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Darren Winterboer (left) with a South African motoring official. Winterboer has won the three-hour endurance race a record six times

Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter
ALL is set for the Bulawayo Motoring Club (BMC) organised Toyota Castrol Three-Hour Endurance race slated for Bulawayo Motorsport Park this afternoon with foreign participants in town for the epic showdown.

The event, that will be the last motoring event of the year, will see car drivers and superbike riders battle it out in a competition which has drawn participants from South Africa, United Kingdom and Botswana.

Car drivers will compete in the three-hour endurance race with bikers battling it out in an hour race.

“It’s all systems go, everything is in place ahead of the race. Foreign participants started arriving on Wednesday and have had time to familiarise with the circuit. We expect to have an exciting day of racing,” said Leonora Young, a member of the BMC organising committee.

Defending three-hour endurance race champion Wayne Jardine’s Shelby Can Am powered by a Nissan V6, 3.5 litre engine will be hoping to defend his title.

Last year, Jardine shared his drive with South African Mike Verrier and is yet to reveal his partner for this year’s race. The duo are both champions of the 2017 South African Endurance Series National Class T, having shared the title throughout the year.

Bulawayo’s favourite, Darren Winterboer, who competes in his BMW, has also registered for the race. Winterboer has won the three-hour endurance race a record six times and holds the record number of laps of 127 for this race. He is the overall national champion, Class B champion and Index of Performance champion in the South African Endurance Series.

Some of the familiar names that have registered for the race include Denzil Bhana, Darren Pragji, Bob Beaver and Stuart Young, all from Bulawayo.

Also on the list of car entries in the three-hour race are Colin Ellison from South Africa and Greg Thornton from the United Kingdom, driving an Alpha GTAm and an Alpha Sprint GT respectively, competing in the Saloon B class. Thornton is a former 2013 FIA Historic F1 World Champion.

In the bikers’ section, South Africa’s first black female superbike rider Morongoa Mahope, young South African Savannah Woodward and Harare-based Shaun Whyte, who has won the national title on a number of occasions,  are among top riders that have registered. — @innocentskizoe