MRSSA ISSUE 2

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MRSSA Round 2 Phakisa 

Hello all, Shaun Portman here and I would like to 

welcome you all to Issue 2 of MRSSA. 

Round 2 of the MRSSA series was held at Phakisa 

Raceway on the 20th and 21st of May. Despite the 

prospect of rain, there were over 125 entries for this 

round proving once again what a success it has become. 

It truly is a series by the riders, for the riders. The pits 

were already a buzz on Thursday with most people 

arriving early to set up ready for action on Friday. 

Unfortunately, the weather had other plans causing 

most categories to only get one or two at the most, dry 

sessions in. A few riders took the rain as a positive 

and used it to gain that all-important wet weather 

experience. With many riders not chancing it though, 

everyone was looking forward to Saturday’s programme 

which unfortunately also looked bleak. 

This didn’t stop most of the 125 riders from arriving 

early morning to set their bikes up for what looked like it 

was going to be a dry qualifying. This wasn’t to be though 

and unfortunately, the rain started tumbling down soon 

after the Ultimate and Unlimited 1000cc bikes took to 

the track, who were moved down to second last on the 

programme during rider’s briefing. This meant that the 

Classics, BOTTS/V4/Masters, Sub 500’s and Ultimate 

Superbikes 600cc all had a relatively dry qualifying. The 

Unlimited/Ultimate 1000’s and Open Superbikes Novice/ 

Premier were not so lucky although a few riders in the 

Unlimited/Ultimate 1000’s did manage to get 1 dry lap in. 

With qualifying done it was time to focus on racing and 

unfortunately for the classics it was still wet for their 

first race so they decided not to do Race 1. Luckily it 

had dried enough for the Sub 500s to take to the track 

followed by the Ultimate Superbike 600cc’s, Unlimited/ 

Ultimate 1000s and the Open Superbikes Novice/ 

Premier. These categories would all get a dry race in 

before the rain started falling down just in time for the 

Classics to have their second heat. They would brave the 

conditions and set out on track, most of them still on dry 

set-ups. 

Unfortunately, the rest of the day was cancelled due 

to the thunder and lightning and relentless rain which 

caused a lot of standing water out on track. The race 

organisers, COC and marshals all agreed that the track 

conditions were not safe to continue racing. This did put 

a damper on what many were hoping to be a stand out 

weekend where lost points from Round 1 could have 

been made up. All-in-all though and we can argue that 

the weekend was a huge success with no major incidents 

or injuries despite the conditions. 

A huge thanks as always must go out to the 

race organisers, officials, medics, marshals, 

photographers(BEAM Productions) who were out taking 

photos in the rain and sunshine, LEKKA Racing for 

changing tyres(Over 700 tyres were changed over the 

weekend) and to the series sponsors/partners of course 

who are listed below: 

Profound Software 

BEAM Productions 

Moto Rider World 

Elegant Fuel 

Cannabis Energy Drink 

And to the following companies who have come on board 

sponsoring prizes and/or discount to their store: 

Bike Kings( Offering a 10% discount to all MRSSA racers) 

SBK Eyewear (For once again providing a hamper to give 

away) 

Samsung South Africa (For supplying an amazing 

hamper and prizes to give away) 

And of course, to you, the riders who without there 

would be no series. 

See you all at Aldo Scribante in PE for Round 3 of 

MRSSA. 

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CLASSICS 

With the weather conditions changing after Qualifying, the Classics decided to can 

their first Race. They would get a chance at redemption later on though but it would be 

on a wet and tricky Phakisa race track. 

Most of the grid would be on dry set-ups, as well as some on dry tyres but this didn’t 

dampen the racing action at all. But it would be a dry qualifying session and it was 

Paul Jacobs who would take Pole Position ahead of Matthew Herbert, Tom Maritz, 

Jaco Gouws, Hilton Redelinghuys and Lionel Black in 6th. 

The race however was a different story and dominated by Tom Maritz who was the 

bravest in the wet and took the win by over 21 seconds. There was a great battle for 

second between Jaco Gouws and Paul Jacobs who were covered by less than a tenth 

of a second at the finish line. Lionel Black was a further 20 seconds behind them in 

fourth and Marlo Ferreira in 5th and was the last of the riders not to get lapped. The 

rest of the field would all suffer and finish 1 to 3 laps down on eventual winner Tom 

Maritz but still put on an amazing show and braved the conditions to finish. 

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SUB 500 

The sub 500 class has grown in numbers since Redstar and would once again 

provide close shoulder-rubbing action. Seven bikes set out for Qualifying on a 

dry track and it would be lady rider Nicole Fourie who grabbed Pole Position 

followed by Taig Janse van Rensburg in second, Kgopotso Mononyane in third, 

Arno Erasmus in fourth, Mitch Mortimer in fifth, Raees Daya in sixth and Siya 

Tshabalala closing of the grid in seventh. 

Race one was dry and a close affair between Taig Janse van Rensburg and 

Nicole Fourie who had a race-long battle. It was Taig who would come out on top 

beating Nicole by just over half a second. KJ Mononyane closed out the podium 

positions in 3rd a further 22 seconds back followed by Arno Erasmus in fourth 

and Mitch Mortimer in fifth. 

