Randy Lewis
World's #1 Ranked Trackchaser
DURBAN GRAND PRIX, DURBAN, KWAZULU-NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA - PART 2
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| Africa - Part 2 |
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RANLAY Racing Trackchaser Report
PART 2
DAY 12-15 - TO WHAT ENDS OF THE EARTH WILL I GO TRACKCHASING TOUR
SPECIAL NOTICE!
This afternoon I saw racing in my 13th different country. Below is a list of when and where I saw first saw racing in each of these countries.
SUMMARY OF “COUNTRY” TRACKCHASING ACHIEVEMENTS
# 1 – UNITED STATES OF AMERICA – Peoria Speedway (Mt. Hawley) – Track #1, Peoria, Illinois – circa 1954 (age 5)
# 2 – CANADA - Cayuga Speedway – Track #174, Nelles Corner, Ontario, Canada – July 31, 1988 (Dick Trickle winner)
# 3 – UNITED KINGDOM – Northhampton International Raceway – Track #378, Northhampton – June 26, 1999 (accompanied by Carol, Kristy, Jim)
# 4 – AUSTRALIA – Speedway City – Track #804, Virginia, South Australia – December 26, 2004 (accompanied by Carol)
# 5 – NETHERLANDS – Driesum Racetrack – Track #839, Driesum – May 5, 2005 (accompanied by Roland Vanden Eynde)
# 6 –
# 7 –
# 8 –
# 9 –
# 10 – MEXICO – Triovalo Bernardo Obregon – Track #1,281, Tiajamulco de Zuniga, Jalisco – October 14, 2007 (accompanied by Carol, J.J., Roger Ward)
# 11 –
# 12 –
# 13 –
AND THE READERS RESPOND
From time to time interested readers write me about one thing or another. Many times, I feel that my other readers would be interested, informed and/or amused by the comments I get. Here’s what a South African reader had to say about Part 1 of my African Trackchaser Report series:
Hi Randy,
I had a look at the photos on your site and have to admit it does look like it was a lovely trip! It is interesting to read your comments on what you saw and experienced, and I realized that things we hardly take note of (like the ever-present high wrought iron fencing) is noticeable for someone from the “outside”. Generally, the rural areas of SA are very safe and the people tend to be a lot friendlier and more accommodating than in the cities. Just 1 (probably ignorant) question: did you go to
It seems the racing at R/Bay Oval was cancelled due to a lack of basically everything: drivers, spectators and officials. Maybe the A1 was just too much competition for them? Natal isn’t a very populated area, and having any big event (like rugby or cricket) on the same evening can have quite an effect on the number of people that attend the oval events. I’m glad to see that you found a substitute for the racing: curry restaurants in
I will be keeping an eye out for part 2 of your report. All the best with your hobby!
TODAY’S HEADLINES
Tonight we survived an emergency airline landing. I’m happy to be able to tell you that!...................more in “Monday, February 25, 2008”.
We had the wildest hotel negotiation in recent memory in
See the grade I gave today’s racing, the overall event and my overall experience in
Click on this link or paste it in your browser to take you to today’s Trackchaser Report via my website at
http://www.ranlayracing.com/february15262008.htm
GREETINGS FROM
WE’VE SPENT THE LAST SEVERAL NIGHTS IN AFRICA SINCE LEAVING
The Purpose
One of my primary trackchasing objectives this year is to see new tracks in foreign countries. Today’s new track was in a very far away place,
I would be accompanied by my son, J.J. and his friend (and now mine) Will Van Horne. We were a great threesome. We all love adventures like this one. Although you couldn’t come along for this particular trip, I want you to have just about as much fun seeing and “doing”
Sunday February 24, 2008
This was a simple day. It was pretty much, have breakfast with J.J. and Will, then go to the race and have dinner with the guys upon my return. The plan had been for J.J. and Will to join me at the short track race last night in
However, the racing plan for J.J. and Will changed when the promoter and racers did not show up at Richard’s Bay. Neither of the boys is a big race fan. I’m not much for dragging people to the races when it’s not something they enjoy. I didn’t do that when our children were smaller and I wouldn’t want to start now.
Our hotel for today is located directly on the beach. Our room is just a few yards from the crashing waves. With the weather so beautiful and temperatures at about 80 degrees, I wished I could have a beach day rather than going to the race today. However, I came to
I’ll tell you more about the race in the “race review” section of this Trackchaser Report”. I was able to get back to the hotel after the race by about 6 p.m. I was just in time for a margarita poolside. We followed with a nice dinner in downtown Ballito.
