South African Short circuit series | SASCS motorcycle racing results

Round 2 Formula K.

Race report and photos by Deon vdl Photography

We made our way to Formula K, Benoni side to catch the guys and girls of the SASCS as they took on Round 2 for the season. It was a dull, grey and dark day and everyone worried about the rain interfering with raceday.

The rain stayed away with only a few drops here and there. We got to enjoy the day with some all out action.

Thanks to the weather department, we did not see the best of turnouts in race entries, but there were enough to make the day quite exciting. It had its fair share of good old fashion racing and rubbing of shoulders.

The first group to be set free onto the track were our future racers, the youngsters of the PW50 and Novice Class.

PW50.

The kids went out in full force as they all pushed hard for pole position and it was a very close call as the top 4 riders qualified with a difference of 0.487sec.

It was Round 1’s winner #4 James Nijmeijer who took pole followed by #52 Declan Schoeman, #17 Liam Bronkhorst and #39 Ajay Venter.

Just behind them we had another up and coming star #07 Emma Green.

Heat 1: As the lights sent our youth to running start it was #4 Nijmeijer with a great start. Nijmeijer kept his lines clean and kept a good pace leaving #52 Schoeman and #39 Venter to their own little battle.

Nijmeijer took 1st place by 3.173sec and Schoeman beat Venter for 2nd by 0.389sec.

Heat 2: Nijmeijer with another good start felt Schoeman breathing down his neck – he just could not shake him. The two had a great race that kept going for the entire 6 laps. It was neck and neck as they came around the last corner with Nijmeijer winning by 0.299sec Schoeman 2nd and #17 Liam Bronkhorst 3rd. Venter started falling back as an unfortunate technical problem saw him taking 4th but that was the end of his day as he did not make it to the starting line for the last Heat.

Heat 3: Having had such a good time in the previous Heat, Nijmeijer and Schoeman decided to give the spectators another great run, pushing each other from start to finish. Nijmeijer made it a perfect day taking his third 1st for the day with Schoeman in 2nd and Bronkhorst in 3rd.

Novice: We only had one new comer in this class #08 Carter Walker.. He rode very well and we can’t wait to see him improving and becoming competitive as he moves up to join his fellow riders in the PW50 class in the future.

Overall Results:

PW50.

1st #4 James Nijmeijer

2nd #52 Declan Schoeman

3rd #17 Liam Bronkhorst

Novice.

1st #08 Carter Walker

SM 2, SM Masters and SM Grand Masters.

#69 Tyler Morgan had everything set up right as he claimed top spot in the qualifier. He was followed by #707 Treavin Linder and #213 Stefan Grandmaison.

Heat 1: #69 Morgan felt comfortable standing on the start line and as the lights went off that comfort came into question as #707 Linder rode an impressive race and caught up to Morgan, but it was too late as Morgan won the race by just over a second.

Linder took the 2nd spot and #213 Grandmaison 3rd.

Heat 2: We think that Morgan didn’t like the fact that Heat 1 finished so close and decided to put some extra oomph into his riding as he claimed his second win by 7.351sec. Linder 2nd and Grandmaison 3rd.

Heat 3: Now with added fire, Morgan just pulled away from the pack and was gone, he took the chequered flag and a clean sweep as he won it all. The fans also got to see Linder fly as he took a massive jump over the apex, that was insane!

He made a clean landing and secured his 2nd place with Grandmaison 3rd.

SM Masters.

Heat 1: With only two riders in this class they still made for some awesome racing. Almost flipping his bike off the starting line #258 Vaughn Bronkhorst got his front wheel down and the race was on. They pushed each other as they chopped and changed positions, in the end it was #23 Terrance Chowles made a break and took the win.

In Heat 2 the two riders took it to one another more fiercely. Bronkhrst tried his best to get in front of Chowles and at times got it right but just could not keep the lead. Chowles kept on taking back the top spot and 1st place again.

Heat 3: Bronkhorst was determined to win the last heat as he stormed towards the corner to get out in front, it looks like he came in too hot, slammed on the back brakes and crashed into Chowles. Chowles got back up but Bronkhorst stayed down causing a red flag and a halt to the race. With Bronkhorst out, Chowles took the victory.

Grand Masters: With only one entry in this class it was #17 Tom Maritz who gave the younger riders a tough time. With the three classes combined he crossed the line in 3rd every time but 1st in his class.