Unfortunately, Race 2 was canned due to the weather but the Sub 500s once 

again provided us with a great show despite their lack of track time over the 

weekend. 

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MASTERS 

The Masters always provide spectacular racing and they didn’t disappoint. Jaco 

Gouws took Pole in Qualifying ahead of Lourens Badenhorst and Mark van Den 

Berg. Augustin Ntwari put his Yamaha R1 in an amazing fourth place ahead 

of local Lafras Fritz in fifth and Colin Hume in sixth. Race 1 and it was Mark 

van Den Berg who took top honours just ahead of Jaco Gouws who was pulling 

double duties in the Masters and Classics. 

These two were a class above the rest and finished over 22 seconds ahead of 

Marius Marais in third. Joao Cruz crossed the line in fourth followed by Lourens 

Badenhorst in fifth, Lafras Fritz in sixth, Leon Pretorius in seventh, Augustin 

Ntwari from the pitlane in eighth after not making it out of pitlane before it 

closed. 

Wayne Morgan took ninth, Greg Waddington in tenth, Corrie Swanepoel 

in eleventh, Gavin Aab in twelfth, Tim Green in thirteenth, Martyn Parry 

in fourteenth and Grant Furrows in fifteenth. The Masters put all of their 

experience to the test over the weekend with the iffy weather, truly proving that 

with age, comes experience. 

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BOTTS & V4 

The BOTTS class is one of the oldest classes that has stood the test of time and is now 

separated into Twin and V4 classes. 

They would also be joined by the Masters for the weekend. In Qualifying, it was a returning 

Greg Gildenhuys who took pole on his RAD KTM 1290 Superduke R taking full advantage of 

a dry track ahead of Ricky Morais onboard his Aprilia and George Hadji also on an Aprilia 

in 3rd. Race 1 and in the BOTTS class it was Greg Gildenhuys who took the overall win 

ahead of Paul Kruger also on a KTM 1290 in Second, Alan Hulscher on his Ducati in third, 

Peter Bosch in fourth, Frans Fourie in fifth, Vusani Mutshinya in sixth, Desmond Acutt in 

seventh and Miguel Lage on his RAD KTM 890 Duke R in eighth. 

The V4 class was all about Ricky Morais who took the win and second overall out on track 

ahead of George Hadji in second and third overall for the day ahead of Christo Reeders in 

third on his Ducati V4. 

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OPEN SBK NOVICE 

With nine riders on the grid, the Open Superbike Novice Class was set up to be a 

real treat. Wet qualifying on dry tyres in the wet taking place it was Neil Fourie who 

took pole ahead of Muhammed Essop in second and Nkululeko Majola in third. 

Keo Mokonyane qualified an impressive fourth ahead of Kevin Collings in fifth 

and Rion Davis in Sixth. A dry race saw Rion Davis take top honours onboard 

his Kawasaki ZX10R only three tenths ahead of Keo Mokonyane in second and 

Nkululeko Majola a further three seconds back in third. 

Jameel Daya finished in fourth 34 seconds behind Rion and Muhammed Essop in 

fifth only 0.034 behind Jameel. With trying weather all weekend the 

Open Superbike Novice riders used all their 

experience gained thus far to stay on track 

and put on a show for the spectators. 

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OPEN SBK PREMIER 

Qualifying with the Open Superbike Novice Class, the Open Superbike Premier 

riders also took to a wet Phakisa track on slick tyres and it was Mornay Jonker 

onboard his BMW S1000RR who took pole ahead of Tieme Nankervis in second, 

Aiden Murray in third, Ryan Futter in fourth, Declan Grimley in fifth and Bradley 

Dawson in sixth. 

Race 1 saw Mornay Jonker battling to keep up the pace slowly slipping down 

to ninth. Top honours was taken by Declan Grimley just 0.029 ahead of Tieme 

Nankervis in second. They were over 14 seconds clear of Brad Absil in third who 

was only 1 tenth ahead of Bradley Dawson in fourth. Ahmed Amanjee claimed 

fifth spot just ahead of Jacques Schutte in sixth and Leon Horn in seventh. 

The closest racing action of 

the day definitely came from 

the Open Superbike Premier 

Class with almost nothing 

separating the riders at the 

finish line. 

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UNLIMITED SBK 

The Unlimited 1000’s much like most of the classes had limited track time due 

to the rain. Come Qualifying and it looked as though it might be a dry one. 

As the Unlimited and Ultimate 1000’s headed out though(Combined for the 

weekend) most of them were greeted by rain halfway through their first flying 

laps. Only two out of the seven riders managed to post a time and it was Loodre 

Spangenberg who would take Pole ahead of Shaun Portman in second and Tiaan 

Fouche in third despite not setting a time. 

Race 1 would luckily be a dry affair and it was Loodre and Shaun out front all 

race long. Shaun just couldn’t find his way past Loodre who both set their fastest 

laps on the last lap. Loodre Spangenberg took the win ahead of Shaun Portman 

in second making it a BMW 1-2. They were 18 seconds ahead of Tiaan Fouche 

who recovered after a bad start and getting held up behind other riders in third, 

also setting his fastest lap with one lap to go. 