I’ve discovered that African electrical adaptors require plugs that accept three circular male prongs set in a triangular configuration. My “world” electrical adapter didn’t have this connector. I was lucky to be able to get an African adapter from the hotel’s front desk. The clerk told me he would charge a “deposit” to my account in case I forgot to return the adapter.
The next morning I was reminding myself of how valuable this adapter actually was. Maybe I would need this electrical configuration on future foreign country visits. When I went to return it to the front desk, I asked the clerk how much I would be charged if I did not return it. He told me 20 Rand. That’s only about $3. “I didn’t returned the adapter”, I told him. He knew what my intentions were. Buying this adapter for three dollars was a literal steal.
Tonight was our last night in
Monday February 25, 2008
Today, we would be heading home. Although the trip would be long (almost 11,000 miles), it seemed like it would be straightforward. Our plan in its simplified version was this.
Drive from our hotel in
Have about three hours to return our rental car and clear airport customs, etc.
Fly 17 hours from
Spent about two hours clearing
Fly 5 hours from
Once in
Overall, this version of our return was planned to take 37 hours. We would fly about 10,500 miles. We would drive about 400 miles. We would clear customs in both
Here is what actually happened.
Our drive from our Sunday night hotel situated directly on the Indian Ocean in Ballito to
This gave us time to take a quick tour of downtown
The average July temperature is 61 degrees and the average January reading 77 degrees. Their seasons are the opposite of ours in the states. January is the rainiest month of the year with an average of 4.90 inches falling. July and August are the driest months with just 0.20 inches of rain.
Once in
We walked several blocks in different directions. We couldn’t find any place, other than a couple of fast food looking joints for lunch. That being the case, we simply took in the sights. The one most notable memory I will have of the city were the crowded conditions as well as the hustle and bustle of the city. We saw a good deal of school children all neatly dressed in their colorful school uniforms. During the one hour we spent on the ground, I saw one other white person. We must have looked like Mormon missionaries!
Our drive out of the city was just as interesting. Three white guys in a white Mercedes reminded me of my visits to
We drove through some of the most congested people and vehicular traffic I have ever encountered. There were times when the people surrounding us at pedestrian crossings were as thick as those surrounding a presidential motorcade. God forbid if we had run over anybody.
Following that fun and interesting trackchasing experience, we made our way back to the airport. Returning the car, with 2,051 kilometers on it was just about as easy as it would be in the
The next step was to clear airport security. In many countries outside of the
I spent some time buying souvenirs to supplement what I had already purchased for my loved ones. Then I paid 30 Rand (about $4) for 30 minutes of internet time. I wrote to Carol that things were going swimmingly and I would be home on time as planned.
Our flight tonight was scheduled for a 6:20 p.m. departure. We would be flying back to
We boarded our plane. Not long after boarding, the power went out on the plane and everything went dark. Soon the pilot came over the P.A. and explained that a lightning strike had hit the tarmac and possibly blown one of the three batteries used to power the plane’s electrical system. He would have maintenance come on board to check things out.
We waited on the plane’s maintenance personnel for an hour or so. Apparently, the problem was fixed. We would be taking off. Just as we began to move down the runway for takeoff, a burning smell permeated the interior of the plane. To me, it smelled like an electrical fire. Later others would swear it was jet fuel burning. Although it was annoying, it didn’t seem that bad to affect our flight.
We were up in the air for about 15 minutes, when the cabin went dark just like it had done before takeoff. We flew for another few minutes with no explanation. Finally, the captain came over the P.A. again and informed us that he had bad news. That is never the kind of pilot P.A. you want to hear after the lights have gone out.
His cockpit instruments were not looking good he told us. There seemed to be an “irregularity” in the electrical system. We would be returning to
The captain soon came back to us with even more unsettling news. He would be dumping fuel. He told us the senior flight attendant would give us further instructions. It was take several minutes for us to get rid of the fuel. We would end up dumping 27 tons of jet fuel. At eight pounds per gallon, you can do the math.
We were told we would be making an emergency landing. Both J.J. and Will are commercial airline pilots. They had never been part of an emergency landing. I might have had one before, but I cannot remember when or where.
The crew took us through what our emergency landing would entail. The captain kept telling us that he was simply following procedure and no one should be unduly alarmed. I looked at the woman sitting near me. She was unduly alarmed! This wasn’t how those dreaded East coast trackchasers were going to catch up in the worldwide trackchaser standings was it?
Before our final approach, the captain told us we had dumped all the fuel that was needed. We had to dump this fuel, he explained, so the plane could be at the proper weight for landing. He told us that they had landed planes safely at this maximum weight several times. He didn’t say if they had landed planes UNSUCCESSFULLY at this maximum landing weight.
