dyton mupawaenda
Zimpapers Sports Hub
THE 2025 motor racing season roars into life tomorrow at Donnybrook Racetrack in Harare, as Sables Motor Club holds the Tiger Wheel & Tyre Race Day.
This exciting event, which is the first main circuit racing competition of this year, will comprise the first races of the Zimbabwe National Championship series for both Sports Cars and Saloon Cars.
Reigning Saloon A Class champion Calvin Rademeyer will pit his Subaru STi Turbo against Barney Rogers (BMW 3 series Turbo), and Des Morris in his Nissan 370Z, while Mano Zevgolis will be mixing with them in his indecently fast 2000cc Honda CRX.
Catherine Zevgolis will lead the 1600cc Saloon Class in her CRX, but this is the biggest class in the field, so she will be chased by a gaggle of Toyota Corollas and MR2s.
Neil Bruce, Chris Morris, Usama Patel and Declan Mellor are all entered in this class, and ex-champion Steve Murton is scheduled to return to the track with his Corolla.
The Sports Car Class will see the usual gaggle of Super 7s on track, with Eric Heard and Gary Kirk being challenged by Brett Olsen, and the fast-improving Maurizio Savo.
An unknown quantity in this class will be Ronnie Parcell, making the switch to Sports Cars from his Toyota MR2.
A unique feature of the Tiger Wheel and Tyre Race Day is the one-hour Endurance Race, scheduled to begin at 2.30pm.
As the name suggests, the winner will be the driver who completes the most laps in the allotted one hour, with a compulsory pit stop for fuel making it possible for two drivers to share the driving duties in one car.
The turbo saloon cars are expected to dominate, but their excessive fuel usage and tyre wear could open the door for a sports car winner.
National 3-Hour Endurance Champion, Zevgolis, will not be driving his usual Honda CRX, but might share a drive with another driver in the 1-Hour Endurance.
The 1-Hour Endurance race is one of the toughest races of the main circuit racing season.
The reason it is so gruelling is because the competitors are pushing their vehicles to their limits, and they must hold up for an extensive period.
There is immense pressure put on the vehicle whilst racing endurance races, there is not only the worry of mechanical failure in the engine, but also the wear and tear of the tyres during the race.
Some competitors will have to pit stop to change their tyres if needed as well as refuelling for the laps ahead.
The vehicles are used to racing for short periods at a time, for sprint races, generally 8-10 laps at a time.
During the 1-hour, the competitors, depending on their vehicle class, will race anywhere between 35-48 laps which is a great difference to the sprint races they are used to.
The competitors will line up on the grid and proceed to race as many laps as they can within the 1-hour time frame.
The winner at the end is determined by the first person to cross the finish line with the greatest number of laps completed.
Every vehicle on the circuit is separated into their classes which is determined by engine capacity, whether it has a turbo and the body of the vehicle.
During the 1-hour Endurance race all the vehicles will race together and there will be an overall winner.
To spice up the season opener, the event’s main sponsors, Tiger Wheel & Tyre, have offered travelling money to encourage the Bulawayo competitors to enter and have also organised superbike and classic car demonstrations.
Online Reporter