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The legends of Mike Hailwood and Barry Sheene will be part of the “Day of the Champion” Zwartkops Raceway 1st February
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| Barry Sheene never raced at Zwartkops, but his spirit certainly lives on at every racetrack where classic racing bikes are fired up in anger. Two of Sheene’s fiercest rivals and one of his factory GP bikes will be seen in action in the “Day of the Champion” celebration of local and international motorcycle racing of golden years gone by. |
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Tepi Lansivuori, once Barry Sheene’s team mate in the awesome Formula 750 World Championship, will be riding in the “Day of the Champion” event for past World and National Champions and Isle of Man TT winners on one of Barry’s actual Suzuki TR750 works bikes. The only other Suzuki TR 750 ever seen in South Africa is the equally rare model Les van Breda rode for Suzuki South Africa in the early 70’s. Les will be out on this bike as well. In fact Les rode against Lansivuori in Europe on this bike in the early 70’s , so seeing the two old rivals on track together after 40 years will be very special. More Sheene nostalgia is that his English nemesis, the only man who was consistently able to beat him on the 750’s in particular, Mick Grant, will be there riding another Heron Suzuki factory bike, a Suzuki RG 500.
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| The link to Mike Hailwood is the Honda RC181, the 500/4 that Honda built for Hailwood to beat MV Agusta in the 500cc World Championship. This bike belongs to Englishman John Chapman, who brought it here for the first Day of the Champion 8 years ago. Very fittingly, the man who broke Hailwoods record TT lap, which stood for over seven years, none other than Mick Grant, will be riding it with the Historic Motorcycle Group in the class for bikes up to 1975. Once again, just to hear the awesome shriek of that 500 four at 15 000 rpm is worth the gate money on its own! |
| The now famous Historic Motorcycle Group of South Africa, which has very successfully gathered together a band of enthusiasts who have a wonderful collection of historic and classic racing motorcycles, will be out in force. They have split their parades, which are high speed affairs and are certainly not boring, into two groups. The first is for bikes up to 1976, which covers the golden era of British domination of the GP’s as well as the introduction of the Japanese race bikes, mainly two strokes from Suzuki, Yamaha and Kawasaki, with the incredible watch-like Honda four strokes, which they call group A. Then later racers, like the Katanas, Honda RC1100’s and big bore 4 cylinder Kawasakis ride in group B. They don’t grab all the glory as there are a couple of very quick big Ducati twins, a Moto Guzzi or two, and some very quick specials like the Bimota KB1. |
| To add to the nostalgia of the day will be the biggest gathering of 50cc bikes for the last ten years..There will be everything from exotic Italian machinery like Itom’s and Garellis, the very thoroughly engineered German Zundapp’s to the iconic early Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha fifties. Anyone who is over , well 40 something, will get a lump in their throat reliving old schooldays when this lot of “buzzies” takes to the track. |
| Two strokes seem to have had their day as race and road bikes thanks to the ever greening of the planet, but some lovely bikes will be brought out by the incredibly enthusiastic two stroke association. They are fast, colourful, and well worth watching as they do their stuff on the track. |
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| A growing movement is the rebirth of the “Café’Racer. Perhaps it’s thanks to TV and the many features on all sorts of specialist machinery, but whatever the reason, the café racers range from lovingly rebuilt classic 1960’s Triumphs and BSA’s to modern versions of this extrovert style of motorcycle. There should be a big group of them out on track during the day, complete with period dressed riders and helpers all reveling in the rebel image of these bikes, which got their name from the exciting and dangerous races they used to hold from one roadside café to another (hence Café’ racer) in England during the Elvis years of the 50’ and 60’s |
| Last but not least is the Royal Enfield club, where members show off their 1950’s style Royal Enfield singles. Only these bikes are band new, built in India using the tooling imported from England when the factory closed, unable to compete with the modern bikes made in Japan. It’s like a time warp watching them, many with sidecars, reliving a much more relaxed lifestyle from the past. |
| The action starts at 9.30, with each group having three sessions on the track. The wonderful thing about the “Day of the Champion” is that everyone is welcome in the pits, and is free to walk amongst the bikes and talk to the riders, including the stars from overseas. The atmosphere is just like a race day from the past. The excellent Aces Café serves meals and other refreshments, and adds to the nostalgic atmosphere as well. |
| The events are all clearly defined in the program, ranging from the relaxed drone of the Royal Enfields, to the chatter of the 50cc bikes and the roar of racebikes pushed to their limits in four classes, culminating in the fiercely competitive “Day of the Champion” headline event, where World and National champions, as well as Isle of Man TT winners, hurtle around on some very valuable and exotic machinery. |
| What a great day out where you can see World Champions TT winners and fiercely enthusiastic racing enthusiasts parading a huge collection of fabulous race bikes in anger….if you are interested in joining one of the many classic motorcycle or café racer clubs, what better place to see what they do and talk to them. |
| Weekend ickets available at the gate on the day: R170 Adults, R110 students and children under 12 free. However if you buy from Computicket or from the Zwartkops office before event you will receive a discounted rate of: R150 Adults, R90 Students. |
| Sunday – Day of the Champion tickets only, R80 Adult, R60 Student, kids under 12 free – Available at the gate on the day. |
| See you at Zwartkops on 30/31st of January 2015 / 1st February! |