With the runway lined with fire trucks and flashing red lights, befitting any disaster airline movie you have ever seen, the plane made a perfect landing. Nearly everyone clapped and cheered. If that wasn’t enough excitement, the fun was really about ready to begin.
Once the plane did land, passengers were placed on two large buses for a ride back to the terminal. We were told the airline’s maintenance staff would look at the problem and get back to us.
In somewhat of a surreal scene, in order for all of the passengers to get back into the terminal, we had to clear airport security again. Once that was done, everyone was relocated to a large self-serve restaurant to await further word. It was now past 10 p.m. We were now four hours past our scheduled take-off time. Our planned schedule was rapidly falling apart.
It is times like these where J.J. and I see the opportunity to separate ourselves from the pack. I approached one of the restaurant employees and told him of our situation. I told him that I expected South African Airways (SAA) would be providing some food and drink for the stranded passengers. He agreed and directed me to grab same. I did. Soon the three of us were dining on bottled O.J. and French pastries. The other passengers looked at us in envy. They soon recognized the opportunity and helped themselves. It’s not hard to imagine folks looting stores during riots and hurricanes like we continually see on TV. Of course, all of our “looting” was done with full approval.
After some time, a SAA employee came along to give us an update. The plane would not be flying tonight. We would leave tomorrow at 11 a.m. It was good to know we had a firm departure time. Now, where we would stay for the night? The SAA rep told us they had been checking for hotels and none could be found. The 150 passengers could sleep in the SAA airport lounge overnight. That didn’t sound like much fun to me.
I pulled the airline rep aside. Could we find our own hotel and be reimbursed by the airline? I was told we could. J.J. grabbed my laptop and found a secluded spot in the airport and went to work finding us a place to stay. My recently purchased African electrical adapter was already paying for itself. He bought 30 minutes of internet time. He communicated with his work and told them he would not be back on time for his flight schedule. Then he searched hotel sites and found us a room. Just as he was paying for it, our internet time ran out and the connection went dead! If it wasn’t for times like this, trackchasing would not be this much fun.
By now, the passengers were beginning to freak out in various forms. Some folks were from Joburg. They simply turned on their cell phones and called family and friends. Others had no phones and no internet connections. These people were destined to sleep overnight on the floor in the airport. Information and technology rules despite what the Unabomber thinks!
Finally, we made an internet reconnection and secured a room at a hotel a few miles from the airport. The website told us the hotel had a shuttle. Please don’t confuse this arrangement with any such experience you’ve had in the
It was now nearly midnight. Once we were through passport control, we had to battle a hoard of taxi drivers who wanted to take us to the hotel. Our plan was to take the airport shuttle. One particularly outspoken driver told us there was no airport shuttle. We didn’t believe him. We tried to phone the hotel by using a pay phone. Have you ever tried to use a pay phone in a foreign country? It requires a full semester’s class to understand the process.
We didn’t make contact, but two woman salesclerks in the nearby gift shop tried to help us. I don’t know if this makes a difference in the story to you at this point, but 100% of the people we were talking to during the entire evening were black South Africans. Some were helpful and some were not. I guess it was about what you would expect from people just about anywhere.
We could not contact the hotel through the pay phone. The persistent taxi driver offered to call the hotel with his cell phone. We tried that but the hotel did not answer our call. We ended up agreeing to go with the cab driver. Like good tourists we had spend all of our local currency, the South African
Our driver had a beat up old Mercedes. After all of our bags were placed in the trunk, we hopped in the car. It wouldn’t start! Oh my, what else could happen?
Finally, after a good deal of car battery groaning, the engine fired. We were off. We arrived at the hotel. It was 11:15 p.m. We entered the lobby and told the clerk about our reservation. This was when the most fun of the night was about to begin.
Here’s the situation. We have the desk clerk. We have an animated taxi driver. We had the three of us. Soon other character actors would join the performance. We did not have a printout of our reservation details. However, we did have the hotel reservation details on my laptop. I am always grateful for the benefits of my computer on the road. This was just another example of “being wired” as a major benefit.
Were we shocked when the desk clerk told us she had no rooms? We told here we had a confirmed reservation. Just about this time, our aggressive taxi driver noticed another opportunity. He might be able to drive us to yet another hotel! He had also noticed that one of the bills we had used to pay him was torn nearly in half. He was making a racket that we needed to give him another bill. We didn’t have any more bills.
