Eight-year-old Brakpan North resident Zander Strydom is a fresh young face in the relatively new sport of scooter drag racing.
He is the youngest scooter drag racer in the country in the sport, which originated in Puerto Rico.
With a valid Motorsport South Africa licence already in hand and a number of trophies and certificates in the bag, the youngster looks set for a big future in the sport and in drag racing in general.
His father, Kobus, is as big a petrolhead as it gets and first introduced his son to bikes in April, 2012, when Zander was just six years old.
The young drag racer recently hopped onto his current scooter, a Big Boy 150cc, and although the motor itself is stock standard, the rider has achieved a top speed of 91.5km/hour on the quarter mile (402m).
In order to get Zander to see over the handlebars of his scooter, Kobus had to customise the seat, drop the handlebars (by 80mm) and pull in the forks by 100mm.
Zander’s talents have been spotted by some big players in motorsport, including the owner of The Rock Raceway, Tim “Mr Rock” Stephens, who first gave him the opportunity to race and who also allows him to make use of the Rock track on a frequent basis, to develop his skills.
So impressed is Stephens by the Laerskool Dalview pupil, that the youngster has even taken on the nickname of “Little Mr Rock”.
The long term goal for Zander (in about five years’ time) is to take on the Puerto Ricans in their own sport, at the World Compact Drag Racing Championships.
For more information on scooter drag racing, visit the “Scooter Drag Racing in South Africa” page on Facebook.
