June Race Updates
Luke Webb
Backdraft Racing
Backdraft Racing headed down to Port Elizabeth’s Aldo Scribante Circuit with the new Backdraft Slingshot and 11 other Class E Cobras, all from Backdraft.
The race started at 15:00 and ended at 20:00. This meant some night-time driving, which often leads to many changes in positions within the Top 10, as driving in the dark is not everyone’s favourite pastime.
Our little Slingshot with Mike Mcloughlin and Steve Clark piloting was mixing it with the GT3 Porsche of Hein Lategan and the Audi R8 of Kwanda Mokoena for four hours. After passing the Mercedes AMG of Sun Moodley with relative ease, the race was on between the Top 3.
The other Class E Cobras had a very close race, with ex Daytona 500 winner and South African driver champion Tony Martin partnering with his cousin Brian in a standard production car.
The results were pleasing, with Lategan taking overall honours, the Slingshot 2nd and the Audi R8 Gt3 3rd.
Our Class E teams made up 4th, 6th, 7th, 9th and 10th positions overall, with every one of our cars that entered making it to the finishing line.
Dezzi Raceway
The race scheduled for Phakisa in Welkom was cancelled due to the bad state of the track surface and poor building conditions.
The team decided to support the local racing and entered a local Dezzi Regional race meeting to test our new ‘Fuchs Beast’, our newest project with a lightweight chassis, boasting a full carbon fibre body weighing only 22 kg and a Chev V8 LS 7 Engine making close to 650 hp.
As it was a test day, no decals were applied. However, FUCHS will stand prominently behind this car at its first race in East London on 16 July, as all oils in this car are sponsored by FUCHS.
The car started at the back of the grid. Driver Mike Mcloughlin was instructed to use this as a test session only. By the 3rd lap, the car was leading, and by the end of the 10th lap, the car had lapped 11 of the entered cars. This is a real machine! The Lambos, Mercs and Porsches in East London will have to watch their mirrors carefully.
In addition, Brian Martin and Trevor Graham entered standard production Cobras, finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively. So it was a clean sweep at Dezzi for the BDR Cobras.
Jayden Proctor
Port Elizabeth Pre-Nationals
June was an exciting month as JAYDEN took part in the PE Pre-Nationals on 18 July.
Highlights
Racing the MX1 #7 (450cc) category, Jaydon placed 3rd overall with a total of 41 points.
In the MX Senior Support category, racing the MX2 #7 (250cc), he placed 1st overall with 50 points in total.
Brandon Parsons
RICH Racing
SA Short Circuit Series (SASCS)
In June, Brandon #30 raced in the SA Short Circuit Series (SASCS) at Zwartzkop Kart Circuit.
Kicking the day off with extremely cold weather and a slight breeze, Jaydon knew caution was going to be a crucial element for qualifying, especially around the small track and tight turns.
“I went out in qualifying being a bit unsettled trying to find my feet on the track as it was really slippery. I eventually started to push a little more and was able to put in a lap time that placed me second on the grid.”
Race 1: Brandon had a decent start, but quickly fell to fourth place. However, by the next lap, he was able to push through to clinch 2nd.
Race 2: A bad start didn’t get the best of Jaydon as he climbed from 4th to 2nd in this race. “I was able to stick behind my rivals until one of them crashed out and the other had a mechanical failure, so a little bit of luck saw me finish 2nd once again.”
Race 3: A brilliant start to the last race of the day, with a slight wheelie that pushed him into 1st place.
“Unfortunately, another racer had the upper hand and overtook me. I chased right up behind him, but was unable to regain the place, resulting in another 2nd position.”
Brandon finished 2nd overall – a truly phenomenal and well-deserved finish.
"I want to say a big thank you to FUCHS LUBRICANTS SOUTH AFRICA for providing me with the best oils. Loads of people had multiple overheating problems, whereas I did not have a single mechanical part overheating. You guys have really brilliant oils.”
Marc Gleed
ICE BLOCK NATIONAL EVENT
The annual Ice Block National event took place in June at the Emerald Casino on the Vaal River. It lived up to its reputation once again of extreme cold weather, with temperatures dropping as low as 3°C in the early mornings.
The team arrived at the river early on Thursday morning to set up for Saturday’s racing. Getting the setup perfect can be extremely tricky at altitude on flat water, especially coming from the coast.
After the first run, the team could already see that the testing and development that had been carried out prior to the event was paying off, as we reached higher speeds than we had achieved before at the same venue.
“We were fully aware of the strong competition that we were up against, as we would be competing against the top flat water specialist teams from Gauteng, meaning we would have to really pull out all the stops to try and get close to their pace,” explained Marc.
After testing every propeller, engine, and setup option available on Thursday and Friday, the team was confident they had the pace to compete for a podium position in the three races on Saturday.
The first race was the 100 km long haul, where all three Thundercat classes competed together. The team opted to skip a fuel stop, and took on all the fuel necessary to cover the 100 km. The start flagged dropped and we slotted into 2nd position after the first kilometre, ready to chase the leader.