The conversation was beginning to heat up. The clerk was adamantly explaining that her system did not show our reservation. J.J. and I were just as adamantly pushing the point that our reservation details were right there on our computer screen. The taxi driver was yelling about his torn
Just when the scene could not get any worse or funnier, depending upon your point of view, more people joined in. First, there was a fellow from the
He kept telling us “I have one room for my wife and me. I have one room for my son, I have one room for my other son, and I have one room for my daughter and one room for my other daughter”. He must have repeated this conversation ten times. At one point, I asked him how much he would charge us for one of the rooms. He told us he would give us a room for half-price. He had gotten each room from the airline for free!
All the while this circus was going on Will was over on a sofa doing his best “Silent Bob” impersonation. As the conversation went first one direction and then another, Will’s face would contort to either support or vilify the points being made.
The hotel clerk was on the phone with both her manager and the manager of a nearby hotel in the same chain. This hotel lobby process had been going on for 30 minutes.
According to the clerk, there were no rooms for us to have. According to the Czech guy, his final offer was “I will give members of the
The clerk told us that the other hotel that did have rooms was close by. The taxi driver quoted us a fare of 280 Rand. That was about $40
By now, the clerk wanted to kick us in the butt and get us out of the building. Just at that moment, about 10 people entered the lobby. Their flight had been cancelled and the airline had given them rooms at the hotel. The clerk happily began to check these folks in. That did not sit well with us.
Nevertheless, we secured another cab driver, Carter, who took us to our new hotel for a fare of 80 Rand. The new hotel turned out to be the Don Suites hotel where we had stayed on our first night in
By the time I got to bed, it was past 1 a.m. What a night! These trips would make great Seinfeld sitcom material. We had survived an emergency landing. We had had some experiences we will likely remember for a lifetime. This is all in the life of a trackchaser.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Today our flight was scheduled to leave at 11 a.m. Even though we had been on the plane the night before, it was as if we were brand new passengers all over again. This meant a visit to the ticket counter for new boarding passes. Then we went into a separate line to get reimbursed for last night’s hotel. They would not pay for our taxi fares because we had forgotten to get receipts. They did pay for our breakfast.
Next, we had to clear South African customs again. There were 6-7 times in the entire process when our passports and/or boarding passes were checked and re-checked before we boarded the plane. I have never seen this done so much anywhere.
The Don Suites Hotel had given us a very nice bottle of South African white wine for all of the trouble that we had encountered. That was nice of them. The airport security staff took it away from us! You win some and you lose some.
Our plane departed an hour later than the revised schedule at noon. At least we were off. I had 22 hours of flying ahead of me. The first 17 hours of flying would only get me as far as
We landed at
I guess I might have done that in the past, but there was no fire to put out at home. I could afford to get a good night’s rest and make the 5-hour flight during the daytime hours. I bid the guys farewell after we cleared
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
As I waited for our plane to depart this morning at 11 a.m. I noticed a young blonde woman who had been on our flight from
She seemed to recognize me as well. She came over to say hello. This woman was a native South African. She was a preacher’s daughter, probably in her mid-20s with two young daughters and a husband. The family lived in
She had come to the
What made her story all the more unusual was that her father had met her future husband 18 months before she did. He actually recommended that she meet the man once she arrived in the
This woman went on to tell me about life in
By the way, here’s some additional information I came across on
COUNTRY INFORMATION
While
For most of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the expanding settlement known as
Political division between the two main parties during the Second World War, saw the country emerge in the post-war period with the right wing National Party in control. The National Party implemented a series of racist laws which became known as apartheid. Apartheid led to oppression and a wide division in living standards and widespread sanctions and divestment abroad. Unable to control the growing violence and protest within the country, the National Party took the first steps to negotiate itself out of power in 1990. Lifting the ban on the African National Congress, and other left-wing parties, and the symbolic release of Nelson Mandela showed how the country was changing. As apartheid was gradually removed, the first free elections were held in 1994, giving black people the opportunity to vote for the first time.
Now in a more peaceful period,
It was late afternoon by the time Carol picked me up when I landed at LAX. I had been gone for two weeks. Time flies when you’re having fun. I had spent the first five days of the trip with Carol touring the Northeast and
COUNTRY RANKINGS
I am the first unpaid trackchaser, according to www.trackchaser.net, to ever go trackchasing in
Trackchaser commissioner Will White has offered me a challenge in foreign country trackchasing. Mr. White is the leading
With the addition of
Personally, I am not going to hold Will’s offer against him. I am not offended by it at all. I will accept Will’s offer for a friendly competition. I know it will take each of us some number of years to reach our goal of seeing racing in 30 different countries. Regardless of how our competition turns out, I know that each of us will have the time of our lives trying to add foreign countries to our trackchasing resume.
