Klerksdorp Record, Orkney - The first round of the battle of the clubs was presented with a resounding success at the Vaal River Boating Club on Sunday May 19.
The event started with the 60 km mini long haul that was run up and down the river in an exciting race. The first lap consisted of 16 km and the boats had to do four laps. Jono Schmidt (M35) who showed some incredible high speeds, unfortunately had to pull out of the race because of a cracked block. This caused a damper on the event, as everybody was waiting to see the long awaited challenge between him and the current world champion, Klerksdorp adrenaline junkie Renier le Roux.
However, this inspired the drivers and teams from Rustenburg’s Zodiac club even more and although Le Roux was leading the event from the start, he couldn’t relax for even a second as the other contenders were in hot pursuit.
Boat M13, with Freddie and Kayle O’Brien in second place, was waiting for the right moment to capitalize on any mistake Le Roux might make. In an event like this, any surprises are possible and even a small mistake will cause disappointment.
This is what happened with boat M88, driven by Galvin Marais and co-pilot Timothy Walker from Zodiac club. They were forced to pull out because of engine problems.
Freddie O’ Brien battled to chase the leading boat of Le Roux and Jan Human and co-driver Chares Hill saw the opportunity to move up to second place. The two boats and team mates from JJ le Roux Transport and members of F1 club, finished the race in first and second place with an exhausted O’ Brien in third place.
Jaco Kloostersiel and co-pilot, Jolene Gilias from the F1 club in the P750 sprint class did exceptionally well by running with the fast modify class and finished just 6 minutes behind the leading boat. They were followed by boat 23, Elandré and co-pilot Ezandrie Scherman from Zodiac club and just behind them were boat 34 from team Vaps driven by Vic Viljoen and co-pilot Freddie from F1club.
The two newcomers in the F1 club, Rinus Hatting with co-pilot, Megan Stanford and Armand and co-pilot Luvandi Smit finished 4th and 5th.
The battle for honours in the P750 standard class was as expected between boat S14 and S19, driven by the twin brothers, Heindrich and Maré Cloete. At the end, boat S14 with Renier Cronje and co-pilot Franswa van Rooyen took honours with the Cloete brothers in second. They were closely followed by the rookie and first time racer, Kobus van Biljon and his co- driver, Lucan Rudman.
Keep an eye on Van Biljon’s red boat and team Eleksol as they will soon be very competitive in future racing. Bad luck and miscalculations caused boat S141 of Fanie and son, SW Kruger, to end their race earlier because of not enough petrol in the tank.
It was a very frustrating long haul for the Butler boys’ team, as they experienced engine problems soon after the race started but managed to finish the race fourth in their standard class. It was their first race as father and son together and what made this event so special, is that it was Edwin Butler’s first race as pilot after he was always co-driver.
The luck turned for the Butler team when the circuit racing start. They managed to sort the engine problems and score a second place in the finale heat where team Reynké Spilpunte, driven by the Cloete twins took first place. Disaster struck the Eleksol team of Van Biljon and Rudman in the first race as they barrel rolled their boat. They followed and chased the Butlers in the finale for the second place when they hooked the boat in the top right corner of the track and ended up on their roof. Despite this incident they still secured an excellent third position in the P750 standard class.
The experience and good skills from Jaco and co-driver, Jolene secured them a win in the P750 sprint class for F1 club. Boat 23, from Zodiac club and driven by the Schermans, took second and boat 34 from F1 club with Vic and co-driver, Freddie took third place.
The final for the modify class was spectacular and saw Renier and wife, Leoné, claiming first for F1club. Their driving skills were just too good for the O’Brien team (boat M13) from Rustenburg, and forced them in a good second position scoring vital points for the club. Team mates, Human and co-driver Hill, from JJ le Roux Transport scored third place with team Plug and Play in fourth place.
This first event of the battle of the clubs was a huge success and was just the right preparations for the Nashua Gariep National and Inter-club championship starting June 14-16, where all the top competitors from South Africa and teams from Namibia and the UK will also be in action. The F1 club won the first round by an overwhelming point score of 440 vs 173 of Zodiac club.
For any information and interest, contact Heinrich at 067 884 7751 or Kobus at 082 084 3640.
