The final round of the 2022 National Inflatable Powerboat Series returns to the Theewater Sports Club this coming weekend promising nail biting action and close racing.
With the honours in all three classes still up for grabs, the teams will be giving it their all to take the various titles home. Adding to bragging rights will be a chance to represent South Africa in the upcoming world championship, which will be hosted in Struisbaai later this year, and a strong finish at this final event could be the deciding factor for selection to the national team.
Two action-packed days are planned with three mini-long-haul circuit races in each class on Saturday (13 August), while the demanding 120 km long-haul race will kick off on Sunday (14 August).
All events will be run in a lap format making for exciting spectating from the side, keeping teams and visitors on their toes with adrenaline-filled racing. The location and structure of this event promises the highest speeds of the year, where boats will hit triple-digit speeds often racing mere centimetres apart and promising a hair raising spectacle.
In the stock class it is a three-horse race between youngsters Siecker/De Villiers, Bamberger/Langeveld and the Kriel brothers, in which these young guns will pull out all the stops to cross the line first. The Pro-Stock category often delivers the most competitive racing, and with Scholtz/Koekemoer, Schoeman/Strydom and De Bod/Nel going head to head for the top step it will be anyone’s race. The loudest and fastest boats of the day are the modifieds, where long-time sparring partners Gleed/Janse van Rensburg and Ball/Shaw will do battle while up-country flatwater specialists Le Roux/Venter will do their utmost to upset the apple cart with their sheer speed. They will be chased by Gauteng-based Marais/Walker and Khone/Lubbe, while travelling all the way from KZN will be team Roets, a husband-and-wife pairing.
The whole family is welcome to spectate and cheer their favourite boat on, and with a dozen other teams having shown race winning speed during the year it will take some bravery to predict an outcome. Event organisers are expecting more than 40 teams from all over the country, and it may just be a wild-card entry spraying the champagne at the end of the weekend.
