Thrilling Spectator Race at Mini Extreme Festival Wows KFM 94.5’s Deon Bing

Can you imagine what it feels like to be hurtled around a race track at high speed? If motor racing is not your thing it could be your worst nightmare. But if you are a petrolhead, it’s a dream come true. If you’re a laid-back surfer, maybe not so much.

On Saturday, 16 April, the first leg of the Mini Extreme Festival kicked off at Killarney in Cape Town. It was a day where motorsport aficionados (and their families) could immerse themselves in all types of fuel-driven fun.  The day’s line-up consisted of races such as the Engen Volkswagen Polo Cup, InvestChem Formula 1600 and Mike Hopkins Motorcycles Superbikes. There were also drift car and stunt bike demos, not to mention two supertractors in a tug-of-war, fitted with V8 engines. A fan walk took place during the lunch break, where members of the public could get a better look at the Engen Volkswagen Cup and Investchem Formula 1600 drivers and their pimped-out race cars.

One of the youngest drivers in the Engen VW Polo Cup is 15-year-old Daniel Duminy from Pepper Racing (pictured). But it was his older team member, veteran Polo Cup racer Shaun La Réserveé who ruled the racing roost and walked away with the laurels for both VW Polo Cup races of the day.

One of the highlights of the day was without a doubt the spectator’s race, an inititative between KFM 94.5 and Killarney International Raceway. This gave 20 ‘normal’ people the opportunity to experience every aspect of high-speed in-car motor-racing, apart from driving, of course! Cape Town surfer and radio personality from KFM 94.5, Deon Bing, agreed to be strapped in alongside top GTi Challenge driver, 15-year old Giordano Lupini from Monroe Racing RSA, to take part in the four-lap race.

Lupini didn’t show any mercy just because he had a Cape Town celebrity in the passenger seat, and managed to beat a whole bunch of his GTi Challenge Class C rivals to the finish line.

After the race, a visibly exhilirated Deon emerged from the black and yellow Golf 1 GTi.
“They told me, come to Killarney, come for a drive with a race driver, but they never told me we’d be racing flat out and they forgot to tell me my jockey was fifteen years old, but hey, what an experience! Have to say I’m super impressed with this young fellow - he’s just fifteen years old and he drives like a master!”

And what did young Giordano Lupini have to say about this? “I was quite nervous to take uncle Deon out at race speeds, but he was great fun — he was even broadcasting to the radio station and taking videos and photos while we were racing flat out - now that’s what I call a star!”