South African Short Circuit Series, Round 6. Formula K.

Photos and race report by Deon vdl Photography and Jen Venter.

Formula K hosted Round 6 of the South African Short Circuit Series.

Great weather, awesome people and incredible dices. It is always a great feeling seeing family, friends and fans all get together to enjoy a day of racing.

Raceday kicked off with the SM Junior 65cc Class.

SM Junior 65cc.

Heat 1.

A great run in qualifying saw #711 Tristan Swart take pole position he was joined on the front row by #26 Ethan de Freitas and King Price Extreme Rider #22 Blake Robert. Heat 1 gave us some proper action with the top three riders finishing within less than 0.8sec from each other. Swart clinched the win with #11x Luca Bergover in 2nd and Robert taking 3rd place.

Heat 2.

Heat 2 got on the way with Swart taking an early lead, a few laps later Robert was in front with De Freitas on his tail. Swart was pushing hard when he ran wide and went down in the dirt, he got back up and rejoined the race. In the end it was De Freitas who got the win , Robert in 2nd and Bergover in 3rd. Swart finished the race in 4th place.

Tristan Swart hits the dirt.

Heat 3.

Bergover got the holeshot with the other riders close behind. He kept the lead for a few laps when De Freitas manages to get past. It was a mad dash to the finish line with De Freitas taking 1st place, Robert collecting 2nd and Bergover taking 3rd.

Overall Results.

1st #26 Ethan de Freitas

2nd #22 Blake Robert

3rd #11x Luca Bergover

PW50.

Heat 1.

The youngsters took their positions on the grid with #4 James Nijmeijer on pole.

Standing with him on the front row was #17 Liam Bronkhorst and #143 Tsebo Mafokate. Nijmeijer got his bike off the line in front and the chase was on. #238 Liam Smith gave Nijmeijer a run for his money through the whole race but Nijmeijer stayed up front and took the flag. Smith followed closely in 2nd with Bronkhorst 3rd.

Heat 2.

This time it was Smith who took the lead in the first lap and Nijmeijer fighting to get it back. Smith was just too fast as he crossed the line for the win. Nijmeijer came in a close 2nd with Bronkhorst in 3rd.

Heat 3.

Pushing hard to copy his performance from the previous race, Smith got his bike in front and kept it there all the way to the end. He took his second win for the day. Nijmeijer was smooth and took 2nd place with Bronkhorst taking another 3rd.

Overall Results.

1st #238 Liam Smith

2nd #4 James Nijmeijer

3rd #17 Liam Bronkhorst

150 Cup & 150 Seniors.

150 Cup:

Heat 1.

It was a very impressive show by #41 Jason van Breda who came out swinging, even giving the senior riders a good run for their money. He took a comfortable 1st place, crossing the line with only two senior riders ahead of him. #99 Adam Naidoo had to work hard to keep the rest behind him as he collected 2nd with #171 Taigh Janse van Rensburg following in 3rd.

Heat 2.

Pulling off what he did in the first heat, Van Breda rode the wheels off his bike for his second win of the day. Naidoo kept a good pace, tailed by #69 Tyler Morgan. It was a race to the flag but Naidoo clinched 2nd with Morgan not far behind in 3rd place.

Heat 3.

There was nobody that was going to stand in the way of Van Breda as he stormed his way into an early lead and just kept going. He took the flag for his triple win. Morgan impressed even himself as he rode to a well deserved 2nd place. Janse van Rensburg and Naidoo came hurtling down the final straight… Janse van Rensburg managed to take 3rd with Naidoo in a close 4th.

150 Seniors.

Heat 1.

The seniors owned the front line going into the first race with pole position belonging to #57 Diego de Ponte.

Standing alongside him was #33 Aston Nesbitt and #17 Chris Wright. De Ponte was a man on a mission and you could clearly see it in his riding as he started to open up quite a gap, taking a convincing win. Wright kept his cool during the race and took 2nd with #21 Arno Erasmus in 3rd place.

Heat 2.

Keeping the race line and maintaining his speed, De Ponte didn’t look back as he powered his way to his second win of the day. Once again Wright was calm and focused as he crossed in 2nd place. Nesbitt came through in 3rd.

Heat 3.

Keeping his eye on the prize, De Ponte was not going to quit until he succeeded in his quest to take a perfect day. Nesbitt had a much better run in the last heat and grabbed 2nd. The battle for third between Wright and #22 Leungo Gaorekwe was pretty fierce. It was Gaorekwe who just managed to take 3rd by a mere 0.016sec.

Overall Results.

150 Cup.

1st #41 Jason van Breda

2nd #99 Adam Naidoo

3rd #69 Tyler Morgan

150 Seniors.

1st #57 Diego de Ponte

2nd #17 Chris Wright

3rd #22 Leungo Gaorekwe

Girls Development Cup & Clubmans: A new initiative by the SASCS to promote and expand the development of girls in motorcycle racing.

