The big dogs came out to play as the second yearly instalment of the much-anticipated quarter mile MSA drags kicked off at Killarney on Saturday.
With eight appearances in the year, this drags event is well-attended, with people saying it was full to the brim with cars and drivers going for their personal bests.
Bobby chatted to some of the guys after the event. Reece Robertson, a 20-year-old from Heathfield, for instance, did a blistering 8.9 seconds over the 400m strip, but missed challenging his personal best of 8.7 seconds achieved last November. That stands as the fastest in South Africa for a bike. Reece rides a lowered and stretched 2015 model BMW S1000RR.
Riding for Team Intifada, Reece says he enjoyed mentoring one of the guys in the team that was back on the track after an absence of five years. Reece says: “It was a good day overall, but my setup wasn’t exactly right.”
Reece, who got an early start on bikes at age four, says his father, who was big into motocross before Reece came along, helped him get started in the racing scene.
Ismail Borez did a 10.7 second pass, which is a personal best for the guy from Grassy Park. The yellow Rolla he drives for owner Fabian Jacobs is powered by a totally standard Toyota 2JZ (the Supra engine) built by Plaat Conversion and tuned by Performance Solutions.
He says: “With this car, we’ve worked on the traction first, getting the available power to the tar. Next up is some more krag, and the first stop there is a bigger turbo. Then we’re aiming for a 10-second pass.”
Shurud Jacobs with his red Hilux 2JZ did a personal best of 13.2 seconds. The 25-year-old from Plumstead was only happy that nothing broke. He says: “This is my fifth time out, and usually something breaks, and on the first run nogal. This time we were successful in that we left with everything in one piece.”
When Bobby asked him about his build, he remarked that he had done all the upgrades engine-wise, that there was nothing more to do and the next thing was to find the traction. To Bobby’s question about why he had gone about things this way, he replies: “I was born upside down.”
Bobby also had a quick chat with Zaid ‘Uncle Figo’ Kriel, who was one of the MCs on the day, alongside Ernest Page. Zaid says: “The latest instalment of MSA drags saw 110 entries in total on the day.”
Apparently there was some extra spice, with a social media call-out by dragtimes.co.za between Oom Willie Nel (legendary fire-breathing Can-am Firenza) and Bradley van Rooi (blitsvinnig Pro-fit Kaddy). The two grand winner-takes-all pot went to Bradley, who came out the winner of that titanic tussle.
Zaid continues: “Crowd favourites like Ismail Borez [yellow 2JZ slantfront] and Zaahir Reno Paulse [RB30 e36 BMW] unfortunately broke shafts on the start line and a few others.
“We also had Riaan Swanepoel doing 11.8 with his Uno turbo, chasing down the national record. And don’t forget the Honda of Shawn Zurich breaking the national record for a front wheel drive four-cylinder naturally aspirated engine, with a 9.8 second pass.” He ends off: “Lots of guys improved during the day and there is still lots to look forward to this year.”