David Maree was full of praise for how spectator-friendly the event was after he won the first edition of the King of the Kermesse at the Zwartkops Raceway in Pretoria at the weekend.
The 29-year-old said he felt great about winning such a “super event”, which consisted of a 2.5km circuit and one-hour plus a lap of racing, a format specially designed for maximum spectator value.
“It’s great that I can push myself harder with crowds cheering me on. In my opinion this is how all of our pro races should be run,” he said.
“Every event can have a big loop and then finish with laps so that spectators can watch.”
Team Enza’s David Maree won the King of the Kermesse at the Zwartkops Raceway in Pretoria at the weekend. Photo: Owen Lloyd
Maree, who won the points race at this year’s national track champs, said the race started flat-out with him forcing a few moves.
“With racing like this you pay for your efforts.
“Dylan [Girdlestone] launched an attack on the third lap and saw everyone hesitate.
“I then jumped from second wheel and after half a lap I caught him. We then had a painful 45 minutes of working together to hold off the chasing bunch.”
Girdlestone finished second, with Josh van Wyk third.
“Every race I start I always try and win. If I know I’m not capable of winning then I would help one of my teammates to secure the victory.”
However, Maree did not have the smoothest of races, with a couple of obstacles cropping up along the way.
“The bottom corner caught me off-guard as it was off camber, but you just have to take it in your stride.
“Dylan was also gapping me on every lap through the one corner, so it forced me to do a bit extra every lap.
“The sprint was very tricky and even after riding it 12 times I was still not sure. I just didn’t want to be behind as I knew it was so fast going down that you didn’t have time to overtake.”
The Jock Classic runner-up added that it was a tough field, with all the major teams present.
“We always knew the OfficeGuru boys would come out swinging, so we tried to watch them as they had the numbers and also the depth.”
The Team Enza said an event of this nature was important as it grew interest in the sport thanks to it being so spectator-friendly.
“If it’s not crowd-friendly then nobody wants to watch. You need to have people come to see the racing.”
