EmTek Racing News - 2004

31/10/2004 - Pietersburg Final Round

Polokwane (Pietersburg to me)

Saturday the 30th October 2004 saw the last round of the Northern Regions short circuit racing calender. And what a days racing was had. There were a number of championships that went to the wire and each were played out to a grand script. Friday practice saw the heat making riders do strange things like fall off before the race and plenty of overheating bikes and bodies. The track was 49 degrees and the ambient temp was 41 - Ouch!

BOTTS

This tight and twisty track always proves to be a challenge especially when 20 odd R500k Ducati's are trying to spit you off at every turn. Being less than 1km and having 150hp on tap makes for interesting races - and plenty of arm pumping. The championship was to be decided in this meeting and nobody was sure if it would be clinched in any of the heats.

Heat 1 saw Peter Jovaris head into the yonder with young Julian Odendaal hot on his heels. It was not long before Julian clinched his first win for the day with Peter right behind him. Peter Swanepoel came in fourth allowing the points gap to close up to 5. Gilbert finished in 5th place and Andy in 11th.

Heat 2 started off with Julian stalling his bike on the line and Gilbert having to take evasive action. By the end of the first corner both Julian and Gilbert were lying 10th. Again Julian fought his way to finish 4th and Peter Jovaris taking the win. Peter finished second leaving the points gap to 1 point for the final heat. This was World Superbike nailbiting stuff which had all the ingredients of the Colin Edwards and Troy Balyiss Imola race in 2002. Due to the bad start of Julian, Gilbert also had to fight his way back up the field and ended up 6th and Andy finished 10th.

The last heat saw the usual suspects have a great start with Gilbert now moving up the field. From a rider perspective what happened next in lap 3 was not part of the script. Peter Jovaris had committed to a corner and Peter Swanepoel laid claim to the same corner but was not close enough to drift in. As is usual with this type of manouver Peter Jovaris was T-boned and taken out - along with his champioship hopes. This left the field open with Julian again in the front and Gilbert now lying second. With 2 laps left to go Peter Swanepoel made his move and got passed Gilbert who settled for a well earned third. His first podium ever since he started racing. Andy finished in 7th place being his highest position this year.

This heat therefore produced a controversial BOTTS championship winner in Peter Swanepoel.

SUPERBIKES

Polokwane is renowned for producing surprises and this class produced a fantastic race and surprise. After a nearly two year layoff Jaco Roux bounced back on his new ZX-10 and claimed a double win and a second to finish 1st overall for the day. Gavin made his single point in Heat 1 to clinch the champioship for the second time but we do believe that next year will be more difficult with Jaco possibly returning full time. This track seems to be the nemesis of two Suzuki riders namely Bradley Stark and Joe Alves. Both these riders crashed at this track again with Bradley going as far as to crash in the exact same spot as his crash here earlier in the year. A big shout out must go to one of the most improved riders in this class namely Henk Potgieter. Henk has alsways been a mid field rider and produced some consistant points by finishing 4th overall for the day (and dont forget he also rode 3 heats on the 600cc class). Well done Henk.

Mention must also be made of Brendon Hilt the EmTek Racing mechanic who switched from the lardy Honda to a more nimble and powerful Kawasaki ZX-10. He really enjoyed the bike and quickly got to grips with its power and finished in 7th place overall - should be a good season for him next year.

600 cc SILVERCUP

The headbangers did not produce any surprises with Clinton Seller taking a clean sweep of all three heats - a first triple for the day. In this class Henk Potgieter also produced a good 4th overall for the day. However there was one great piece of showmanship with Dane Hellyer trying to keep his bucking bronco (that's a Honda F4 to you and me) from crashing in Heat 1. Only the big man above knows how that bike was kept upright and this was SAVE-OF-THE-DAY. Jusin Fernandes has also improved his pace and position dramatically and finished with third overall.

All in all a great days racing was had and we all look forward to the new racing year. Our guess is that there will be changes in machines, riders and mechanics as preparations start for 2005. To look back and say that we did not have any serious injuries or fatalities shows how the Regional racing has matured. Furthermore if we look back EmTek Racing has documented all the race times, positions and other useful information for you the racers out there. It seems as if 2004 was a hard year with records tumbling literally at every meeting this year.

Well done to all competitors and we look forward to seeing you all in 2005.

MSA and Terry Moss Racing Trust

EmTek Racing (and I'm sure, all the competitors) would like to thank MSA and Terry Moss Racing for their exemplary assistance during the racing year.

MSA supplied EmTek Racing with the results from each heat and Terry Moss Racing supplied the times (where possible). Without them, site would not be available to the riders for comparisons, results and judging their progress with regards to times. Again many thanks.

Gilbert Parsons