Watch Leon is the fastest in South Africa

The record which was formerly held by Richard Jordaan from Pretoria has been snatched up by eMalahleni’s Leon du Plooy.
Leon broke the record on Youth Day when he took down the strip at Tarlton International Raceway and set a time of 8.41s with an exit speed of 258km/h.

“It may not seem like a lot but when you are doing 260km/h, 0.01 of a second is about two car lengths,” said Leon.
It has been at least 15 years and finally the record has been taken away from Gauteng and brought to Mpumalanga thanks to Leon’s dedication and perseverance. The previous record holder, Richard Jordaan held the record for over five years with a time of 8.42s on the 400m strip.
So what led to Leon’s success?

Tweaking and fine tuning his engine, and of course the support of his family and friends is the answer. When last WITBANK NEWS interviewed Leon he had made some alterations to his turbo, as well as his suspension and wheelie bar.
“I have the record now and plan to keep the engine the way it is until the record is challenged,” said Leon as he grinned while explaining that the engine could produce more power without much trouble.
His Turbo Extreme Clinic Nissan Champ bakkie is fitted with a 1800cc Toyota 4AGE 16v engine, and when it comes to engine cc – weight ratio, his car is one of the fastest in the world – in fact the best times overseas for similar engines is only 8.7s, meaning Leon has a clear gap of 0.3s ahead of international competition.

Mariaan, his wife said to him that the next race meeting he would break the record, and in secret bought a toy crown for which to crown Leon the moment he broke the record – which he did. He was shy to wear the crown at first as racers from around the pits came round to congratulate him on his feat.
Mariaan wasn’t the only one to predict Leon’s achievement, many of his friends and fellow racers said that Youth Day would be the day in which he did it.
“Thanks to all my friends, family and fans for all the kind words and messages of congratulations. I really appreciate it!” he posted on Facebook shortly after taking the record.

He then said a special thanks to Michael Ludick, his father-in law Piet, his wife, children and everyone tagged in the post.
“Thanks for always being there and helping where you can and for always supporting me. Mariaan, you never doubted that I would break the National record and you supported me all the way. I’m truly blessed with the best friends, family and fans,” he said.
Leon left a word of advice for those to read – Never give up on your dreams. Everything is possible with hard work. Believe in yourself and your dreams and you will succeed.

Leon will take to the strip again on August 10, so if you are a fan of engines and fast cars then be sure to go check him out.

Footage of his 8.41s run:

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