Overall Results:

SM2:

1st #69 Tyler Morgan

2nd #707 Treavin Linder

3rd #213 Stefan Grandmaison

SM Masters:

1st #23 Terrance Chowles

2nd #258 Vaughn Bronkhorst

SM Grand Masters:

1st #17 Tom Maritz

Crash between Terrence Chowles and Vaughn Bronkhorst.

SM Junior 65cc.

If proving a point was the name of the game then #11x Luca Bergover played it like a pro.

He took the pole position by over a second followed by #22 Blake Robert and #711 Tristan Swart.

Heat 1: From the get go, Bergover was in top form as he came off the line and slowly but surely started pulling away from the pack. He made sure that he was not to be touched as he took a 4.792sec win. Behind him, Robert and Swart were duking it out for 2nd place. Crossing the line in 2nd was Robert with Swart a very close 3rd.

Heat 2: Still making sure to stick to his game plan Bergover just kept his head down and stuck it to his competitors as he rode his way to 1st place by 5.636sec. Swart had a much better run as he kept Robert behind him to take a comfortable 2nd with Robert placing 3rd.

Heat 3: Bergover came to dominate and that is exactly what he did.

He twisted the throttle and kept it pinned to claim a huge victory. Not only did he take 1st overall, he was also the first rider to win the Eugene Botes rider of the day trophy. Nice!

Robert came with a much better ride in their last race of the day as he fought Swart till the end. Swart, who was not going to let Robert just pass him, gave it all he had, he even kept the throttle wide open as he went airborne after clipping the apex.

Swart crossed the line in 2nd by only 0.214sec infront of Robert in 3rd.

Overall Results:

1st #11x Luca Bergover

2nd #711 Tristan Swart

3rd #22 Blake Robert

150 Cup & 150 Seniors. (Results as per Speedhive)

150 Cup: The roar of these 150cc engines is something to behold, especially when they come flying past at full thrash. The qualifying session saw a familiar site as #41 Jason van Breda was top of the log, #99 Adam Naidoo not too far behind in 2nd and #69 Tyler Morgan 3rd.

Heat 1: Van Breda was on the gas again after having a bit of a lousy season last year due to injury. He was back in top form as he powered his way to the 1st spot by over 6sec, Naidoo came through with 2nd and #110 Bohlale Mafokate in 3rd.

Heat 2: It was the third generation racer van Breda who took his own unique style of riding all the way to the finish line to make it two for two. Naidoo did not make it to the start for this heat and left Mafokate and Morgan to fight for second place. Mafokate had the better run and took 2nd with Morgan taking 3rd.

Heat 3: Making another clean sweep of the day was van Breda that was on a roll that could not be stopped but was challenged by Mafokate who came in fast for another 2nd place. Naidoo who was back on track had to settle for 3rd.

150 Seniors: The King Price Rider #6 Clinton Seller set the top time but only just, as the top four riders’ time difference was a mere 0.554sec.

Heat 1: Seller came to show why he is a multiple S.A Champ as he rode his way to a 4.569sec win. Behind Seller we had an epic battle between three riders #57 Diego de Ponte, #26 Oratilwe Phiri and #22 Cayden Robert who crossed the line in that order 0.452sec apart. Now that was a race!

Heat 2: With one King Price Rider out of the picture, (Seller had to leave early) #22 Robert Kept the King Price flag flying high as he rode very well to take 1st place. It was #26 Cameron Aitken who came in 2nd and #52 Troy Tonking in 3rd by 0.280sec.

Heat 3: Keeping up with his momentum Robert came out on top taking two wins for the day with Phiri hot on his tail pipe as they crossed the line and Tonking with 3rd place.

Overall Results:

150 Cup:

1st #41 Jason van Breda

2nd #110 Bohlale Mafokate

3rd #69 Tyler Morgan

150 Seniors:

1st #22 Cayden Robert

2nd #26 Oratilwe Phiri

3rd #26x Cameron Aitken

SM Junior 50cc.

Seeing the smoke from the little 2-stroke motors as the 50cc class revs their engines waiting for their chance at qualifying, one can’t help but get excited.

