Kusile Madlela Sports Correspondent
SHAUN Whyte won the motorcycles 45-lap one-hour endurance race in a time of one 1 hour 40.77 seconds on his Yamaha R6 (600cc) at the Bulawayo Motor Club race course along the Victoria Falls Road on Saturday. Hundreds of motor racing enthusiasts turned up to watch the day’s events and Whyte was delighted at winning the race after some time away from the race track.
“It was a very competitive race and I’m happy to have won after spending some time off the track. I decided to come back and race this year. My plan was simply to maintain a constant speed and my best lap time was one minute 16.8 seconds in Lap 20,” said Whyte.
The 45-year-old went down to business from the first lap and never faltered right up to the end.
“I sprinted from the onset and Team Monroe’s Cameron Aitken was ahead of me but I tailed him until I eventually went ahead when he retired to make way for his teammate David Mouat.
“Motorcycle racing isn’t an easy thing; you need full concentration driving at speeds of up to 180 kilometres per hour for an hour. That needs discipline and accuracy as you can’t afford to make a mistake. The technical team is a huge part of the race and I’m grateful to my tech team for being spot on today,” said Whyte.
Whyte also dominated the motorcycles sprints.
The Saloons cars’ three-hour Endurance Race was won by defending champion Darren Winterboer in his super-fast BMW, which whizzed around the 3.490KM circuit to the delight of the fans.
Results
Motorcycles
One-Hour Endurance race
1. Shaun Whyte (Yamaha R6)
2. Dave Mouat/Cameron Aitken (Honda CBR600)
3. Matthew Shultz (Honda CBR)
4. Tim Shultz (Honda CBR)
5. Tiffany Fisher (Honda CBR)
Sprint Race 1
1. Shaun Whyte (Yamaha R6)
2. Dave Mouat/Cameron Aitken (Honda CBR600)
3. Matthew Shultz (Honda CBR)
4. Tim Shultz (Honda CBR)
5. Tiffany Fisher (Honda CBR)
Sprint Race 2
1. Shaun Whyte (Yamaha R6)
2. Matthew Shultz (Honda CBR)
3. Tim Shultz (Honda CBR)
4. Dave Mouat/Cameron Aitken (Honda CBR600)
5. Gerrit Rademeyer (Yamaha 600)
Saloons Motorcars 3-Hour Endurance
1. Darren Winterboer (BMW)
2. Rowan/Jamie Whyte (Subaru)
3. Stuart/Levi/Lola (Sports 2000)
4. Gary Kirk/Gary Bluett (Super 7)
5. Denzil Bhana (Ford Escort)
Sprint Race 1
1. Mark Lauth/Wayne Jardine (Shelby Can Am)
2. Farnie Van Der Linde/Cole (Mazda Rotary)
3. Kevin Allmark/Dave Tingle (Ford)
4. Gavin & Lorrane Randall (Super 7)
5. Gary Kirk/Gary Bluett (Super 7)
Sprint Race 2
1. Mark Lauth/Wayne Jardine (Shelby Can Am)
2. Stuart/Levi/Lola (Sports 2000)
3. Farnie Van Der Linde/Cole (Mazda Rotary)
4. Kevin Allmark/Dave Tingle (Ford)
5. Gary Kirk/Gary Bluett (Super 7)