Kart racing in Bloemfontein

                                                   F400 round 4 & Prokarts.

Some of the newer teams this year are looking incredibly fast, watch out Rogue Racing!

What a fantastic weekend! What a great way to spend time with the family! F400 round 4 (joined by Prokarts) at Bloemfontin M& F Raceway was amazing fun. I've never felt such camaraderie, even on the journey down.

Drivers briefing

Bloemfontein was by far my most enjoyable race yet. I know quite a few teams would disagree with me, but believe me, for a spectator, this track provided entertainment.

"noobies" briefing and "the black and white flag

Qualifying

M & F Raceway is situated in Kelly's View Bloemfontein. It has been there over 15 years but sadly is not very well known by the locals. The new owner Kevin hope to change this and we hope this terrific track will soon be enjoyed by all of Bloemfontein and surrounds.

fast corners

The track is hard on karts and many teams felt its bite with karts dropping like flies. From motors blowing to nose cones coming off mid race, it was a thrill a minute. The races were fast and the corners slippery, a recipe for great entertainment, sadly not so much for the teams.

Prokart team "Mercedes" literally ended up racing held together by duct tape and preyers. Which is not surprising after one of their team members lost her brakes coming into the pits and crashed into a tree stump, Narrowly missing a brand new Land Rover Evogue parked nearby.

Jeff from Metson Racing

The C.O.C and the G-String

The weather was fantastic, clear skies and quite warm in the sun.We even had men parading round in underwear after Metson Racing driver Jeff challenged the C.O.C Robert that he either gives up his black and white flag (used for bad driving/penalties) or wore a g string. The C.O.C in turn challenged Jeff to wear a bra. Both men complied in good spirits and gave the rest of the teams a good laugh.

The C.O.C, his G-String and a black and white flag

 So all in all a great weekend. To all the teams that had such bad luck, I hope you are ready in time for the next round at Kylami and that you'll have a better race day then.

F200's Metson Jnr and Balwin Jnr

Tribute to a muscle car!

                                                                My ode to the Ford mustang

I have yet to come across a car that can make my heart race like the mustang can. The mustang makes me think of taking a road trip down route 66, of roaring engines, of cubic inches, of V8's and V12's. It is, to me, the ultimate muscle car. The sleek sexy lines, the hardcore evil nose. The Ford mustang was and will always be, the seductress of the muscle cars.
 The black widow, she'll lure you in with good looks but packs a powerful bite behind those smooth lines.









She was the first of the "pony cars" and the only original pony car to remain in uninterrupted production over five decades.

She has appeared in over 500 movies. Starting the James Bond movie "Goldfinger" And in Bullit, with Steve McQueen, they created the 9 minute plus unscripted chase scene through the streets of San Francisco that has long been revered as the best chase ever in a movie.

She has been in both "Gone in 60 seconds" films.Who could ever forget Nicolas Cages' characters 'unicorn', the magnificent "Eleanore" a silver and black 1968 Shelby GT500.

Eleanore

More recent movies include Hollywood Homicide where Harrison Ford and Josh Harnett drove around in a 2003 Saleen S281, War of the Worlds starring Tom Cruise and his 1966 Shelby GT 350, Reno 911 with the police cars being 2006 Mustangs and the latest being I Am Legend starring Will Smith who drives a red 2007 Shelby GT500 during the opening scene through the deserted streets of New York City.

There are four generations of mustangs, I myself do not like the styling of generation 2 and 3 as I feel they do not capture the spirit of this gorgeous muscle car. The 4th generation and latest Mustang though, is exquisite, finally a new mustang worthy of this title, worthy of such ancestors as the Fastback and the Shelby.

So which do you prefer? Old or new?


or is there another muscle that makes your heart race?

F400 karting- 4 stroke racing

                                                     Great fun for the whole family!!!!!!!

This sunday we spent the day at the Vereeniging Kart track watching Round 2 of the F400 Karting challenge. What a blast! If you love to race, love the thrill of speed and adrenalin then you have to consider this as an amazing new family sport.

F400 Starting line up at VKC

Training up the next Balwin

Balwin Family Team

4 stroke karting is a fast growing sport in SA, the great things about it are that firstly its fun, Secondly the whole family can get involved and most importantly it's affordable.




4 stroke racing is unique in that, the racing is run with only 4 stroke motors that are cheap and controlled to prevent cheque book racing and allow for fair competition. The classes are focused primarily at the F400 and F200 groups.  The classes are as follows ( thanks to Gary Balwin)

 

Classes 

F400  (Age group 15years to 55 plus)

This class runs the Honda 13hp motor. Designed for 1 or 2 hour sprint racing. The motor has certain controlled modifications bringing the power to 22HP at 5200rpm and the torque to 40Nm. Weight category is 175kg.

F200 Juniors (Age group from 7 to 14 years)

This class runs with a Hoffmann 212cc motor pushing out 12 hp and 19Nm torque. Designed for sprint racing of round 15 to 30 minutes. Weight category is 130kg. Sealed motors are issued with specific changes to the motors to improve performance but keeping consistency. Class is designed to allow for the children to start in this sport as a filler.

In the F400 races, teams consist of 2 to 3 drivers, which take turns to race their kart. In the F200, one driver will race their kart.

Balwin Family Team

 Each class has to compete in about 3 heats at each race day.
Many families compete in these races with the adults in the F400 class and the kids in the F200 class. It is a wonderful way to spend time together and to motivate each other.

Part of Team Mutti

 And best of all there are teams of all ages racing, even over 50's. It takes passion and commitment to get to the top though, as each team is in charge of its own karts maintenance during and after races.
Generally there is 1 race every month, at alternating Kart Circuits including, Kyalami, Vereeniging, Swartkops and Bloemfontein

Team Allstar

At  each race prizes are given  including trophies and medals and for the adults sometimes a shooter or 2. These prizes are not just for positions but also for team of the day amongst other more silly achievments.
The prize giving is always a laugh, with all the teams getting on well. I love going to these races and seeing these wonderful people having such a great time even after competing against each other all day.
At the end of each year, the results from all the races are tallied up and each team is given a new number, which they will race under as their kart number for the next year.

F200's going out to race

The Stig ( I think he's about 7 or 8 yrs old)

Tripod pushing their kart to the pits

Andrea crossing the finish line!

This sunday was an eventful day for many teams including one of my favorites Tripod Racing. It seemed that everything that could go wrong for them, went wrong that day, from engine troubles to loosing a wheel.

Tripod pushing their kart to the pits.......Again

 Tripod Consists of Andrea, Gregor and Murray

Tripod! No matter what, they'll cross the finish line.....even if they have to push!

sneaking the Kart through the pedestrian gate

with the help of the C.O.C

Murray! Exhausted after such a hectic day!