Slow start for Tony Rust drag race

The Tony Rust drag race over the weekend started off at a slow pace as Namibia and South Africa (SA) took each other on.
The event, however, gained momentum as the day went by.

The SA team consisted of only four cars, but they came well equipped and prepared to take on the Namibians drag racers.
Drag racing is a popular sport in SA, which was evident judging by the cars entered for the event.

Event organiser Bradley Ferreira from Big Brother Racing (BBR) said there was a technical hiccup with the electronic time-keeping system, but they managed to pull through with ‘hand-drop racing’.

This involves starting the race with an official dropping their hands.
“The timing system caused many delays. We expected it to be rain damaged, since the last time it was used, it rained, and it is an outdoor system,” he said.

The electronic timer, however, still functioned and recorded accurate times, he said.

The loudest cheers during the event came when Namibia’s Xico Coetzee challenged the visitors with his custom-built Toyotas, named ‘Taxi’ and ‘Uber’.

It was when the floodlights were switched after sunset that the tracks came alive, Ferreira said.

Namibians are used to racing at night when it is cooler, and cars perform better in cooler conditions.
Ferreira thanked the SA crew for taking the initiative to prepare the tracks for the event.

They sprayed it with track-bite – a compound on the tracks that promotes better grip and traction during the drop of the flag.
Ferreira said he was happy with the turnout of spectators, adding the organisers did not expect a good turnout.

The SA team arrived in Windhoek on Thursday, with little time to prepare, yet they delivered a sterling performance after one of their cars developed mechanical problems.

The Namibians did not hesitate and made their services and workshops available to get the car back on track.
BBR earmarked some of the proceeds from the event’s entry fees to Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Namibia.

Bianca Özcan said the organisation is excited about breaking barriers by getting involved with a sporting event like drag racing.
“Fundraising and awareness go together, because we make use of every opportunity we get. MS is still fairly unknown to sub-Saharan African

countries, and that is why we try and focus on awareness as much as possible,” she said.
Ferreira thanked Wesbank for its involvement, as well as other smaller sponsors.

OSH-Med International was on first-aid standby as no motorsport event is permitted without the presence of a team of medics and an ambulance.
No incidents were reported.

The event was hosted under the auspices of the Windhoek Motor Club and the Namibia Motorsport Federation.
The results are as follows:

Cars:
Class X: Coetzee (10:16s).
Class A: First, Leo Pretorius, SA (11s), second, Grant Knowles (11:23s) and third, Deon Friedenthal (11:33s).
Class B: First, Levert van der Merwe (12:09s), second, Devon Farmer (17:31s), third place, Waldo Beukes (12:71s).
Class C: First, Marinus Weyers (13:12s), second, Uzziah Mukena (13:18s), third, Dirk Hohmeier (13:22s).
Class D: First, Julio Gomes (14:44), second, Kian Kotze (14:44s), third, Lorenzo Platt (14:97s).
Class F: First, Romario Swartz (16:63), and second, Jeandre Karelse (16:89s).
Class G: First, Farmer, and second, Schalk van der Merwe (21:64s).

Motorbikes:
Class X: First, Nadeem Husselmann (10:11s) and second, McAllen Husselman (10:46s).
Class A: Colin van Wyk (11:40s and 12:16seconds, respectively).

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