Amanzimtoti’s resilient road racers excel despite track conditions

ROUND four of the KZN Road Racing Club Championship took place on Saturday, 22 June, at the Dezzi Raceway.

Despite the conditions, which worsened throughout the day with multiple oils spills on the track, resilient local riders gave it their best, doing their town proud.

“It proved to be an extremely difficult race for riders all round. The day was eventually cut short, as officials declared the track far too unsafe for the motorcycles, leaving the riders only to race one heat, instead of two. But even so, our Amanzimtoti riders continued to defend their championship titles out in the lions den,” explained Carmen Conci.

In the ever challenging 300cc class, spectators witnessed a mighty field of 38 riders out on the track. On the start line, the nerves settled well while the riders patiently waited for the race delays to pass.

“Our woman rider, Anja Conci of Helluvafast Motorcycles, struggled throughout the race as all of her focus was keeping her two wheels on the ground and dodging the oil spills. Despite the challenge, Anja still finished in well-deserved 9th place out of 38 riders,” said Carmen.

“Jesse Conci of Helluvafast Motorcycles knocked our socks off as the young champion wiped the field clean on his Band-It Yamaha R3. Earlier in the day, Jesse’s confidence took a blow as the young rider experienced a devastating crash in the 150cc class, and had a lot of trouble in the 300cc qualifier, leaving him to start in 22nd position. Despite his difficulties, Jesse fought his way through the field to finish in 3rd place, ahead of his biggest rival and elder brother – Nikolai Conci.”

Malcolm Rudman, as always, proved why he carries his multi-champion title, as he flew through to take first place, holding back Blaze Baker, Jesse and Nikolai and the rest of the field behind him.

“Last but not least, Nikolai of Helluvafast Motorcycles showed us why racing is not just a sport. Having qualified in second position, Nikolai took a tumble in turn five, due to the oil spills and fell right to the back of the pack. Despite this, he gained his confidence and took back to the track to fight his way through the field.

Having sustained minor injuries and damages to his bike, Nikolai still pushed through. Taking very brave passes, he found himself right behind his younger brother, Jesse and finished in fourth place,” said Carmen.

The Super Motards Class turned to be just as exciting with a very close field of very competitive people on the run. Hein Etzel of Argotek Engineering dominated yet again out in the field and managed to keep it all very clean throughout the race. Right up behind him, Karl Etzel of Auto Rust Control, was fighting his battle with Craig Bishop, unfortunately at the end of it all, Craig had lost his brakes and crashed, giving Karl his solid second place.

“Formula Extreme Class was very challenging having to dodge the oil spills while clocking speeds of over 200kmh. But that clearly wasn’t enough to stop our riders from getting out there to race. Rudman, of Montclair Motorcycles, took to the track full steam ahead and made it out the other side in first place. It wasn’t enough to stop Hein either, as he too went out in the field to finish just off Malcolm in second place,” said Carmen.

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