The hill one has to climb up towards iDube was most definitely worth it! The sheer beauty and technicality of this track is mind blowing. Family, friends and fans gathered to enjoy the second Short Circuit Raceday and enjoy they did. There was some unforgettable racing for sure!
By VDL Photography
Clubmans
#21 Arno Erasmus took pole position with a great time of 53.405 seconds. From there he was unstoppable as he just crushed to an easy victory. #96 Sebastiano D’Arrigo rode well and walked away with 2nd and #69 Henk Schuiling came through in 3rd for the day.
Pulling up to the start line we have the kids
#550 Marnitz Otten who started his perfect day in pole position with a great time of 58.595 seconds. He stayed in front for all three heats taking 1st. #100 Tanner Oosthuizen with his first race did very well to take 2nd overall fighting off #143 Tsebo Mafokate who got 3rd.Â
Well done boys,we cannot wait to see you battle in Round 3.
SM2 was up after the kids
#57 Diego de Ponte saw pole at 0.374 seconds faster than #30 Ruben Weterman on the second spot on the grid. A battle from that point made for good entertainment throughout the day. de Ponte fought hard to win Heat 1 and both the Weterman twins followed. Heat 2 saw both #57 de Ponte and #31 Luan Weterman go down to finish in 6th and 8th. The last Heat did not disappoint as another amazing battle ensued to finish off their day. With a consistent day #30 Ruben Weterman had the honour of the top step of the podium with #57 Diego de Ponte in 2nd spot. #17 Tom Maritz had a consistent day in 3rd, with #31 Luan Weterman still managing to take 4th and #96 Sebastiano D’Arrigo in 5th.
SM Junior 65cc and 85cc
#99 Adam Naidoo was on fire in qualifying to take pole with a time of 51.944 seconds. He made sure to show the others that he is a force to be reckoned with, powering to a 1st overall. Local rider #373 Murray Smith had an incident in Heat 1 and finished the heat in 4th, 3rd in heat 2 and a great performance to take the win by 0.684 seconds in the last heat got him a 2nd for the day. As always #77 Mueez Jassat ran in the front pack took 3rd.
#69 Tyler Morgan with a big crash in the beginning of Heat 2 saw him out for the rest of the day. Take it easy Tyler and come back strong.Â
In the 65cc class
#101 Keaton de Jager qualified top with a time of 53.100 seconds and with a few battles and a DNF stayed on top for the day. #110 Bohlale Mafokate had to fight off #40 Lorenzo de Ponte as he just got away with 2nd. de Ponte came in at a well deserved 3rd. #44 Daniyal Jassat was 4th followed by #134 Joe Louw in 5th who had a fantastic save in Heat 2 when Morgan crashed in front of him.
The Masters and Grand Masters took their spots on the grid
 #84 Christian Caravello hit the front with a time of 49.140 seconds #12 Kyle Robertsen in the Grand Masters class on the second spot just 0.141 seconds off the pace. Some awesome riding throughout the pack ended with #12 Kyle Robertsen crossing the finish line all three times in 1st place taking 1st not only in his class but overall.Â
The Grand Masters followed with #41 Wian Erasmus in 2nd, #17 Tom Maritz in 3rd and #121 Shaun Pieterson taking 4th.Â
In the Masters class #84 Christian Caravello absolutely dominated all three heats to stand on the top step in the end. #19 Whitey Oosthuizen made 2nd for the day. #134 Michael Louw stayed steady through the day and took 3rd. #43 Quinton van Wyk with the 4th spot and #258 Vaughn Bronkhorst in 5th.
 150cc Hondas
 Those gave us some great entertainment!Â
#57 Diego de Ponte made his presence known when he took pole position with 52.397 seconds as his time being the fastest out of both Juniors and Seniors. #33 Aston Nesbitt was the fastest qualifying Senior with a time of 53.857 seconds. The day had other plans for the Seniors as it all came down and saw #69 Henk Schuiling persevere and walk away with not only 1st place but also with the R10 000 in prize money. #40 Louis de Ponte came in 2nd and #33 Aston Nesbitt in 3rd.Â
SM Junior 50cc
This class took center stage. #26 Ethan de Freitas took pole with 0.088 seconds faster than all time rival #1 Keaton de Jager. Heat 1 saw de Jager out in the First lap with a flat front tyre. de Freitas ran away to take the win.Â
Heat 2 was a full on battle as de Freitas and de Jager keep changing positions with the #26 rider winning by 0.867 seconds.Â
 Heat 3 was not much different at all as de Jager fought de Freitas to see who would be top dog. Mind-blowingly de Jager gave all he had only to make de Freitas retaliate with both fighting to the death as de Freitas eventually won the duel with only 0.181 seconds to take 1st overall for a perfect day.Â
#1 Keaton de Jager walked away with 4th. We also had #11x Luca Bergover being challenged throughout the day by #134 Joe Louw. #11x Bergover had it covered as he kept #134 Louw at bay to take 2nd overall after de Jager’s Heat 1 DNF. #134 Louw took 3rd, de Jager in 4th followed by a future contender #550 Marnitz Otten in 5th.
The SM1 classÂ
This class ended the day off with a bang. A jaw dropping show is what these riders gave us. We got to see a very talented youngster move up from SM2 after only one race. #13 Ryan van Nieuwkerk came to make an absolute statement, kicking off his SM1 debut by not only taking pole position but also a new lap record with an astonishing time of 45.570 seconds. #13 van Nieuwkerk made his presence known. #33 Aston Nesbitt who mentors van Nieuwkerk did not make things easy for his protégé. With the battle of the day, van Nieuwkerk came out on top as he got to beat Nesbitt to the top step of the podium. #33 Nesbitt took 2nd for the day. #84 Christian Caravello fought hard to earn his 3rd spot. # 923 Brandon Heukelman took 4th with a very amazing save in Heat 2 with #57 Louis de Ponte in 5th and #19 Whitey Oosthuizen taking the 6th spot.  Â
iDube has really set a benchmark for 2023. All I know is that the riders are going to give us all they can to make every Round a better show than the last. Until then we can only wait.
Round 3 of the SASCS will be on the 6th of May at Formula K out Benoni side where the show will go on.Â
Will see all of you there?Â
Words: Deon vdl
For any enquiries, please contact Michaela Vorster:
Phone – 076 364 5223
Email – michaela@sascs.co.zaÂ
