SA F1 Powerboating: ALL the results from a day of thrills and spills at Rynfield Dam

There were thrills and spills aplenty as SA F1 Powerboats roared into action at the Rynfield Dam in Benoni over the weekend.

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Having first tested the waters in February this year, F1 Powerboat enthusiasts were treated to a day of action on Saturday as the powerboating scene in South Africa took its first ‘big’ step back into the limelight.

The day got under way at 07:00 with a drivers briefing and wrapped up with prize giving at 17:00.

In addition to other racing classes including Juniors, Inflatables, F30 and GT15, the highlights of the day were the three 15-lap F1 heats.

In Heat 1 it was Brett Stuart who took the honours, ahead of Che Parsons with Bruce Repsold in third place.

1. Brett Stuart (Stuart River Estates)

2. Che Parsons

3. Bruce Repsold (Team RDS)

4. Michael Wessels (Team Boaters World)

5. Ronan Dixon (Team Dixon Batteries)

6. Keagan Frankiewics (Team Dixon Batteries)

7. John-Ross Duncan (Team JR Motorsport)

Drama unfolded at the start of Heat 2 when Michael Wessels rolled over Bruce Repsold, resulting in a restart. That restart saw Brett Stuart and Che Parsons do a combined backward blow over, which forced a second restart.

When racing resumed, it was Repsold who took the heat honours.

1. Bruce Repsold (Team RDS)

2. Michael Wessels (Team Boaters world)

3. Keagan Frankiewics (Team Dixon Batteries)

4. Ronan Dixon (Team Dixon Batteries)

5. John-Ross Duncan (Team JR Motorsport)

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Team RDS’ Repsold was leading Heat 3 by half a lap with just two laps remaining when the racing gods decided it was not to be his day as a blown gasket brought a premature end to his race.

1. Michael Wessels (Team Boaters World)

2. Ronan Dixon (Team Dixon Batteries)

3. Keagan Frankiewics (Team Dixon Batteries)

4. John-Ross Duncan (Team JR Motorsport)

DNF: Bruce Repsold

When the final results were tallied, it was Michael Wessels (Team Boaters World) who emerged as the overall winner, ahead of Ronan Dixon (Team Dixon Batteries) with his team-mate Keagan Frankiewics in third.

Final results for the day

1. Michael Wessels

2. Ronan Dixon

3. Keagan Frankiewics

4. Bruce Repsold

5. Brett Stuart

6. John Ross Duncan

7. Che Parsons

The next race will be held at the Hazelmere Dam in KwaZulu-Natal on Saturday, 25 June 2022.

Don’t miss it!

As previously reported by The South African website, South African F1 Powerboat racing was all the rage in the 1980s and took an even bigger jump in popularity in the 1990s when Peter Lindenberg dominated the local scene.

The country boasted the biggest domestic class of F1 boats in the world during those glory days.

Alas, following Lindenberg’s retirement in 2004, the sport slipped into obscurity and remained a shadow of its former self in the years that followed.

Equipment gathered dust and the sport saw little to no action for 15 years – until now!

In 2020 a couple of pilots got together to gauge interest and discuss the potential for restarting a local series.

F1 powerboats can reach speeds of up to 230km/h

With old hands on board and new blood coming through the ranks, there’s genuine excitement once again as the sport is thrust back into the spotlight.

After all, who doesn’t like watching boats reach top-speeds of 230km/h with up to 6G’s when making a turn?

Watching boats accelerate from a standing start to 100km/h in 2.3 seconds has to be seen live to be believed!

Events have been scheduled at national level in every major province and promise to be a fun day out for the whole family with food tents, music shows, rides, inflatable and jet-ski racing – and much more.

The F1 main attraction will be supported by junior races where youngsters looking one day to make the jump to the F1 class will compete.

A demonstration event took place in February this year at the Theewater Sports Club.

Anyone wanting more information is urged to contact Laszlo Berko on 083 323 3952 or laszlo@f1boat.co.za