SASCS Round 4 Polokwane | Short circuit series motorcycle racing

Photos and words by Deon vdl Photography.

Deon caught a lift with the guys from Mibern Medi-Call and headed up to Polokwane for round 4 of the South African Short Circuit Series. Polokwane always brings the action.

Clubmans.

Qualifying:

With some unexpected mechanical failure to his bike, Uncle Neil Heslip was unfortunately out for the whole day of racing. This had the Clubmans only seeing 2 riders that made it out on track. #213 Steffan Grandmaison who got pole position and #13 Jaques Swanepoel.

Heat 1 was won by Grandmaison and Swanepoel won Heat 2 and 3.

Overall:

1st #13 Jaques Swanepoel

2nd #213 Steffan Grandmaison

Novice & PW50.

The Novice class had only one rider, a hometown boy and a new face to this year’s racing, #48 Luke Oosthuizen.

PW50: After the kids qualifying round, #143 Tsebo Mafokate got the best time, he was joined on the front line by #4 James Nijmeijer and #17 Liam Bronkhorst.

In Heat 1: The flag dropped and the racers ran their little bikes up to speed, #4 Nijmeijer made his way to the front and had both #143 Mafokate and #17 Bronkhorst right behind him. During the race Nijmeijer dropped two positions and in the end it was Bronkhorst who took the win, Mafokate 2nd and Nijmeijer 3rd.

In Heat 2, Nijmeijer with another great start and had an early lead but Bronhorst did not waste any time overtaking him. Bronkhorst took 1st with Nijmeijer in a very close 2nd and Mafokate 3rd.

In Heat 3, Bronkhorst got the jump on Nijmeijer from the start and didn’t look back as he rode all the way to a clean three race victory, Nimeijer came in 2nd and Mafokate 3rd.

Overall Results.

Novice.

1st #48 Luke Oosthuizen

PW50.

1st #17 Liam Bronkhorst

2nd #4 James Nijmeijer

3rd #143 Tsebo Mafokate

SM Junior 65cc.

Although this was a day that #11x Luca Bergover would rather forget, he started the day strong right up front. Standing next to him was #22 Blake Robert and #26 Ethan de Freitas.

Heat 1: Bergover had a proper start as he stayed up front, unfortunately it did not last long as a mishap saw him not only lose the lead but he went off track too. It took quite a while to get his bike up and running again and by that time he lost three laps, but still finished the race. It was all smiles for #22 Robert who took full control of the race. Robert crossed the line in 1st, #40 Lorenzo de Ponte not far behind took 2nd and #45 Amohelang Phiri 3rd.

During Heat 2, Robert got the holeshot with Bergover hot on his heels. Coming into turn 3 Bergover tried to take the inside line. He collided with Robert and crashed out. This resulted in a red flag. The Mibern Medics were quick to respond and Bergover was taken to the medical tent by the ambulance for further assessment, after the check up he was taken for x-rays and luckily no serious injury. The race was restarted as a full race.

The King Price Rider once again took full advantage and took the win.

There was a battle for second place with #26 de Freitas coming 2nd and #40 de Ponte right there in 3rd.

Heat 3: Robert went out in full force and got 3 out of 3 wins for the day. De Freitas kept his eyes firmly on the finish line and took 2nd with de Ponte in 3rd.

The collision between Bergover and Robert, rubbing is racing. No serious injuries.

Overall Results.

1st #22 Blake Robert

2nd #26 Ethan de Freitas

3rd #40 Lorenzo de Ponte

150 Cup & 150 Seniors.

With both classes out for qualifying, things got close, very close as the top six riders finished within 0.887sec of each other. But, there could only be three riders on the front row and they were. On pole the King Price Rider #22 Cayden Robert then #26 Oratilwe Phiri and #99 Adam Naidoo.

150 Cup.

Heat 1: With both classes taking on Heat 1, things were close all around. But, the 150 Cup class had #99 Adam Naidoo jetted into the lead, he kept his head down until he crossed the line in 1st place. #110 Bohlale Mafokate gave him a run for his money and took 2nd, #41 Jason van Breda in 3rd.

In heat 2, Naidoo found himself again leading the race from the start and having to fend off Mafokate who stuck right behind him throughout the heat. Naidoo tok the flag in 1st with Mafokate following closely in 2nd and #77 Mueez Jassat 3rd.

Heat 3: The last heat had Naidoo on a quicker pace than the rest of the pack, a pace that none of his class could keep up with and took the triple, winning all three heats, Mafokate 2nd and Jassat 3rd.

Overall Results.

150 Cup.

1st #99 Adam Naidoo

2nd #110 Bohlale Mafokate

3rd #77 Mueez Jassat

150 Seniors.

Heat 1: After taking the lead, Robert had a few bikes behind him trying to take his spot. He did well to keep them off until the second last corner on the last lap when he tucked the front and went sliding off the track. #26 Phiri took over from there and rode his way to the win, #52 Troy Tonking taking 2nd and another King Price Rider #93 Leungo Gaorekwe 3rd.

Heat 2: With Robert starting the heat 12th on the grid it was no problem for Phiri to stick his nose in front. As the laps went by Robert started making up some serious ground. When the flag came out it was Phiri who took the win with Robert 0.269sec behind him in 2nd and his team mate Gaorekwe in 3rd.

Heat 3: Phiri and Robert both pulled off the line almost side by side as they headed for turn 1, it was Phiri that exited the turn in the lead and held it for a few laps before Robert took it from him. Keeping his lines nice and tidy Robert finished in 1st, Phiri 2nd and Gaorekwe taking 3rd.

