The black Mk1 Golf of team Xtra Clothing & Shoes managed to dodge spinning shitboxes, swerve slippery oil slicks and dismiss sleep deprivation on its way to an epic second win at the MF Autobody 24 Hours of iLamuna this past weekend.
Billed as “the most glorious and irresponsible thing drivers will do all year”, the iLamuna endurance race is Africa’s largest motorsport event and is open only to old beaters valued at less than R50k. Now in its third year, the event draws an eclectic mix of man (and women) and machine including battered BMWs, disgusting Datsuns, vrot Fords and many other crusty cars destined for the great scrapyard in the sky.
After securing victory at last year’s running, the four-driver Xtra crew of Adrian Dalton, Gerhard Henning, Wayne Lebotschy and Brett Langston battled intense weather conditions and a huge field of 69 other cars to cross the finish line first yet again. Over 24 hours of nonstop racing, the VW Golf team, managed by Leandrie Pieterse, Linda Henning, Melanie Zietsman and Angela Langston, completed 489 laps of the 4.2km Redstar Raceway circuit near Delmas with a quickest lap of 2:30.003 – an impressive feat considering any lap times quicker than 2 minutes 30 seconds are disallowed from overall results and per iLamuna rules.
Team ATS Motorsport scooped second place with 485 laps and team Mr Turbo took third with 482, making it a VW Golf podium one-two-three.
The all-female Pink Arrows team of BeauAnn Hegyi, Jo-Anne Gibbon, Lea-Anne Massey-Hicks and Natalie Weston managed an impressive 16thplace, 46 laps down, in their well-prepared Mercedes SLK. Team Asiento Rapido’s Nikki Vostanis, the youngest-known driver to contest a 24-hour Main Circuit race at just 15 years old, was unfortunately forced to retire his Seat Leon diesel.
The race started in sunny conditions at 12.15pm on Saturday, but the weather soon turned ugly with a torrential downpour, lightning and gale-force winds forcing race control to rescue track marshals and send the safety car out for nearly two hours in the early evening. Nevertheless, the massive field of 70 lemons – each costing less than R50,000 – circulated the flooded track and then raced through the night to see the chequered flag amidst a sandstorm at 12.15pm on Sunday, October 29. In the end only 18 cars were counted as non-finishers.
The third annual MF Autobody 24 Hours of iLamuna was proudly supported by Dunlop tyres, Havoline oils and Insurisk wealth management.
Boost
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