Boxers & Botts Battle it Out at Kyalami

Kyalami 13/10/2007 MS2000 Regional All Bike Race Day

Saturday saw a very exciting, regional all bike race day. BoxerCup once again joined the Botts, both classes having to make up races for those missed due to resurfacing of tracks.
A great bunch of Botts and BoxerCup guys together, which posed some interesting racing between the various rivals on Ducatis and BMWs.
The weather was kind to everyone on both Friday and Saturday with sunny skies brushing over the track.

Qualifying
In the 1100 class, Wian Erasmus, Lyndhurst Motorrad, took pole position with a lap time of 1' 59.842" followed by fellow Polokwaner Eric Robinson, Fast Bikes, with a lap time of 2' 00.792" in third was Henk Schuiling, Air Systems, and Quintin van Wyk, SJW Motors.
Danie Stassen, SJW motors, on a 1200 put himself between Wian and Eric on the grid.

Race 1
34 bikes lined the grid for the start of race one. Red lights off and racing commenced only to be red flagged before completing one lap due to Wian losing a front end on Wesbank and Ryan van Heerden (Ducati) also loosing it on Wesbank.
The race was restarted with no further serious incidents. There was lots of exciting dices between everyone in the air cooled class (Ducati 1000cc and the tweaked 1200 BMW of Reg Gurnell) and the BoxerCup boys.
Danie finished the race in a respectable 13th position followed by the first 1100 of Eric in 15th position. Second in the 1100 class was Henk just behind Brian Moldenhauer on his retro air cooled Ducati. Third and fourth place went to Polokwane riders Martello van Tonder and Benoist Ollivier better known as Frenchie, who hasn't been seen on the track for a while due to business commitments.
Quintin was unfortunate to run out of fuel about 3 laps from the finish but fortunate enough to grind to a stop in a place on the track that didn't give him too much of a workout to push the bike back to the pits.

Race 2
Race 2 grid position was determined not by the finishing results of the first race like everyone is used to but on the 2nd fastest qualifying time. This is apparently the way they do it in the Botts. This situation was obviously advantageous to some and disadvantageous to other, even Clinton Pienaar moved down to 15th on the grid, never the less it posed for an interesting start.
Once again there was interesting battles and positions changing frequently.
Wian was fortunate to have a revived bike after the fall and it remains debatable whether his ego or ribs were more bruised by the fall in race one. He, never the less, managed a 16th place overall to add 25 points to his already formidable championship lead.
Eric managed a 20th place to finish 2nd in the 1100 class while Quintin, realising that his bike really does go much faster with fuel, finished in 24 position and 3rd in the 1100 class. 4th and 5th went to Henk and Martello respectively.
Danie finished a respectable 12 overall and 1st in the 1200 class adding to his lead in the 1200 championship ahead of team mate Christo Coetzee, SJW Motors.

Overall
Eric celebrated 1st place for the day while Henk took second place and Martello took a third place. With BoxerCup founder rider Noel Gibson taking 4th and Frenchie 5th place.
Most were very pleased with the day's race excitement which ended slightly different than expected but that's what racing's about. It's not over till the Fat Lady has sung.

Championship Standings
Former BoxerCup Champion Wian Erasmus still leads the 1100 points standings ahead of Quintin van Wyk, Henk Schuiling and Eric Robinson. In the 1200 class Danie Stassen leads the challenge followed by fellow lowveld rider Christo Coetzee. With 2 remaining races the battle is on for third place between Henk and Eric.

2008
Things are developing nicely with the inclusion of the BMW F800S in next year's club championship. Suggestions for a new name for BoxerCup are welcomed through the website www.myracing.co.za or by mailing Henk Schuiling at henk@myracing.co.za.