Overall Results.

150 Seniors.

1st #26 Oratilwe Phiri

2nd #22 Cayden Robert

3rd #93 Leungo Gaorekwe

Last lap mishap.

SM Junior 50cc.

The youngsters took the track in a puff of 2-stroke smoke and buzzed around the circuit for their qualifying round. Their front row riders were #26 Ethan de Freitas, #550 Marnitz Otten and #100 Tanner Oosthuizen.

Heat 1: #100 Tanner Oosthuizen had a banger of a start as he flew into the lead. He had de Freitas on his rear wheel in no time. Tanner Oosthuizen managed to stay ahead for a couple of laps before de Freitas made his move and overtook him. De Freitas did not look back from there and the championship points leader took the 1st spot, Tanner Oosthuizen 2nd and with some great riding #135 Jessica Oosthuizen crossed in 3rd.

Heat 2: With a remarkable twist of the throttle Jessica Oosthuizen powered her way into the lead leaving the boys behind her, at least for a while. De Freitas got to the front and grabbed 1st, a battle for second place took place behind the winner with Tanner Oosthuizen making it over the line in 2nd and was shortly followed by #550 Otten in 3rd.

Heat 3: The flag barely dropped when Jessica Oosthuizen with a bang came from the second line of the grid to take her second holeshot for the day, making it a little more difficult for the boys to take the lead away from her. With de Freitas and Tanner out in front Otten had a good pace before a cracked engine casing took him out of the race. Another win gave de Freitas his perfect day with Tanner Oosthuizen again in 2nd. The race was won but the excitement was not over yet as Jessica and #27 Kiros Taliotes was fighting tooth and nail for the third spot, as they came through the last corner they came flying down the final straight side by side and Jessica took 3rd place by a mere 0.086sec.

Overall Results.

1st #26 Ethan de Freitas

2nd #100 Tanner Oosthuizen

3rd #135 Jessica Oosthuizen

SM1, SM1S & SM2.

To prove a point about the odds of a stock bike being competitive in the SM1 class, #151 Ryan van Nieuwkerk entered the day with the SM1’s, which is a class for bikes that is allowed to be modified. Van Nieuwkerk did so with a stock KTM. He might not have been the fastest in qualifiers, but stood beside #1 Aston Nesbitt who took pole position and #57 Diego de Ponte third fastest out of the three classes sharing the track.

SM1.

Heat 1: With all eyes on Van Nieuwkerk had the fans waiting in anticipation for the flag to drop and when it did the stock bike made its way to the front. Nesbitt hot on his tail. The two riders gave everything they got. Half way through the race exiting turn 5 Nesbitt, chasing van Nieuwkerk lost the rear and slid out. In a blink of an eye, Nesbitt was back on the and tried to catch Van Nieuwkerk but it was too late as Ryan took the win.

Nesbitt still got 2nd with #52 Troy Taking 3rd.

Heat 2: From the start Van Nieuwkerk took the lead with Nesbitt right behind him. With no mistakes from the reigning champ Nesbitt, Van Nieuwkerk had his hands full to make it to the line first. This time, after a great dice, Van Nieuwkerk crossed in 1st, Nesbitt took 2nd and #52 Troy Tonking 3rd.

Heat 3: For one last time a battle for first took centre stage. This time it was Nesbitt who led the charge with van Nieuwkerk trying to chase him down and – he very nearly did. Nesbitt with the win and van Nieuwkerk with his stock bike taking 2nd on Nesbitt’s rear wheel. Tonking with great riding of his own made it across the line in 3rd.

Well Ryan, if you wanted to make a statement about a stock bike being able to run with the big dogs, your proof came out loud and clear, well done young man!

Overall Results.

SM1.

1st #151 Ryan van Nieuwkerk

2nd #1 Aston Nesbitt

3rd #52 Troy Tonking

SM1S

Heat 1: After a rather nasty crash in Round 3 , Luan Weterman let his twin brother Ruben fight for the SM1 win. Luan with a good heat made his brother proud as he took the win, #27 Theo Oosthuizen 2nd and #34 Louis de Ponte 3rd.

Heat 2: Weterman was on a roll after Heat one as he made no mistakes and grabbed 1st place, Oosthuizen 2nd and Louis de Ponte 3rd.

Heat 3: Weterman made a splash as well, proving he could roll with the top class as he took the SM1S class overall win but also came 4th out of the top two classes. Oostuizen got 2nd followed by Louis de Ponte in 3rd.

Overall Results.

SM1S.

1st #30 Ruben Weterman

2nd #27 Theo Oosthuizen

3rd #34 Louis de Ponte

SM2.

Heat 1: The local boys were out in full force to represent Polokwane. A great performance saw them take all three spots. #43 Quinton van Wyk 1st, #21 Conrad Nieuwoudt 2nd and #7 Riekert Erasmus 3rd.

Heat 2: With some good racing it was Van Wyk to stand out as he came 1st again, Erasmus outpaced the remainder of his class to take 2nd and Nieuwoudt 3rd.

Heat 3: Van Wyk had some bad luck and lost his lead. Erasmus capitalised and took the win, Nieuwoudt clinched 2nd and Van Wyk 3rd.

Overall Results.

SM2.

1st #43 Quinton van Wyk

2nd #7 Riekert Erasmus

3rd #21 Conrad Nieuwoudt