The DJ 2022 – from Hillcrest to Benoni

New clerk of the course for Durban-Johannesburg Rally for classic motorcycles Hylton Allison, a long-time motorcycle enthusiast, has been appointed clerk of the course for the annual DJ Run, a regularity trial for motorcycles made before the end of 1936 that runs between Durban and Johannesburg.

The 2022 event will take place on March 11 and 12, starting at Hillcrest outside Durban and finishing at the Benoni Northern Sports Club after an overnight stop in Newcastle.

Allison heads a committee made up of members of various motorcycle clubs that organises this event on behalf of the Vintage and Veteran Club of South Africa. He is a seasoned DJ competitor, having competed in 20 of these rallies, beginning in 1997. He also has extensive rally-organising experience, including acting as the assistant clerk of the course for the DJ Run in 2010 and 2011.

Hylton Allison’s brother, Gavin, who is a seasoned clerk of the course of the Fairest Cape Rally, will be an assistant on the 2022 DJ Run, along with Durbanite Cobus Grobbelaar, who will also be a scorer. Other members of the 2022 organising committee are Gwyneth Cronje and Elaine Cusdin (secretaries and administrators), Bert Lopes (treasurer), Liz Addison (trophy officer), Peter Aneck-Hahn (SAVVA steward) and Eric McQuillan (club steward).

This annual regularity trial involves competitors riding as close as possible to set average speeds for their class, with marshals no longer employed to record a competitor’s progress manually, electronic data loggers having taken the place of human intervention.

“Entries have opened already and will close on January 31, 2022,” said Allison. “There is already great interest, particularly as this year’s event had to be canceled. We are aiming to get a field of about 100 riders. They will ride much of the traditional route used when the DJ was a road race between the two cities between 1923 and 1936. This will include riding from Newcastle to Volksrust, Standerton, Balfour and Heidelberg before finishing in Benoni on the second day. Total distance will be about 700 kilometres.”

Hylton Allison’s love of vehicles goes back many years, having trained originally as a diesel technician. Allison retired from the position of technical general manager at the Imperial Group, where he was responsible for a fleet of more than 3 000 vehicles. His involvement with classic motorcycles is also a long-running affair and his collection of four motorcycles includes three that are eligible for the DJ, meaning they were made before the end of 1936.

He takes pride in doing the restoration and maintenance of his machines himself. An AJS is his usual choice for riding in the DJ, but he has also ridden a couple for Triumphs in this two-day event.

For more information and to find an entry form, go to the DJ Run website, www.djrally.co.za.
Hylton Allison may be contacted on 078 234 7144 or at coc@djrally.co.za.