Lee McGeorge and Dave Abrahams
Calling all women with high octane in their veins and lap records on their minds.
They’re will be accorded preferential treatment during this Saturday’s Woman’s Day Festival Meeting at Killarney, which will be run in conjunction with the sixth round of the Power Series sponsored by Wingfield Motors.
Women will be admitted free, and will also be offered special privileges when they visit the Trackside Pub and Grill at the clubhouse.
For those with children, there is the added inducement of playground facilities, including jumping castles outside the clubhouse. Kiddies too will enter free.
Then, at least one woman will be the recipient of a ticket for a “taxi ride” around the circuit at racing speed, in a 333km/h McLaren MP4-12C sports car driven by a former Killarney sports car champion.
The Power Series is expected to provide its usual brand of red-hot racing with 16 championship events.
A late entry from national Porsche hotshot Toby Venter could rearrange the finishing order in the exciting Bigfoot Express Sports and GT events.
Given that he’s been unbeaten in his GT2-R during rare previous |visits to the Cape, the participation of Kyalami’s new owner may be seen as a move to revive the marque’s flagging competitive fortune in these parts.
And the easiest way to accomplish this will be to trounce Francis Carruthers, who has been dominating the category in his hugely impressive British-designed Juno SS3, in recent events.
Other racing highlights will include the appearance of the mercurial Brett Roach in the Jive GTi Challenge, where he is going to have to deal with acknowledged front runners like Nian du Toit and Christopher Swart.
Further back, the equally spectacular Kosie Weyers will be out to deal with Paul Simon and Andrea Bate in class C.
The Midas Clubman events are too close to call. But despite the six equally matched class A drivers, if a selection has to be made, the A4 Audis in the hands of current champion Andre Johnson and Nieyaaz Modack may be where the smart money should go.
At the other end of the scale, the emphasis in the Mutlu Batteries Classic racing is more about nostalgia.
And what better examples of that could there be than Andre Mouton’s rare Studebaker Silver Hawk, or veteran Richard “Quick” Quixley’s Datsun 240Z. No show ponies, both cars are driven hard, and while they may not match Trevor Momberg’s Ford Capri or Sandro Biccari’s VW Scirocco, they are certainly worth watching.
The incredible one-armed Steve Hallet is going to be back in action in his Ford Sapphire in the Charl Electrical Engineering. Fine Car category, while Sean le Riche and Reg Anderson are expected to make the running in their 2-litre VW Swifts in the Formula Libre single seater |category.
In two-wheeled action, Cape Town’s David McFadden has taken advantage of the mid-season break in the world Superstock 1000 championship to come home and enter Round six of the Mike Hopkins Regional Motorcycle series on the Stunt SA ZX-10R.
This will change the dynamic at the sharp end of the field among the top Regional contenders, including defending champion Ronald Slamet, veteran Malcom Rapson and young gun Gerrit Visser, each also on a Kawasaki ZX-10R.
There is also the unexpected addition of Powersport contender and former SA SuperSport race winner Graeme Green on the Thruxton Motorcycles’ ZX-10R, and 600 Challenge star Brandon Haupt, out for the first time on a new ZX-10R with backing from his family and MX Clean.
Facing no fewer than seven of the 150kW Green Meanies in Class A, Trevor Westman on the seven-year-old Ocean Sizzler R1 could be forgiven for feeling a little outgunned, but never write off this graduate of the rough-and-tumble short-circuit school of racing; Westman is at his best when he’s the underdog.
There are now two 600cc machines in Class A, each a Kawasaki ZX-6R, and they are also the top contenders in the 600 Challenge: current leader Andre Calvert and teen prodigy Hayden Jonas.
The first of the 14 events on Saturday, which includes a 1-Hour Endurance Race for the Jive GTis, is due off at 10am.
Remember, women enter free. Men pay R60 for adults, scholars under 16 pay R20.