Donnybrook comes alive again

Motorsport Federation’s calendar of events for 2012 at the beginning of the year with thousands of fans thronging Donnybrook to watch this exciting event during its last four competitions.
And tomorrow will be no exception when drag racing, which is increasing in popularity in Zimbabwe, returns to Donnybrook tomorrow for its fifth event of the year.
Susan Zevgolis, the secretary of the Dragpro Club who run the sport of drag racing in this country, said tomorrow’s event has trophies and prizes totalling US$5 000 and they were expecting some of the country’s top motor racing drivers to be at Donnybrook to take part in it.
Zevgolis said one of the highlights of tomorrow’s event will be an introductory novice Drifting demonstration.
“Dragpro Club want to incorporate drifting into their events for the 2013 series, something which is sure to delight and attract new and old competitors and spectators alike.
“Alongside this, the Dragpro Club are excited to announce that plans are also in the pipeline to hold some late afternoon-into-evening social drag racing events to bring a little more diversity to their usual series.
“So, whether you are one of our regular racers or a first time competitor, or you just want to come along and find out a little more about this exciting and accessible motorsport, come along to Donnybrook on Sunday (tomorrow),” Zevgolis said.
The Dragpro Club secretary said they were also looking at including the local police in their events in the future.
“In fact, in the United States, the police support drag racing in a big way as they come with their ‘B-cars’ to demonstrate to the general public that when they want to race in a car, they should race on the track and not in the streets.
“So, we would like the same to happen here in Zimbabwe whereby the local police will also bring their ‘B-cars’ and be involved in drag racing as well.
“This makes the whole event or competition exciting. In fact, we are really prepared to move up a gear and make drag racing one of the biggest motorsport events in Zimbabwe,” Zevgolis said.
Temba Mazvimbakupa of the Zimbabwe Motorsport Federation, said drag racing has “really added some flavour to local motorsport events this year” and they were expecting another bumper crowd at tomorrow’s event at Donnybrook.
“Dragpro Club have been running this sport professionally and they have been no hiccups in all their first four events this year and I’m quite sure Sunday’s event will be much more exciting than the previous ones,” Mazvimbakupa said.
In fact, excitement is already building for tomorrow’s event at Donnybrook, before the onset of the rainy season.
Drag racing is of course open to the general public and, as such, any number and array of vehicles can turn up on the day to register and compete. The Dragpro Club is currently expecting the following confirmed competitors and vehicles in the high performance classes: four Nissan Skylines, two Nissan Sylvias, several V8’s and a number of Subarus (Foresters, STI’s, WRX’s), a couple of Toyota Supras and the usual mix of everyday run-around vehicles including pick-ups.
In the bike classes the organisers are expecting a few high performance bikes as well as, hopefully, some smaller trail bikes.
The two well-known top drag vehicles in the country, the yellow buggy driven by Patrick O’Hara, and the blue Subaru driven by Kevin Allmark, will also be in fierce competition to pip each other to the finish line, and supporters of both will be watching with baited breath to see who will come up trumps at this event. Dragpro Club is also delighted by a couple of competitors who will be coming up from Bulawayo, the most well-known being the highly respected Terry Allberry in his much improved AC Cobra V8.
A new addition to the usual programme at this DragPro event will be a drift/gymkhana demonstration which will be held at the S’s (S-bends at Woodrow) by a small group of novices, and is a precursor to the club incorporating the sport of drifting into its 2013 events, so anyone who is keen to get into the exciting form of motorsport should come and watch either some great drifting, or spectacular wipe-outs.
All Dragpro Club events offer full bar and catering facilities and jumping castles for the kids to ensure that the whole family can have a fun day. Gates open at 10am and entrance to Donnybrook tomorrow will be $5 per person (children under 10 years will go in for free).