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Collin Matiza
HAMISH Perry raised the roof at Donnybrook Park Raceway in Harare on Sunday when he blazed his BMW to a sensational victory during the Tiger Wheel&Tyre 1-Hour Endurance Race Day, which began with plenty of unmissable action.
Second place went to Jess Watson and Jim Perry, who shared a Toyota Supra, while Eric Heard was forced to settle for third place in a Super 7.
The main race was unfortunately reduced from one hour to 45 minutes after one of the country’s top female motor racing drivers, Catherine Zevgolis, suffered a crash and was rushed to hospital.
One of the event’s organisers, Adrian Watt, said the event was very successful despite Zevgolis’s unfortunate incident.
“The event went very well; it was very successful. We ran the two sprint races, one in the morning and we ran the one-hour endurance race in the afternoon. The one-hour event was delayed because Catherine Zevgolis had a big crash. She’s got a broken collarbone, but otherwise, she’s okay.
“So, we reduced the time on the one hour (endurance) to 45 minutes and the event was won by Hamish Perry. Hamish is based in Harare and he started racing on off-road motorcycles before he moved to track racing about 10 years ago.
“At the end of the day, the sponsors were very, very happy with the event. The overall organisation was fantastic. We had a great crowd, and people enjoyed it. So, it was good fun,” Watt said in an interview with Zimpapers Sports soon after Sunday’s race meeting.
Zevgolis’s mother, Susan, yesterday confirmed that her daughter had a broken collarbone ”and is right now in surgery to have it sorted”.
“She is calm and composed. She was aware of everything that happened. The racing community has been amazing and so supportive.
“The car did its job — roll cage, safety harness, etc all did their job. She said there’s more chance of getting more badly injured driving on public holidays and having an accident. I believe just before the accident happened, she had just done her fastest lap time ever. No other race car was involved in the accident and in fact, her fellow competitors did an amazing job getting around her car,” said Susan Zevgolis.
A crowd of more than 2 500 people, one of the biggest to watch a motor racing event at Donnybrook, was treated to some exciting racing by the overall winner Perry who caused a stir with some successes and lap records.
He was the crowd’s favourite in his BMW but his path to glory was eased when Catherine Zevgolis crashed shortly before the main event was to take place.
What was shaping up to be the perfect start to Perry’s BMW ended as a case of what might have been. The seasoned Harare driver might have set new lap records, in both qualifying and the race, and led comfortably until Catherine Zevgolis’s uncharacteristic error, which forced the organisers to drop the one-hour race to a 45-minute event.
There was a whole day of pure racing in both the vehicles and motorbikes sections, and the crowd was treated to some exciting racing.
A thrilling 2024 Tiger Wheel & Tyre 1-Hour Endurance Race Day saw the BMW claim another podium finish and Perry declared that he was now ready for the 2024 season.
Online Reporter