adminafternoon, the atmosphere was nothing short of electric by the start of the Eliminations event at 4pm.
Over 2 500 spectators came through the gates on Saturday and over 60 competitors registered for the drag racing with five female competitors — another record in itself.
While there were no surprises for the titles of the fastest car and fastest bike, which went to the Blue Subaru WRX STI driven by Kevin Allmark (11.54 seconds) and the Suzuki GSXR 1000 ridden by former motor rallying navigator Phil Archenoul (10.46), the Dragpro Club were delighted to welcome at least 12 new competitors on Saturday, all of whom put on impressive first-time performances.
This hopefully is an indicator in itself that public awareness about drag racing and its accessibility is spreading. Late morning spectators would have joined in the period of sombriety when the majority of competitors took part in a respectful lap of honour in memory of Patrick O’Hara who died in January after a long battle with cancer.
O’Hara was one of the pioneers of drag racing in Zimbabwe and was and will always be sorely missed by fellow competitors, friends and racing fans.
The absence of his aggressive V8 yellow beach buggy was felt by many at Donnybrook on Saturday.
A day made to be enjoyed by drivers, spectators and families, the only disruption to the schedule came as a result of an unexpected rain shower mid-afternoon which meant that the track had to be closed for half-an-hour in accordance with safety procedures and then re-opened initially only to the 4-wheel drive vehicles, before normal racing could resume.
Thankfully the rain passed and the track dried quickly.
The first drag racing event of the year was complimented at lunch-time and again at the close of the day by some alternate action in the form of spinning demonstrations put on by the very popular and entertaining trio made up of Fat Cat, Maurice and Spin Kid.
With some serious and enthusiastic sponsors on board headed up by hp lubes/Castrol, Belts ‘n’ Hoses, RAM Petroleum, Turbo Solutions Africa and Autobusiness Magazine, drag racing in Zimbabwe is set to go from strength to strength.
In the meantime, competitors and motor racing fans are sure to be waiting in high anticipation for the next event which is scheduled for April 28 at Donnybrook where hopefully clear weather is a guaranteed and the Dragpro .
Club sincerely hopes to welcome even more new competitors to the grid.
Results of the top two placed in each of 8 vehicle classes and 2 bike classes
BIKES
Position Class Driver Vehicle 1/4 mile Time Km/Hr
1 MA D.Carlsson Kawasaki 12.928 169.01
2 MB Westland Yamaha 13.006 180.60
1 MB P. Archenoul Suzuki 10.456 223.37
2 MB L. Carlsson Suzuki 11.464 174.90
CARS
1 NB W. Thompson Super 7 16.081 137.06
2 NB S. Mayor BMW320i 16.552 135.25
1 NC I. Mayor BMW325i 16.241 136.97
1 ND A. Cacace Ac Cobra 12.340 185.09
2 ND D. Mwale BMW M3 15103 153.74
1 TA K. Da Silva Glanza 16.651 138.64
1 TB R. Kerbelker Forester 14.485 150.00
2 TB M. Chidrelli Subaru 14.793 147.24
1 TC K. Allmark Subaru 11.537 200.37
2 TC M. Kerbelker Subaru 12.850 162.90
1 TD L. Jira Skyline 12.978 169.15
2 TD T. Rodrigues 300zx 15.565 153.52
Online Reporter