“We left nothing to spare in pursuit of the lead, searching for the faster sections of the river and trying to trim our race boat to the absolute max in search of every last km/h possible, but we just could not close the gap and finished 2nd, which we were extremely happy with,” said Marc.
It was then on to the two circuit heats, where the team finished 2nd in both heats, narrowly missing out on a win in the 2nd heat.
This event was a huge success for the team, scoring valuable championship points that will put them in a good standing for the last round of the championship at The Waterkloof Dam in Villiersdorp from 13 to 14 August.
The junior team had an excellent first race ever on the Vaal River, taking 1st place overall in the stock class for the day, which will be of huge assistance with their current overall championship standing going into the final round.
“A big thank you must go out to FUCHS for their continued assistance with providing race-winning lubricants, which have a huge influence on the top performance of our race engines.”
Joao Alberty
PICANTO CUP/ZWARTKOPPS RACEWAY
It was a cold morning as the cars made their way to the line for the warmup laps before qualification.
Qualification Heat A Pilot – Joao Alberty
It was a slow start for Joao, who struggled to warm up the car due to the freezing conditions. Despite this, he managed to qualify 6th.
Heat Race A.1 Pilot
It wasn’t an easy race as Joel fought to gain one position by the first corner. The fight continued until he crossed the line in 4th place.
Heat Race A.2 Pilot
Very strong race battles throughout the whole race for the top three positions. Due to a slow touch by another competitor, we were distant from the top 2 and crossed the line in 3rd position. Thankfully no damage was incurred.
Qualification Heat B Pilot – Paulo Da Cunha, Sub Pilot
Paulo was the sub pilot for the day and clinched a 5th position start on the grid.
Heat Race B.1 Pilot – Paulo da Cunha
Bad start, lost a few positions, took things safely and managed to overtake his lost positions and gained one to finish 4th.
Heat Race B.2 Pilot
Very strong start in the top 3 for the first lap until the last corner, where Paulo went wide and off the track. Thereafter, we were last by a large margin, but still managed to finish in 8th position.
To wrap it up, we achieved 5th overall. It’s not the result we were looking for, but we will be ready for the next race back home in Mozambique.
“We would like to thank FUCHS LUBRICANTS SOUTH AFRICA for their support throughout the race weekend, the pit crew which had to be improvised, Pilots, and Blutech Ltd. Management for making this experience possible and positive.”
Caden Weise
National Round 2 – Thunder Valley (2 April 2022) – Caden Weise #315 (AKA Booboo)
Round 2 of the Nationals was held in a cold and very wet Pietermaritzburg. Racing was extremely tough, as the track was wet and rough.
Caden rode extremely well despite the harsh conditions and managed to finish 11th overall for the day. We are extremely happy with his progress on the National Grid.
Michael Louw
Round 5 was held at Idube Raceway in Pietermaritzburg in July. Racing was very tough on a demanding track situated on the edge of a mountain.
Michael managed to win Heats 1, 2 and 3, taking the overall win for the day. We will race Round 6 at VKC in Vereeniging on 13 August.
Look forward to taking on my competition again in the next round!
Jason Coetzee
Extreme Festival Round 4
Really happy about the result, considering it was our first time at Red Star Raceway. We ended up in 4th place overall! Huge thanks to my team for all the hard work. Really excited for the next few rounds and hope to achieve even better results!
Johan Vogelsang
Mx Nationals Round 4
For Round 4 of the Mx Nationals, we headed to the most demanding track on the South African National Motocross calendar, the Rover Motocross Track in Port Elizabeth.
Unfortunately, Johan was unable to do any sand riding and prep heading into Rover, which put him on the back foot.
During practice, he took his time to learn the track and get the feel of sand riding again after some time away from Rover Mx Track.
Race 1 got off to a great start, just getting edged out for the holeshot by reigning champion and current points leader Tristan Purdon.
Unfortunately, due to a mistake a few corners in, he didn’t only lose second place, but a few more positions in the process. He managed to settle into a decent rhythm and pace and had a good battle with Honda rider Jayden Proctor for most of the race.
Jayden managed to get past just before the 15-minute mark. With a few laps to go, another position was lost to a hard-charging Bradley Cox.
Race 2 started with clutch problems due to the strain on the bike from the sand after Race 1. Unfortunately, Johan got off to a bad start and struggled to get into a rhythm, ultimately left with a poor ride for Heat 2.
Free State Mx Regional Round 3- HARRISMITH
Round 3 of the Free State Regional Mx Championship took place in Harrismith.
Race 1 got off to a great start, grabbing the holeshot ahead of Blake Gutzeit and Jayden Proctor, with Johan leading the race from start to finish.
Race 2 got off to another holeshot that ended in 2nd place.
Trenton
We raced a very cold Harrismith where the temperature was 2°C when we got there. We were using this race as a practice for the upcoming National. What a great day!
Trenton won 1st position in Heat 1 and 2nd position in Heat 2. Overall, he placed an incredible 1st.
Coby placed 7th in Heat 1 and 6th in Heat 2. Overall, he finished 7th.
At the Pre-Nationals in Port Elizabeth, Coby placed 9th overall. Trenton also had a fantastic day going 1:1.
