously social occasion… until the guys hit the track.
With the whole SA Classic TT pack on the grid, we saw a group of 27 riders take to the track for qualifying. Local and International riders going full taps from their release from pit exit.
New Era – any bike up to 1999: The premier class, New Era saw a Sheridan Morais and Danny Webb with a fine display of speed. Local boy Sheridan took the coveted pole position, only by 0.848sec.
It was enough to show Danny that he was in for a fight.
Race 1 looked promising for Morais as he used his pole to his advantage and led the race for the first 4 laps. Suddenly Webb was up front.. A few bikes later Shez came back around, much slower than his previous pace. Something was wrong and Webb took a convincing win. Shez managed to still get his bike over the line in second place with Ian Simpson 3rd.
Race 2 we saw a howling pack storm turn one, 24 riders in all, sadly our local boy Shez was not in the pack as “the something” that went wrong in first race was gearbox problems and we saw a DNS for the #32 rider. This was great news for Danny as he just out ran everyone, winning his class by a landslide. He made it a clean sweep as he took 4 out of 4 wins this year, the same result Michael Dunlop had last year for the same Suzuki race team.
Simpson took second place with Morais’ DNF.
New Era Overall:
1st #99 Danny Webb
2nd #22 Ian Simpson
3rd #32 Sheridan Morais
F1 Class: Bikes from 1984-1989
This was a class that had more action than a Chuck Norris movie. James Ellison was on fantastic pace in qualifying only to finish in front of his class by 0.205sec ahead of Matthew Herbert and James Hillier. AJ Venter and Jaco Gous were not far behind…
Race 1
This race had the top three riders crossing the line with just a 0.891 sec difference and that is only half of it, but Ellison, Hillier and Herbert set the standard. Simon Howton challenged Howard Selby in East London but Howard just stayed where Howton couldn’t reach him. Jaco Gous had his nose just off the UK legend Ian Simpson which gave him 6th overall. That was a race full of entertainment.
Race 2
James Ellison used this race to show what he was made of. He took a comfortable win. Herbert took the second spot and Hillier third place. After having too much fun in E.L, Wessel Kruger and George Grigor decided to continue. Kruger had a great dice with UK legend Gordon Grigor. No backing down. Howton kept pushing Selby all the way across to the end. Sadly, AJ Venter suffered the same fate as round 1 that saw him battling with faulty brakes. It was also great to see international Adrian McCarthy on one of Grigor’s bikes.
Overall F1 results
1st #3 James Ellison
2nd #96 Matthew Herbert
3rd #01 James Hillier
F1 CSRA Members.
1st #96 Matthew Herbert
2nd #163 Wessel Kruger
3rd #Sakkie Pottas
F2 class: 1976-1983
Qualifying, had no love lost as the three top riders lead by Mike McSkimming had less than 0.600sec lead to take top of F2 class. Dylan Pinkerton had only 0.005sec on Fergal McAdam who was third fastest.
Race 1
Had the almighty Silver Katana piloted by #91 Fergal McAdam facing off against Fast Mike’s Katana carrying number 71. McAdam just kept his cool and his head down keeping McSkimming behind him to ride his way to the win. Dylan Pinkerton crossed the line in third.
Race 2
Dylon Pinkerton looked more comfortable, he kept his head in the game and pushed hard, but Fergal McAdam was too much for the F2 class as he took his second win of the day. Dylan took the second spot with Etienne Louw grabbing third.
Overall
1st #91 Fergal McAdam
2nd #41 Dylon Pinkerton
3rd #7 Etienne Louw
F3 the old gals – Max 750cc and two-strokes up to 1989.
1st #59 Gary Edwards.
The F4 class – the Parade only class – Any bikes up to ‘99.
In our opinion, this was absolutely the most awesome to see class of the day, where we got to see some of the oldest and iconic bikes of the past. Teddy Barson styled on his NORVIN. Steve Parrish was on the unmistakable red and yellow Suzuki RG 500… you could smell that bike from miles away. So very cool. Hats off to the dude who gives Steve a push start at every race! We see why you are in such good shape Sir! A private collector brought out two of his Rudges for a lap or six. These historic motorcycles are real head turners. But these were just 3 of the bikes there. Bikes from all brands were represented from a CB750 in a Rickman frame, an FZ750, an old Z900 Kawasaki and lots of GSX’s. Man, to hear these old bangers reliving their glory was quite something to see…
Some pics of the F4 parade class that featured some real classics.
