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MEAN MACHINE . . . Angelo Pereira admires one of his motorbikes which helped him to rule the roost during last Saturday’s third round of the 2017 Drag Racing Series at Donnybrook Raceway in Harare.

Collin Matiza Sports Editor
ONE of the country’s top motorcycle riders Angelo Pereira was the star of the show during the third round of the 2017 hp lubes Castrol Drag Racing Series at Donnybrook Raceway in Harare on Saturday.

This last weekend saw the Sables Dragpro Club, who run the motorsport of drag racing in Zimbabwe, shifting the third instalment of this year’s drag racing series from its usual Sunday spot to Saturday inorder to accommodate those competitors and racing fans who miss out on Sunday events.

And the move proved to be a masterstroke as more than 3 000 motor racing fans thronged Donnybrook on Saturday to watch motor vehicles and motor bikes racing against each other and against the clock down the quarter mile strip where Pereira hogged the limelight in the bike section.

Battling with fellow seasoned campaigners Leslie and Darryl Carlsson, Pereira, on his Suzuki GSXR1000 motor bike, emerged as the fastest biker of the day after the elimination stage.

Crowd favourite Pereira was just like a ball of fire as he fired his bike to victory to bring the cheering crowd on its feet on Saturday afternoon.

Saturday first saw Pereira finishing in second place in the 1000cc classs (10.463 seconds) behind Leslie Carlsson (10.227 seconds) before he emerged as the fastest biker of the day on elimination.

By the end of business on Saturday, the top eliminators of the day were Pereira (motorbikes), Mano Zevgolis (motor vehicles) and Richard dos Santos (quads). And according to the Top 10 Bikes Standings after Saturday’s race meeting, Pereira is now lying in third place behind Leslie and Darryl Carlsson.

In fact, Leslie Carlsson’s Transerv Suzuki GSXR1000 has the fastest time of 9.966 seconds (226.65Kph) which was recorded during the year while his brother Darryl’s Suzuki GSXR1000 has the second fastest time of 10.316 seconds (207.64Kph).

On Saturday, Darryl mounted a Yamaha R1. Pereira’s Suzuki GSXR1000 has the third fastest time of the year after he posted 10.367 seconds (220.63Kph).

Temba Mazvimbakupa of the Zimbabwe Motorsport Federation attributed all these fast times to the new surface which was laid at Donnybrook at the beginning of last year.

“You remember the tarmac on the strip at Donnybrook was resurfaced at the beginning of last year and it’s no longer slippery. In fact it has now hardened and this has seen motor vehicles and motor bikes all registering some improved times this year which is good for the sport,” Mazvimbakupa said.

Meanwhile, Mano Zevgolis ruled the roost in the motor vehicles section on Saturday. Driving a Toyota hp Lubes MR2, Zevgolis came out tops in the 1-1600cc Turbo/Super charged section before he capped the day by emerging as the top eliminator in the motor vehicles section.

In fact, Zevgolis has the fastest time of the year in the motor vehicles section and he leads in the Top 10 Cars Standings ahead of Kevin Allmark (AC Cobra) and Terry Allberry (AC Cobra) with one more round to go in this year’s Drag Racing Series.

Drag racing is now arguably the country’s most popular motorsport event, thanks to Zevgolis and his team at Sables Dragpro Club who have done a tremendous job of popularising the sport in Zimbabwe.

The last race of the 2017 Drag Racing Series has been scheduled for November 5 at Donnybrook.