adminWelcome to the intensity of Zimbabwe’s fast growing motorsport, drag racing. It is not for the faint-hearted but for those who are seeking an avenue to elicit and experience extreme sports.
Donnybrook race track in Harare, the home of motor racing, is the new home for speed maniacs.
If you like anything with wheels, going seriously fast over a short distance, then you have been diagnosed, drag racing is your thing.
While nerves can easily be snapped by such an activity, drag races are proving to be some of the best painkillers around the capital city.
The popularity of spinning festivals, highlights that more and more people are beginning to live off the excitement that the motor sport delivers.
Drag racing is simply an acceleration contest. Two cars race side by side in a straight line for 400 metres on a track or what is known as a drag strip.
It is a different world at Donnybrook, on selected Sundays for people in and around the capital.
Drag racing enthusiasts of all races throng the area for action as racers do their thing on the drag strips.
Spinners and drifters, who are a familiar attraction, also give speed maniacs an electric shock as they heave and squeak their wheels. The atmosphere is filled with smoke escaping from engine exhausts as daredevils unleash their cars and moto bikes.
Suzzane Zevgolis, the secretary of DragPro Club that is a member of the Zimbabwe Motor Sport Federation, said it is only a matter of time before the sport becomes the next best thing in Zimbabwe.
“Vehicles on the track range from high-performance cars and motorcycles. We have Subaru WRX STi’s, V8-powered AC Cobras to everyday runaround cars such as Toyota Corollas, Mazda 323s,” she said.
The bikes also range from the Suzuki GSXR 1000s to the Yamaha R1s to 80ccc pit bikes.
The formation of clubs like Dragpro has gone a long way in co-ordinating the races and according to Zevgolis
“Our club was formed in 2012 after many years with the motor sport having no official recognition. Since then, there have been racing series throughout the year of the ZMSF calendar,”
Zevgolis also highlighted that pioneers like the late Patrick O’Hara made strides into developing the sport in previous years.
“O’Hara held the championship for some time and was a well known and regular competitor with his trademark V8 Buggy. However, other players like Phil Archenoul, the rallying champion in the open class bikes, Alan Cacace and Kevin Allamark are pioneers who have managed to compete at the top level,” she said.
An expert in the field, Victor da Silva, who has been drag racing for the past seven years, said drag racing is an easy way to combining motor sports.
“Drag racing is not very demanding and it therefore presents an easy entry level into motor sports,” he said.
The racer, who has inducted his two sons, Kyle (25) and Jason (22), into the trade boasts having some of the fastest cars on the drag strip.
“I enjoy the speed that comes with the sport hence my choice for my Subaru Forester STI, Subaru WRS STI plus a Starlet Galance,” he said.
A youthful racer, Raihaana Kerbelker (19), however warned that drag racing is only fun when guidelines are followed.
“I have been a racer for a year and half and like the rest; I am thrilled by the adrenalin. The game can, however, be extremely dangerous and lives can be lost if cars are not maintained and safety precautions taken,” he said.
Kerbelker, who is also owns one of the fastest cars on the track – a Subaru Forester – added that racing belongs on the track and people should not get excited and take it to the streets.
“So far in my career, I have only had nips and no major injuries because I stick to the rules of the sport,” he said.
Despite its growing popularity, there is, however, a proliferation of illegal drag races that are taking place in the capital and some suburbs during the night.
These activities have since been described as illegal although its membership is growing fast.
Online Reporter