Armand Veldman took fourth, Riaan Strydom in fifth, Luca Bertolini in sixth and 

Greg Waddington in seventh. 

Race 2 was cancelled due to the weather and track conditions. 

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ULTIMATE SBK 1000’S 

Much like the Unlimited 1000’s who they were 

combined with for the weekends racing the 

Ultimate 1000s were lucky to have had one 

dry session leading up to qualifying. 

With most riders only getting 1 lap in before 

it started raining it was Garrick Vlok who took 

Pole ahead of Morne Geldenhuis in second, 

Damion Purificati in third, Clinton Seller in 

fourth, AJ venter in fifth, AD van Dalen in 

sixth, Ricardo Otto in seventh, Nicole van 

Aswegen in eighth and Dorren Loureiro and 

Michael White at the back of the grid with no 

time set. 

Race 1 was all about Clinton Seller on his King 

Price Extreme Honda and AJ Venter on his 

Lekka Racing Suzuki out front. Clinton would 

edge out Venter for the win by 0.035. Behind 

the leading duo, it was Morne Geldenhuis 

on his Yamaha in third a further 3.5 seconds 

back. 

Behind the top three, an almighty battle 

ensued between 4 riders who were covered 

by just 1.2 seconds at the line. 

It was Garrick Vlok who picked up fourth 

though, ahead of Michael White on his Aprilia 

in fifth, Dorren Loureiro in sixth, Damion 

Purificati in seventh, Nicole van Aswegen 

further back in eighth, Ricardo Otto in ninth 

and AD van Dalen in tenth despite running off 

in the last corner. 

The racing in the Ultimate 1000 category 

was as close and exciting as always, all the 

way through the field and you can expect it 

to be even closer when we head down to Port 

Elizabeth. 

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ULTIMATE SBK 600’S 

With nine riders heading out for a dry 

Qualifying session, it was once again Ryno 

Pretorius who would stamp his authority on 

the rest of the grid on his Yamaha R6 followed 

by King Price Extreme Honda rider Leungo 

Gaorekwe in second and Graigen Nel who was 

racing on a 600cc for the first time in third. 

Keegan Mills set the fourth-fastest time 

followed by Clinton Fourie in fifth, Michael 

Hunter in sixth, Jason Wessels in seventh, 

Mo Mahope returning on her Kawasaki ZX6R 

in eighth and Faaiz Tar closing off the grid in 

ninth. Race 1 was all about Ryno Pretorius 

who would take the win by over 5 seconds. 

The battle for second was close and raged on 

all race long between Graigen Nel, Leungo 

Gaorekwe and Keegan Mills. These three 

would all finish within one second of each 

other but it was Graigen Nel who claimed 

second in his 600cc debut just ahead of 

Leungo Gaorekwe in third and Keegan Mills in 

fourth. 

Clinton Fourie picked up a lonely fifth ahead 

of Michael Hunter and Jason Wessels in sixth 

and seventh who had a good tussle all race 

long. Mo Mahope would be the last of the 

finishers in the eighth. 

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PRIZE GIVING



PRIZE GIVING 

LUCKY DRAW WINNERS 

AND RIDER OF THE DAY 

After all the trophies were handed out 

to all our podium finishers, it was time 

to hand out some prizes. First up was a 

Samsung S22 cellphone kindly sponsored 

by Samsung South Africa. 

A huge thanks to Samsung and Graeme 

Stretton from Samsung for arranging 

this amazing prize. This prize went to 

new BOTTS rider Vusani Mutshinya. 

Congratulations Vusani! 

Next up was a Samsung backpack once 

again kindly sponsored by Samsung 

South Africa. To his surprise, this went to 

a very happy Dorren Loureiro who races 

in the Ultimate 1000 class. 

SBK Eyewear was once again on board 

and once again sponsored an SBK 

Eyewear hamper. The lucky winner of 

this was Masters rider Grant Furrows. A 

huge thank you to SBK Eyewear for their 

continued support of our series. 

A pair of microwavable slippers was 

next up to give away and this went to the 

oldest rider on the grid who raced in the 

Open Superbikes Novice class. 

Congratulations to Neil Heslip who I am 

sure will appreciate the slippers with the 

weather we have been having lately. 

Last but not least was the announcement 

of the rider of the day. This went to Open 

Superbikes Premier lady rider Senshe 

Smith. 

She did very impressive lap times and 

stuck it to the much more experienced 

riders in her class. Her first time at 

Phakisa as well. Well done Senshe!!!! 

Once again a huge thank you to everyone 

who makes the MRSSA such a huge 

success. We are growing together and 

it is so positive to see motorcycle racing 

flourishing here in SA and is all thanks to 

you the riders and our sponsors. 

Until Round 3 which will be held at Aldo 

Scribante in Port Elizabeth, stay safe and 

keep riding those motorcycles!

MRSSA ISSUE 2

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