All eyes are sure to be on Kyalami this weekend when the first of the World Superbike meetings kicks off
Gavin Foster
In the 1950s, motorcyclists from the colonies were known as the wild boys of racing because of their fearless and aggressive riding styles.
One theory attributed their success to the fact that most of Europe’s boldest and most adventurous citizens had set off in the 19th and early 20th centuries to seek their fortunes in the colonies, taking their inherited aggression with them.
South African motorcycle racing history is packed with families whose genes have equipped them for life in the fast lane. Petersen, Gray, Ekerold, Woolley, Bristol, Macleod, Nesbitt – they’re all family names that feature prominently in the record books.
But in a sport that’s notorious for smashing bodies, dreams often turn into nightmares, and families that make too heavy an investment in terms of their sons often pay a dreadful price.
Multiple champion Johan Boshoff continued on racing after his brother, Heinrich, retired, and died in a high-speed crash at Kyalami in 1976. In 1989 Danny Bristol retired after narrowly beating his brother, Warren, for the South African title, and the following year Warren died trying to earn a championship to go with his brother’s two.
But mental toughness is a prerequisite for successful racing, and top racers are not intimidated by the risks, no matter how harshly they are reminded of their own mortality.
When New Zealander Neville Hiscock was killed in a South African racing accident in 1983, his brother, Dave, flew in to take over his riding contract for the rest of the year. Keith Petersen was killed at Kyalami on October 9 1982, prompting his brother, Dave, to move to Europe and seek glory in Grand Prix racing.
“That was the day the music stopped. I figured that if I was going to risk my life racing I should do so for higher stakes.”
Petersen rode about 70 Grands Prix before forging a new career managing other riders – he headed Anton Mang’s world championship winning team in the late 1970s, and spent a year grooming Kenny Roberts Jnr in 1990, his first year of professional racing in the United States.
Then, last year, 23-year-old reigning South African champion Brett Macleod, the most talented young South African racer in years, was killed during the World Superbike meeting at Kyalami. His older brother and team-mate, Stewart, usually regarded as a less aggressive rider than Brett, responded by being quicker than ever for the rest of the season, and currently leads the South African national championship series after four races.