By Donna Collins
WALVIS BAY – The final round of the 2015 national Dirt Oval Track races held on Saturday at the recently opened N$2-million Desert Raceway in Walvis Bay, attracted some 40 entries in the different classes, who let rip to chase the last championship points.
A blistering wind tore up the sand during the afternoon which put more grit into the day than expected, but died down towards the evening when racing continued into the calm of the night. The flag dropped for the first race at 17h00 with the last engine being turned off just before midnight, each class completing four heats.
The Desert Raceway dirt oval track which held its inaugural event in August this year, has now become the icon arena for motorsport at the coast, with organisers and competitors delivering dirt racing of the highest standard.
Bigger and better than the former track, the Desert Raceway is geared up for first class competition with spectator friendly facilities, and Saturday’s event was no exception with over 1 000 motorsport fans pouring through the gates.
There was no stopping the front runners leading the title scoreboard, and racing was fast and fierce. Richard Owen in his VW Golf was unstoppable in the 8-valve 4-cylinder Class and took the top podium slot ahead of Zachary Martin and Riaan Viviers in second and third respectively.
A heated dice in the contested 8-valve 16-cylinder Hot Rod Class brought Jan Everson in his Space frame Corsa dicing the hell out of his rivals to take the chequered flag in first place. Allan Martin in his lime green Corsa 13B Rotary space frame ‘Sideways’ who has been chasing points to defend his championship title, finished second overall ahead of Michael Behnke.
Undoubtedly the V8’s are a huge crowd puller on the race track, and when the boys unleashed their super machines on the track with the thunderous roar of engines and spectacular slides into the corner, there were exuberant shouts of excitement from the stands.
Durant Oosthuizen was the driver to beat in his big ‘Monster’, which flew the chequered, winning ahead of Johan Roodt who was hot on his bumper in second spot followed by Leon Bruwer in third.
A race isn’t a race without some drama, and the Midget races gave the crowds what they wanted. Right from being push started onto the track, their presence added to the already super charged mood of the day, especially when Windhoek racer Albert van Zyl crashed into the safety tyre barrier early in the proceedings, rendering him unable to continue the race.
Piet Simon emerged as the winner of the Midget category, with Louwtjie Louw and Leon Wessels second and third respectively.
A big field of quad bikes participated in Saturday’s event with guys dicing hell for leather. Dyllan Roodt won the Quad bikes open Class ahead of Joshua Camos and Hugo Arangies, while Jacques Simon won the Quad bikes 200cc category.
For those of you who missed Saturday’s race, a social event is being held on the 20 December to provide some action for holiday makers visiting the coast. Spinning fans can look forward to the guys participating again and this will be huge get together for all.
And with “Live to Race – Race to Live” their motto, the Desert Raceway Club are building on a heritage of motorsport in Walvis Bay that is going to be hard to beat.