The Kyalami 9-Hour Motorfest wrapped up at 22:00 on Saturday, February 25 after a thrilling three days of motorsport action, with fun activities and entertainment ensuring a special family day out for thousands of spectators.
Manufacturers BMW, Audi, Porsche, and Mercedes-AMG fielded 10 teams between them in the main Kyalami 9-Hour race, which forms the second round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge Powered by Pirelli.
The K9H endurance race sees GT3 and GT4 cars race for nine continuous hours with each team having three drivers. Local motorsport hero Sheldon van der Linde drove the BMW M4 GT3 to a 1.778-second win for Team WRT with co-drivers Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts, ahead of the second BMW team driver Maxime Martin, where Augusto Farfus and Philip Eng completed the team. Tresor Attempto’s Audi crewed by Mattia Drudi, Ricardo Feller and Patric Niederhauser rounded the overall podium another 1.3s behind.
The first all-South African team across the line was Stradale’s Charl Arangies, Arnold Neveling, and Clint Weston, in eighth overall, while MJR Motorsport’s Marius Jackson, Mo Mia with 18-year-old Kwanda Mokoena, rounded out the top 10 after much delay in the pits. “The team worked hard to resolve brake issues we experienced, but they couldn’t fix it with the parts we had. We took it lap by lap, so I am happy we finished. It is better than a DNF, though we had aimed for the top 3 Pro-Am,” said Jackson.
The race within the Kyalami 9-Hour Race, the Kyalami Supercup, saw three additional cars on the grid race for the first hour only, where NGK Pablo Clark Racing’s Mikaeel Pitamber was victorious. Sun Moodley (BigFoot Express Racing) was second and Joseph Ellerine (MJR Motorsport) was third.
Over 160 support category race cars competed over the three days, and members of the public were able to battle it out in their contest for prizes at the ATK Arena’s Mercedes-Benz simulators, enjoyed by children and adults alike. Hotlaps in the brand new C43 AMG raised heart rates, while the Toyota Gazoo Racing Team wowed the crowds with gymkhana demonstrations at the Skid Pad, while everyone enjoyed the Heineken bar and entertainment area.
Every grassy knoll on the track had people picnicking or enjoying a braai while watching the racing, vying for the shady spots as the sun beat down. Some lucky guests enjoyed a pitlane walk and saw the real behind-the-scenes workings of the race cars.
Gavin Liebenberg from Northriding was accompanied by his wife Jolanda and 11-year-old son Troy, and said, “That was fun. My son loved his session on the simulator and looking at all the cars on display. It was a pity to miss a chance at a hotlap as that would have rounded off a fantastic day, so we will have to come back next year to experience that.”
In the VIP Hospitality areas, set directly above the pitlanes for the best view of the action on and off the track, guests relaxed and enjoyed a wonderful food and drink spread that gave them what it took to last the full 9 hours! At Trackside Hospitality, a comfortable tented lounge on the grass overlooking the track directly made for a beautiful day into night experience after sundowners.
Enjoying the cars on Saturday were well-known Tik-Tok influencer Chad Jones and METRO FM ‘WAKE UP ON METRO’ host Mo Flava, who says that the sound of the cars mixed with the excitement of the people and the iconic venue, made for many stand-out moments, but that the start of the race must have been the best. Also, there were fellow METRO presenter and sports commentator Owen Hannie and Hot 102.7FM’s John Walland, while the YFM lounge entertained the whole YFM line-up on the viewing deck, with Caddy broadcasting his show live. Jacaranda’s OB van ensured that listeners were kept up to date on all the action at Kyalami.
Kyalami 9-Hour event director Adam Brown says they were very happy with both the racing and the attendance on the day: “We could not have hoped for better racing conditions and the drivers certainly delivered an exhilarating performance. The overall experience for the public seems to have gone down extremely well, and we look forward to growing and improving the experience again next year.”