Girls.

Heat 1: The girls took to the track to see who would be crowned the first Girls Development Cup winner.

#135 Jessica Oosthuizen is a well known rider in the SASCS, she was leading most of the race before #35 Makayla Smit took the lead. Smit stuck it out and took the win, Oosthuizen claimed 2nd and #19 Triston Govender got 3rd place.

In Heat 2, Smit entered lap two in front and pushed hard for the finish line. This paid off and she finished in 1st place. Oosthuizen and Govender had a bit of a brawl as they fought for second place with Oosthuizen winning the fight and collecting 2nd. Govender took 3rd.

Heat 3.

With a great performance by Smit the fans got to see her taking all three wins. She is the first Girls Development Cup winner. Oosthuizen rode her way to another 2nd place with Govender following in 3rd.

Clubmans – Combined.

Heat 1.

Starting the race from pole position and taking the holeshot, #12 Simphiwe Mahlobo was oozing confidence as he rode his way to the win.

#69x Henk Schuiling came through in 2nd with #69 Neil Heslip collecting 3rd place.

Heat 2.

From the get go Mahlobo ran away with the lead and crossed the line in 1st place, Schuiling got the 2nd spot and Heslip took 3rd.

Heat 3.

Mahlobo had another good start and was well on his way for another win, but a technical problem saw him retire after four laps. No points for this heat saw him dropping to 3rd overall. Schuiling took advantage and claimed the win, Heslip took 2nd.

Overall Results.

Girls.

1st #35 Makayla Smit

2nd #135 Jessica Oosthuizen

3rd #19 Triston Govender

Clubmans.

1st #69x Henk Schuiling

2nd #69 Neil Heslip (1st in his Class)

3rd #12 Simphiwe Mahlobo (2nd in his Class)

SM Junior 50cc.

Heat 1.

Qualifying for pole position was the start of a day that #26 Ethan de Freitas will never forget.

Standing on the number two and three spots were #27 Kiros Taliotes and #550 Marnitz Otten.

A cracker of a start from #100 Tanner Oosthuizen had him grab the holeshot leaving the rest to follow. De Freitas tailed Oosthuizen for a couple of laps before taking the lead and finishing in 1st place. Taliotes crossing in 2nd with Otten following in 3rd.

In heat 2, Otten took the lead early on with a group of four riders following close behind. De Freitas slowly started to move his way up in the ranks as he overtook one rider per lap and then rode his way to the win, Otten remained in 2nd place with Taliotes in 3rd.

Heat 3 was an intense battle between Otten and Taliotes up front as they swapped positions. De Freitas was behind them just waiting for the right moment and that moment came on the last lap as he grabbed his perfect day and secured his 2024 Championship win.

Taliotes won the battle for 2nd place and Otten came in in 3rd place.

Overall Results.

1st #26 Ethan de Freitas (2024 Champion)

2nd #27 Kiros Taliotes

3rd #550 Marnitz Otten

SM1, SM1S & SM2. (Combined Results.)

Heat 1.

The racing was too good and too close to write about separately so we’ll combine the results with a breakdown at the end for each class.

Pole man #33 Aston Nesbitt took the holeshot and was quickly followed by a string of riders in a row. #52 Troy Tonking was up in second place with #17 Chris Wright and #171 Taigh Janse van Rensburg fighting for third when an incident saw Wright and Janse van Rensburg both go down. That was the end of Wrights race.

V Rensburg got up and kept going but lost a whole lot of positions. #63 Thabang Keswa found himself going head to head with Tonking, swapping positions a few times before they could cross the line. Nesbitt won the race with Keswa not far behind in 2nd. Tonking came in 3rd. #30 Ruben Weterman crossed in 4th with J.v Rensburg clawing his way back to 5th.

Heat 2.

In an epic battle for first place, Nesbitt and Keswa foughttooth and nail throughout the race, not giving the other any breathing room. Way back down the line, Wright was overtaking riders left and right. Tonking did not have the best of starts and things went even worse for him when in lap two, he tucked the front and slid off the track. Nesbitt and Keswa came bolting over the line side by side, with Nesbitt taking 1st and Keswa in 2nd place. Wright had an excellent run to finish in 3rd, Ruben Weterman got another 4th place and Tonking who dropped about 10 spots through the race, fought his way up to finish in 5th.

Troy Tonking loses the front.

Heat 3.

The last race of the day had every single person on their feet as the motard riders gave all they had to entertain the fans. What a spectacular ending it was!

Scraping elbows, close calls and skilled passes was all on display. The best of it was all the way up front, with Nesbitt and Keswa going at it again with J.v Rensburg just behind. When the flag came out and the dust settled, it was Keswa who crossed the line first with Nesbitt 2nd and J.v Rensburg in a close 3rd. Wright took 4th with Ruben Weterman in 5th.

Thanks for the show guys!