Wings, wheels and woofies!

It is crazy to believe we are in November already, X-mas carols and decorations are up all over to remind us that the silly season is ready to pounce.

The last couple of months have been a roller coaster ride with trying to get my powder coating business up to speed, at least I cant complain about life being dull as new challenges and curve balls are thrown every day from all directions. It was thus a great distraction when my friend Graeme Nathan phoned me and asked me to share his new GTI 6 in the 2 hour endurance race at Zwartkops. There are two endurance events through the year and as these score double points it was crucial for him to have a good event to keep him in the running for the championship. Gary Formato is leading after some consistent results where he has manged to set the pace during the latter part of the season.

We were planning on a test session but logistics just didn't play along and I got to put my bum in the seat for the Friday practise only. I knew I'd be a bit rusty initially but I must admit I was chuffed when I equalled Graeme's laptime on my third lap. Despite not racing a front wheel drive for many years it all came back very quickly, although challenging at the limit they are so much easier to drive than a rear wheel drive car and compared to the BMW 335i I raced last year it all felt very comfortable. The fact that we have always ran a very similar setup did help as Graeme also like the car to be set up nervous yet forgiving if you decide to throw it up the inside of an unsuspecting victim, possible removing his side mirror in a moment of sheer enthusiasm. (the officials would describe this a bit different though)

As the championship positions determine the cars weight we had to run very heavy with around 80kg's of lead bolted to the floor. The sprint races didn't go that well with Graeme going off on the first lap and dropping well down the field. This put even more pressure on us for the long race. Rules stipulate that three compulsory pit stops has to be made by each entry and we decided that I would drive stint 1 and 3 with Graeme taking the reigns in 2 and 4. Despite it being a long time since I started a race the overwhelming surroundings of the warm up lap felt very familiar. With your senses taking in 110% of your environment you try to get yourself comfortable in the seat, eye out the opposition, warm the tires, keep the engine cool and get ready to pounce in that first lap. I lined up in fourth behind Shaun Duminy who was there for one reason only, he had to protect Formato and I knew I had to get past him very soon. He did this perfectly by allowing his teammate in pole position to get away as I was not allowed to pass him before the start line.

It took me two laps to get past him and the Opel OPC of van Rooyen while the leading Ford opened a huge gap. This is where these races gets tricky as it is a very fine line between being too conservative and pushing too hard. I was slowly closing the gap when I felt the left front tire starting to delaminate resulting in my pit stop being earlier than scheduled. This was a potential disaster as I wasn't driving that hard and  we didn't  expect a problem after only 12laps while I was scheduled for 28. An efficient pit stop where driver's were swapped, tires changed and car refueled we slotted into sixth position. I knew that our tires were not going to last and we had to back off our ideal pace to make it to the end.
I must admit that I was very relieved when we clawed our way back into second position and despite the Ford winning after a dominant display I think that the team's damage limitation  was impressive after the circumstances.
Although the weekend put a huge dent in Graeme's title winning chances the fat lady is still sitting down as I am sure she is all to aware of how quickly things can swing around at the last race meeting of the year.

It was great to behind the wheel again and who knows, maybe it can become a more frequent occurrence in future!

On a more relaxed note, since moving to kzn I have been spending more time on my favourite hobby being that of flying model planes. My prefered models are Gliders that we fly of the many picturesque mountains in the area. Planes vary from high speed aerobatic composite adrenalin pumping machines to graceful five meter scale gliders which make light work of even the smallest thermals. With many slopes around I spend most weekends with a great bunch of like minded chaps soaring up and down steep cliff faces. Holly my Spaniel anounces every launch with wild barking and she is there with every landing to show you where your plane is, she has so much fun!

With the mountain bike racing season being over it is time to ride more at a leisurely pace and enjoy the scenery while trying to keep the weight down and staying relatively fit before the 2012 season is on us.
We are not doing 94.7 cycle challenge this time for the first time in years as the travelling and logistics just make it difficult at the moment.

If you in the Ballito area for your holiday and a keen cyclist, make sure to come ride the trails at Holla, 300km of pure bliss and lots of flowing singletrack.

Thanks for sharing my world and till Reggies's next ramble..... keep it slideways!