By Roger McCleery
GLOBAL MOTORSPORT OVERVIEW
A new era of world
and local motorsport
has dawned
A new era of world and local motorsport has dawned. Whether you
are a died-in-the-wool Formula 1 fan or you watch other car racing, do
yourself a big favour and see motorcycle racing history being made.
W
e had the Brit Mike Hailwood,
American Kenny Roberts and
Italian Valentino Rossi changing
the face of high speed motorcycle racing
when they arrived on the scene. Even
American World Superbike Champion now
in MotoGP for six years, Colin Edwards,
is retiring because he can’t change his
riding style to that being set by Spaniard
and current World Grand Prix Champion,
20 year old Marc Marques. The Moto2
Class (600cc Honda engines) is also up
there with something like eight riders going
for a win, whilst Moto3 racing (250 singles)
is even closer. It’s dominated by another
Aussie, Jack Miller, on his way to stardom.
He has won two Grands Prix and rides
a KTM up against Hondas and Indian
manufactured Mahindra doing well with
the South African, Brad Binder on board.
World Champion Englander, Tom Sykes
(Kawasaki) leads the World Superbike
Championship with huge talent in tow.
Sheridan Morais from Jo’burg on his
Kawasaki does well amongst this top field.
Cape Town’s David McFadden (Kawasaki)
gets top results in the Super Stock Class
run at International Superbike races.
We have local two-wheeler competitors
making their mark in the world. Riaan van
Niekerk and Brett Cummings did it in the
Dakar and Wade Young leading our South
African Motorcycle Enduro champs went
to Romania and won the King of the Hill
Enduro race there the other day. In a rally
car 19 year old Henk Lategan is learning
the ropes of international competition in
Italy, Greece and Hungary and doing well.
Remember these names for the future.
National Championship Rallying is
providing world class events in highly
competitive cars.
There is a high speed war going on
between Ford (the reigning champs),
Toyota and VW – all to the benefit of the
non-paying spectators. Continuing with
their spectacular South African motorsport
is the Donaldson Filter Cross-Country
Racing. Toyota came first and second with
their Dakar bakkies down near Harrismith
with Ford following up a one-two in
Round two in Mooi River. Another war
between two of South Africa’s leading
manufacturers.
17-year-old Johannesburg schoolboy,
Kelvin van der Linde (father South African
champion Shaun, uncle Etienne European
single-seater champion, grandfather
WesBank Modified champ and 14 year old
brother, Sheldon, twice a South African
Karting Champion already) won the 2013
Volkswagen International Cup in Germany
and was voted the 2013 South African
Guild of Motoring Journalist’s Motor
Sportsman of the Year, against an array of
top achievers.
Niki Lauda says basically to us all that
we must enjoy the technology of the
F1 because it is how cars will be in the
future. The motor industry these days can
do all this anyway. They have proved it.
Formula 1 is supposed to be a sport and
entertainment using the fastest and most
powerful cars in the world, driven by the
world’s best drivers, which they are. But
come on. We have had years watching
Pirelli tyres degrade, (which they do not do
on a normal road car), and changing order
of races.
Now we have an economy run checking
the fuel flow into the engine to make sure
that not too much of the 135 litres of fuel is
being used. Penalise teams if it is using too
much more.
| Wheels in Action
100
may 2014
Those are the rules this year. What are
they running – an economy run? All the
exciting features of Formula 1 racing
which appealed to our senses since
1950 are gone.
The smell of hot racing oil, the noise
of powerful V8, V10 and V12 cylinder
engines, the spectacle of cars being
driven on the limit, sideways by the
world’s best is not seen thanks to wide
slick tyres and wings front and rear that
don’t let the car get out of line under any
circumstances. We have had four GP’s
so far.
Most of the passing is still done in the
pits. How exciting is that save the last ten
laps at Bahrain which is a good passing
circuit. After a long safety car period all
the cars were bunched and let loose for
the final stint to the flag.
There were quite a few no holds barred
passing manoeuvres particularly between
the two leaders, Hamilton and Rosberg
from the same Mercedes-Benz team.
Normal GP racing was resumed in the
4th round in Shanghai.
On a featureless circuit Lewis Hamilton
romped away to a hat trick of wins with
Nico Rosberg repeating a 1-2 for the
Mercedes Team for the third time in a
row.
Alonso with newfound
speed in his Ferrari was
3rd followed by the Red
Bull of Ricciardo and Vettel.
Generally a procession from
start to finish.