Amanzimtoti road racers revved for 2019 racing season
In the introduction of the new season Amanzimtoti has six racers competing in various classes, namely Nikolai Conci, Jesse Conci, Hein Etzel, Claus Etzel, Malcolm Rudman and returning to her home club this year, national woman rider Anja Conci.
The 2019 KZN road racing season kicked off on Saturday, 9 March and as expected, competitors came with everything they had, fresh from a four month break of no racing.
This gave all the competitors the time they needed to plan their strategies and prepare their bikes for the new season at a new track.
Dezzi Raceway has renovated and re-tarred the whole of the first sector of the track just in time for the new season. In the introduction of the new season Amanzimtoti has six racers competing in various classes, namely Nikolai Conci, Jesse Conci, Hein Etzel, Claus Etzel, Malcolm Rudman and returning to her home club this year, national woman rider Anja Conci.
“The day rolled off grey with rain clouds setting in, and giving the riders a wet track as they went out to qualify. Fortunately, the sun broke through the clouds, drying up the track just before racing began,” explained Carmen Conci.
Read also: Amanzimtoti riders dominate KZN road racing podiumsÂ
“It was an extremely intense build-up to the start of the season in the 300cc class, as over 25 riders lined up on the start/finish grid and with the top five all being current and previous regional or national champions.”
Carmen explained the fight was led by Malcolm Rudman of Montclair Motorcycles and Hein Etzel of Argotek Engineering, with Nikolai Conci of Helluvafast Motorcycles and Blaze Baker following closely behind.
“We even had the pleasure of watching young Jesse Conci get caught up in the mix of the battle for first place. It isn’t possible to tell you how many times the positions changed.
The race went from Malcolm leading, to Hein, to Nikolai, to Blaze, there was a constant mix-up and kept everyone on their toes from start to finish. Eventually it was Malcolm Rudman who ran away with the win for the day, with Hein in second and Nikolai Conci in third,” she said.
Hein Etzel of Argotek Engineering made waves in the Super Motards class by displaying a big battle on the track against Craig Bishop. In the end Hein stole the win for the day, emerging from the track with a big smile on his face.
Hein said it was a fantastic battle but he did miss having his brother Karl Etzel, who couldn’t make it to this race meeting, out on the track racing alongside him.
Incase you missed this: Amanzimtoti’s racers revved
“It was clear that our racers’ thirst for racing was not quenched on Saturday, as they are already gearing up for the next race on Saturday, 13 April at Dezzi Raceway. Our very own Anja Conci was excited to head up to Johannesburg to compete in the National Suberbike Short Track Series on Saturday, 16 March. These achievements make it clear that we have an exciting year ahead of us,” said Carmen.
DID YOU KNOW?
Click on the words highlighted in red to read more on this and related topics.Â
To receive news links via WhatsApp, send an invite to 061 694 6047
The South Coast Sun is also on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest – why not join us there?
Do you have more information pertaining to this story?
Feel free to let us know by commenting on our Facebook page or you can contact our newsroom on 031 903 2341 and speak to a journalist.
(Comments posted on this issue may be used for publication in the Sun)