The marshall opened the gate and they buzzed out onto the track. After their session it was #26 Ethan de Freitas who got the fastest lap time 4.007sec faster than his EDF Racing team mate #550 Marnitz Otten and right behind him was #27 Kiros Taliotes.

Heat 1: de Freitas was challenged in the early stages of the race by Otten but opened a gap at the end and won the race by 3.805sec. Otten claimed 2nd some great riding saw #135 Jessica Oosthuizen taking 3rd. We also saw #43 Naledi Ntwari, another girl who came to join the series came in 6th place.

Heat 2: Once again Otten seemed to be a thorn in de Freitas’ side in the first few laps but de Freitas did what he does as always and started to pull ahead and took the flag 1st by over 10sec. Otten stayed well ahead to take a comfortable 2nd and #11 Zander du Toit 3rd.

Jessica Oosthuizen 5th and Ntwari 7th for the girls.

Heat 3: The EDF rider de Freitas had a fantastic last race as he just left everybody behind to take a well deserved win by almost 20sec. Otten also created a nice gap as he grabbed another 2nd with du Toit 3rd.

The girls results were the same as Heat 2 Ntwari 7th and Oosthuizen 5th losing her podium spot by only 1 point to finish 4th overall.

Overall Results:

1st #26 Ethan de Freitas

2nd #550 Marnitz Otten

3rd #27 Kiros Taliotes

SM1 & SM1S.(Results as per Speedhive)

SM1: The SM1 class being the premier class of the day had everybody clinging to the fence next to the track, not taking their eyes off the action. These guys are crazy fast and a real treat to watch as they slide into corners and are just all out entertainment. #13 Ryan van Nieuwkerk set the fastest time in this class with #33 Aston Nesbitt and #57 Diego de Ponte.

Heat 1: Van Nieuwkerk, Nesbitt and SM1S rider Dorren Loureiro opted to start their race at the back of the grid in the spirit of good sportsmanship and it did not take them long to make their way to the front. In no time at all van Nieuwkerk was leading the race and that is where it stayed until he won the race. Nesbitt was challenged by de Ponte close to the end and de Ponte passed him and grabbed 2nd and Nesbitt 3rd.

Heat 2: The race started off all nice and smooth until van Nieuwkerk had a crash early in the race that had him retire two laps later. Nesbitt who was running on old rubber could not hold on to his regular pace #20 Mykola Welihockyj capitalised on this and he took the flag in 1st place. #52 Troy Tonking made his way to 2nd and Nesbitt 3rd.

Heat 3: Limping to his bike van Nieuwkerk got on and made it to the start, you have to take your hat off to this kid. Not only did he race the last Heat he rode the smoke out of his tyre as he left the rest in the dust and took his second win by over 8sec. Nesbitt kept nursed his tyres and managed to take 2nd spot and Tonking 3rd.

SM1S: #20 Dorren Loureiro set the fastest time for both classes was over 2sec quicker then the Weterman twins who filled the top three.

Heat 1: Loureiro being on track for the first time in two years after a big crash and some surgery looked to be fit enough to be a concern for the rest of the guys, but his bike had other ideas and he had problems with the clutch as the gates were dropped. #30 Ruben Weterman made it to the finish line taking the win, #33 Mitch Mortimer placing 2nd and #31 Luan Weterman 3rd.

Heat 2: Loureiro had his bike behaving in this race and looked like the racer the others feared and made it over the line first, keeping up his pace Ruben Weterman took 2nd and Mortimer in 3rd.

Heat 3: Once again Dorren’s bike decided to play up again and he started to fall further back. This was good news for the other riders. Ruben capitalised on this and stormed to an incredible 7.547sec win. Mortimer rode well and got another 2nd for the day and Luan Weterman crossed in 3rd.

Overall Results:

SM1:

1st #1 Aston Nesbitt

2nd #13 Ryan van Nieuwkerk

3rd #52 Troy Tonking

SM1S:

1st #30 Ruben Weterman

2nd #33 Mitch Motimer

3rd #20 Dorren Loureiro

We would like to say thank you to everyone that helps to make this series possible. Also a big shout out to all the riders for always keeping us entertained. We also get to see another one of our SASCS family members making his way to go race abroad, Diego de Ponte will be joining the MRE Team in Italy to compete in the FIM European Talent Cup, his first race will take place on the 21st of April at Misano, all the best of luck to you young man.

Round 3 details pending.