South African short circuit motorcycle / bike racing Vtown

We made our way to Vereeniging for Round 5 of the South African Short Circuit Series and as always, the excitement hits you as soon as you enter the gates. The organizers of the series make everybody feel so welcome with the pretty grid girls walking through the pits handing out sweets and smiles. Stuff like this keeps the excitement going all day long.

By Deon VD Linde

As always, Clubmans were out first to kick off race day.

#21 Arno Erasmus had a strong pace in qualifying to secure pole position, #30 Brandon Parsons and #96 Sabastiano D’Arrigo filled the front row of the grid. Erasmus was not to be stopped as he kept the power down until he reached the checkered flag to comfortably win all three heats and 1st overall. #30 Parsons with some good riding kept him in 2nd place ahead of #96 D’Arrigo who took 3rd for the day. #23 Terrence Chowles in 4th and #13 Jaques Swanepoel 5th.

The kids rolled out on track and it was great to see the pack double in size since Round 4.

In the PW50 class #550 Marnitz Otten took pole and #100 Tanner Oosthuizen had the fastest time in the Novice class. These young racers really had the fans jumping for joy as they pushed body and machine as hard as they could.

#550 Otten had his hands full with #100 Oosthuizen breathing down his neck. Otten won all heats taking 1st with #52 Declan Schoeman in 2nd for their class. Oosthuizen dominated the novice class as he crossed the line in 1st in all heats, #11 Zander du Toit 2nd and #143 Tsebo Mafokate taking the final spot on the podium in 3rd.

#33 Jaco Coetzee 4th, #39 Ajay Venter 5th, #27 Kiros Taliotes 6th, #12 Jack Green 7th and #7 Emma Green 8th.

With SM2 out to qualify, it was the Weterman twins that stood first and second on the grid with #30 Ruben Weterman in pole followed by #31 Luan Weterman next to him and #17 Tom Maritz in third spot. The twins rode strong throughout the day as Ruben made it a perfect day and a cool 1st overall. Luan, after a crash in heat 1 still managed to take 2nd with Maritz 3rd on the podium.

#213 Steffan Grandmaison 4th and #22Y Sheldon Nassif with 5th place.

SM Juniors 65 & 85cc wasted no time to get their chance out on track.

The return of young Jason van Breda did not go unnoticed as he took pole position in the 85cc class with #77 Mueez Jassat and #99 Adam Naidoo on the front row with only 0.811 seconds separating them.

#41 Van Breda dominated the day and took top honours winning all three races. Naidoo walked away with 2nd and Jassat 3rd.

In the 65cc class #101 Keaton de Jager made a statement early to be first on the grid with a time 2.186 faster than his next rival. #134 Joe Louw came next and #110 Bohlale Mafokate 3rd fastest.

De Jagger’s statement kept true as he comfortably won all three heats taking 1st overall. #134 Louw had a great day to take 2nd and #44 Daniyal Jassat, fighting a big pack of hungry racers took 3rd.

The rest of the pack was as followed #110 Mafokate 4th, #40 Lorenzo de Ponte 5th, #711 Tristan Swart 6th, #11x Luca Bergover 7th and #14 Quandre Potgieter 8th.

Our more experienced riders were up next.

The SM Masters & Grand Masters put on a fine show with times that made the younger Riders quite envious. #22 Mark Newland took pole with a time of only 55.135sec with #17 Tom Maritz the Grand Master rider only 0.256sec off his pace. Newland not making it to the grid in time saw him starting from pit lane. Newland and Maritz fought it out all day as Newland got 1st overall with Martiz taking the win in Grand Masters.

Newland was Followed by #1 Michael Louw in 2nd, #258 Vaughn Bronkhorst 3rd and #23 Terrence Chowles 4th After a nasty crash. Get well soon Terrence.

Prize money up for grabs saw the 150 cup and the 150 seniors not holding back as they hit the track. We got to witness an amazing battle in the 150 cup where three riders crossed the line in two out of the three heats within less than a second of each other. In qualifying – the top 5 riders had a difference of just 0.187 with #41 Jason Van Breda on pole, #22 Cayden Robert and #57 Dieago de Ponte in the first row.

The battle was intense all day long with the victor being #22 Robert, and very close behind #41 Van Breda 2nd and #57 de Ponte taking 3rd. #21 Arno Erasmus 4th, #13 Ryan van Nieuwkerk 5th, #69 Tyler Morgan 6th and #99 Adan Naidoo 7th.

In the senior class #6 Clinton Seller was out for blood as he made clean work of the rest of the riders. Seller took pole and could not be caught as he got his perfect day and R10 000 in prize money.

#33x Thebang Keswa had a great day to take 2nd and #181 Callyn Swart stepped on the podium in 3rd. they were followed by #111 Tim Green 4th, #33 Aston Nesbitt 5th and #77 Savannah Woodward 6th.

Our SM Junior 50cc class rolled out on track for their shot at qualifying and the front row of the grid we Had #1 Keaton de Jagger, #22 Blake Robert and #26 Ethan de Freitas. From the Start de Jagger was like a little rocket flowing through the track with ease to take all three wins for the day that earned his spot on top of the podium. #26 Ethan de Freitas took 2nd and his EDF team mate in 3rd. #22 Blake Robert 4th and #111 Hammond Mussa 5th.

The finale of the day and the race that every fan can’t wait to see is the SM1 & SM1S class where the top riders get to show off their skills.

SM1 had #1 Aston Nesbitt on pole with #13 Ryan van Nieuwkerk 0.190 behind him and #57 Diego de Ponte leading the grid. When it came to the racing, fans was once again in awe as these riders put on one hell of a show.

#1 Aston Nesbitt stole the show as he took an awesome 1st overall. #13 van Nieuwkerk battled hard to walk away with 2nd and #57 de Ponte in 3rd. #821 Damion Purificati 4th and #34 Louis de Ponte 5th. SM1S class had #18 Hunter Dreyer who had a fantastic race day not only with top qualifying time but also three race wins in his class. #1 Michael Louw came in 2nd for the day.