Capris, bikes rev up the action at Border Motorsport Club champs
SATURDAY greeted Border Motorsport Club (BMC) with a beautiful spring sunrise, with the promise of a glorious day at the hosting of the fifth Regional Championship Circuit Races.
The smell of racing fuel, hot slicks and a cacophony of sound from the pits wafted down pit lane, giving the whole vibe a true racing “high” and thus firing up competitors, spectators and officials with a shot of adrenalin in anticipation of a great days racing.
Entrants included some amazing flame-spitting Ford Capri Perana V8s, Derek Boys’ V8 Chevy Can Am and Super Series V* Camaro, a Mazda RX7 Rotray and a host of 6- and 4-cylinder powered modified and historic racing cars, from as far afield as Port Elizabeth, Queenstown and Cape Town.
The bikes were also well-represented and the BMC event had 28 superbikes campaigned by racers from both the male and female camp as well as a range of ages from 16 to 60 giving it horns around the world-famous East London Grand Prix Circuit.
Well-known female power racer Janine Mitchell was the chief mechanic and pit crew boss for Travis Naude, who was suffering from flu and taking full advantage of all the TLC and support from his gorgeous new pit crew boss.
Mitchell normally races too but sat this one out to support Travis.
Once the qualification was over, the racing began in earnest and an amazing battle for honours ensued with Darron Gudmanz and Chris Blom in the V8 Capris. They were joined by Derek Boy putting on a spectacular display of precision racing as they swopped the lead a few times and chased each other with bumpers connected down the main straight and through Potters Pass. What a wonderful site to behold.
Another Capri piloted by our ever-faithful and hardworking BMC chairman, Andrew Karshagen must have had doughnuts for breakfast as he entertained the whole circuit’s spectators with multiple spins during the races on almost every corner. In heat two of the Historics he somehow allowed his contagious spinning virus to infect the two leading V8 Capris who both completed a perfect 360° spin into a beacon in sympathy for Andrews 1600 cc Capris dilemma.
The bikes were absolutely spectacular to watch, reaching speeds in excess of 250km/h through Rifle Bend before slamming on brakes for Cocobana.
Jason Lamb, getting quite mature now at age 42, same number as his Kawasaki ZX10R, rode like a true champ with Travis Warne, Travis Naude and the very mature but still very quick Pierre le Roux in hot pursuit.
Kudos goes to East London’s own 16-year-old Stirling High pupil, Cassidy Simmons riding a Yamaha R6 sponsored by Roccomammas.
She passed most of her male competitors on similar machines, ending up 10th overall, with a podium finish in her class and ensuring all the spectators were entertained.
The next Border Motorsport Club event is on Saturday with round 6 of the Border Karting Club series taking place on the Karting circuit in the Esses at the Grand Prix track.
Racing starts at 11am and it will be a fantastic spectacle for the whole family.
Entry for spectators is only R10 and free for kids under 12.
