Guide to the 2013 Nankang Drak 250

The 2013 Nankang Drak 250...

Descends again with the roar of monster engines disrupting the peaceful airs of the Southern Drakenberg's jewel - Underberg. This, the eleventh Drak 250 will see 31 (entered as of 8th of July) of KZN's best off-road riders battle their wits in balancing the odds of beating this unbelievably difficult course. Last year only 12 of the originally 34 entered contestants finished the race - that's hard. This year it might prove even harder, or at least a lot faster with the course length being shortened and one more lap added - four laps in total for the A and B class. This bodes well for the spectator as more of the race and action will be seen.

JT (John Thompson) claims that cars won't go missing for "days", as they seemingly used to. He also predicts that good lap times will decrease by as much as twenty minutes.

Other changes to the course include alternating the direction of the race. Last year saw it running clock-wise, this year the contrary. The only major effect this will have for the spectator, is that there will be another 'river crossing' very close to the river crossing at the bridge on the R617 (Umzimkulu river). Also, if you choose the excitement of the Boneyard, the cars will appear a lot more suddenly as they'll be entering from the top (making it easy to miss some of the action). The boneyard will also see the most of the action first, as the river crossing at the bridge will be the last major spectator's point.

The Nankang Drak 250 signifies 'past-the-halfway-mark' being the fourth of a possible six races races that count, in the regional off road championship, and in certain classes things couldn't be tighter in both the A and B classes. Read more about the stiff competition in either the A or B classes...

The weekend starts on Friday evening at the Country Club with registration, dinner, and music. As far as the format goes; all cars and quads will go out on the prologue as per their seeding order which will be finalised on Saturday morning after the top 5 draw. The finishing order of the prologue determines the start of the main race. Line up for the prologue is at 07h30 with the start at 08h00. The main race is scheduled to start at 10h30 unless the Clerk of the Course changes that.. The prize-giving will be held later that evening probably around 6 to 6:30 pm, followed by dinner and music. The country club will as usual have it's open throughout the event, and there will be refreshments and food available at bot the R617 Bridge by the Umzimkulu, as well as at the Boneyard.

Class A Vehicles

In the A Class (Those are the big boys V6, V8 engines bakkies and such), Reg Sutton leads the race with a very solid 69 points, having won 2 previous races and coming second only once. He couldn't finish the Drak 250 last year having dropped out in the first lap.

Second on the leaderboard is Arthur Barnes on 44 points. He won one previous race, putting Sutton second, came second in one race, when Sutton then beat him. One race saw Barnes not finishing and allowed for a little distance to creep into the leadersip standings. Having finished strongly in second place in last year's Drak 250, he will no doubt be confident of taking the lead this year, and very well add to his points tally.

Arthur Barnes (A29) teaming up again with Anthony Usher, must win this race to draw level with Reg Sutton in the lead...and will quietly be hoping Sutton has a repeat performance of his Drak last year.

Not far off the pace lying 3rd over all is our own local legend Don Thompson on 31 points. He's only raced twice this year and has notched up a second and third place. His local knowledge is bound to assist him leading a charge for this year's title. Don missed last year's race due to the bad crash he had the year before, and for some time there has been talk that he wouldn't race again. Alas the Don is back, and his return is bound to throw a wolf in the chicken pen.

(At the time of writing this Don had still not entered into the race)

Winner of last year's Drak 250; Lance Trethewey has been having a torrid time of it this year having entered two races and completed none. According to John Thompson he is still the favorite to win it again this year and all eyes should be on the big green monster machine. Lance will also be very hungry to get some points on the board this year with only a definite three races to go. Looking at a maximum tally of 75 for the remaining races Lance has got to score big and hope the current leaders bump their toes somewhere along the line. This is what Lance has to say: "I would love to finish a race, so that’s the first plan! There is going to be some stiff competition in Lance Woolridge, Reg Sutton and Aurthur Barnes. I am sure that JT and his team have put together another great event and we look forward to being part of it. We are using this race to get our “eye in” for the Sun City 400 at the end of July, where we need to defend our title from 2012.”

Also to watch is Daniel Brookes who was placed 3rd in last year's race, and has competed in only one race this year giving him 15 points and placing him 6th over all for the year.

Daniel withdrew from the race on the 10th of July, and I for one am sad to not see him again this year.

Ricky and Lauren Carter will be feeling they need a serious reward at the moment. The Red Bull machine hasn't finished two of the races preseding this Rally, and on the back of last year's breakdown during the Drak they'd be desperate to see the checkered flag.

B Class Vehicles

In the B Class (2 lt Engines): With the top six positions in Class B being within touching distance of each other, the winner of this race might very well see a reshuffling of positions, a new leader, or a minor consolidation of current standings. Either way with 13 contestants in this category it's definitely the race to watch.

Ricky and Lauren Carter will be feeling they need a serious reward at the moment. The Red Bull machine hasn't finished two of the races preseding this Rally, and on the back of last year's breakdown during the Drak they'd be desperate to see the checkered flag.

Ralph Voigts (B40) has been burning up the courses this year in his new machine and is leading the charge for overall winner on 52 points. He won the previous race so should be riding a wave of confidence. Not having not finished last year's drak might very well leave him in a cynical standing leading up to this year's race.

One point behind him on 51 points is the experienced Rob Spencer (B24), who has already won one race this year, and on the strength of his performance in the Drak last year which saw him claim second place, makes him a very strong contender for winning the Drak this year.

Marcus Taylor (30 points), John Thompson (27 Points), James Watson (26 points), Gary Campbell (25 points), and Greame Peterson (23 points) are all within touching distance of the lead if they shine this weekend. Hots on favorite to win must be local James Watson who has just returned from winning the rally in Botswana. Last year saw him lose 20 minutes at the start of the race due to a mechanical fault, and still ended in third position. Gary Campbell, last years B Class winner, 15 minutes in front of Spencer has raced only one race this year, and won it.

There are many other names who can put their hands up for points in this race with plenty of experience coming from John Thompson, Marcus Taylor, Tony Ball, Rodney Currin, Warren Confait, Iain Maclean and the likes all having completed the Drak before. This race is wide open and should provide supporters with a lot of entertainment.

 This year's line-up for the A Class has 8 contestants in total, up three from last year.