Cape Town – Killarney will welcome true racing aristocracy at the second leg of the Passion for Speed historic racing series on Saturday 6 February.
British enthusiast Alan Walker will be bringing his Ducati Desmosedici MotoGP machine to lead the parade of race bikes past and present – but don’t blink or you’ll miss it.
While no official pedigree for the bike has been released it is thought to be a 989cc version built around 2005. There is a strong rumour that Walker will hand the bike over to former Grand Prix rider and seven times Isle of Man TT winner Mick Grant for an attempt not only on the motorcycle lap record for Killarney, but also the ultimate lap record for this circuit.
With an estimated 170kW on tap and an all-up weight of less than 160kg, this will undoubtedly be the fastest motorcycle ever unleashed at the Cape circuit, and should be capable of lapping the 4.2km track in less than 70 seconds.
Be there - if only to hear the howl of a litre-class V4 engine revving to 17 000rpm!
Not as quick, but just as aristocratic, is Walker’s second bike for the weekend, a 1975 MV Agusta Formula 750 four. He will also be bringing the Ducati 888 on which Carl Fogarty won both Superbike races at the 1993 North West 200, setting a lap record in the process.
Classic TT bikes deliver epic racing
Suzuki is expected to dominate the South African TT races with its XR69 and GSX-R models did when they were the state of the art in the mid-1980s. Look out for veteran Superbike racer Noel Haarhof, battling it out with his old rivals Graeme van Breda and Gavin Ramsay, each on a GSX-R750, with Isle of Man TT hero Ian Simpson on an XR69 racer keeping them honest.
Long retired, Haarhof made a stunning return to competition in the first leg of the series at Zwartkops, winning both TT races ahead of Van Breda, with Simpson third in Race 1 and Ramsay third in Race 2
Van Breda, now a successful Masters Cup rider, would dearly love to put Haarhof back in his place at the Cape circuit, but he forgets this was one of Haarhof’s favourite tracks as a Superbike racer, and he will be just as competitive here. Expect fireworks.
The International Passion for Speed Historic Racing meeting will feature races for Classic TT and Vintage Superbikes, as well as parades by historic race machinery too rare and irreplaceable to race, and a special parade by 50cc two-stroke race bikes.