RACE REVIEW
As mentioned, I bought my race ticket for today at a supermarket in Richard’s Bay. I paid 350 Rand for a seat in the Silver stands. Here’s what the ticket-pricing schedule looked like:
Platinum Stand: R650.00 (does not include Pit/Paddock access)
Gold Stands/Disabled Stand: R450.00 (does not include Pit/Paddock access)
Silver Stands: R350.00 (does not include Pit/Paddock access)
Bronze Stands: R250.00 (does not include Pit/Paddock access)
Unreserved Picnic Area: R160.00 (no seats provided)
Here’s some background information I found about today’s event and racecourse:
“The street circuit in
The 3.2-kilometre (2.0-mile) layout has its start/finish line opposite
Average February temperature: 24.5°C (76.1 °F)
Average February rainfall: 127mm (5 inches)
Track length: 3.28 km (2.04 miles)
No. turns: 11
Direction: Clockwise
Lap record: 1m 18.178s recorded by Nelson Piquet Jr, A1 Team
Please collect your tickets from any Computicket, Shoprite, Checkers or Checkers Hyper store before the event as there will not be collection facilities at the venue. Please remember that you must present the same credit card used to make the online booking at the outlet when collecting.
I arrived at 11 a.m. just in time for the first race of the day. I had parked, for a fee of 20 Rand, in a grass field a little less than a mile from the track’s entrance. I wasn’t very comfortable leaving my laptop in the trunk, but I didn’t have much choice. Unlike similar situations in the
Today was a warm day with temps in the 80s. There was no chance of rain. It didn’t matter if it rained anyway. These types of road races will run in any type of weather.
Before I go any further I will tell you this. Today’s racing gets a grade of “F”. The event gets a grade of “B”. That’s about what I expected, but then you never really now.
I did not realize it when I parked but I was on the opposite side of the 2.0-mile course from where my seat in grandstand 3 would be. That wasn’t a major problem as it encouraged me to explore every nook and cranny of the entire area.
It didn’t take long to find a large area where refreshments were being sold. I love going to foreign countries where different foods are offered, especially at racetracks. The popular item of the day seemed to be “mutton burgers”. I was glad I wasn’t hungry.
Today’s racetrack is a “street course”. That means they shut down a portion of the downtown city streets, erect safety barriers and hold a race. The drawback for the spectator is that virtually none of the racing can actually be seen. There were high-rise buildings inside the track area, shopping centers and just about everything else.
Imagine your hometown having a race on a two-mile loop through downtown. Would you be able to see much? Probably not.
The first race was a 20-minute affair that started at 11 a.m. The main event of the day didn’t start until 3 p.m. This gave me more than enough time to explore things. Soon, I found myself in a large and modern indoor shopping mall. It was here that I had lunch….calamari at a place called Wimpy’s. Remember all of this activity was on the INSIDE of the temporary street circuit racecourse.
There was also a “full-on”
My race ticket would allow me to enter some areas of the overall facility but I was rejected as other points. The track personnel would place my ticket in a card reader. If the light turned green, I was allowed to pass, if not I had to try another entrance.
Downtown
After exploring the grounds completely, having lunch and taking in some sun at the beach it was time to find my seat. This was no easy task as the grandstands were not numbered. Finally, after stopping at several grandstands, I found mine.
I went up about 25 rows of the 50-row temporary bleacher area. I sat down. I looked forward at the track. Wow! I could see a straight portion of the track that was maybe 300 yards long. This part of the track was extremely narrow, maybe about two car lengths wide.
This meant two things that I soon realized when the cars began to race past. First, I could see the cars for about four seconds from the time they came into view until they drove out of sight. That’s four seconds out of about a 75-second lap. Of course, there was absolutely no passing during the four-second period on such a narrow track.
I currently rank third in the world in road course racetracks seen. I’m surprised I’ve seen that many considering how I feel about not being able to see the racing action. Today, my grandstand was nearly full. Had these people had frontal lobotomies and a good plastic surgeon to cover the scare?
Who in their right mind would pay 350 Rand to sit for hours out in the hot sun only to see the cars come by for FOUR SECONDS? This is a question, I do not have an answer for.
I only stayed in this location for a few laps. I was probably three miles from the car. I began the walk toward the parking lot stopping at each little spot where I could get a view of the race. This was actually a much better way to see things than staying in my grandstand seat.
The A1 Grand Prix sanctioning group is a winter racing series. This season spanned 2007 and 2008 with 10 races in 9 countries. Their format is unique. They have one car representing each of 22 different countries. Each country’s car is painted in the colors of that country’s flag.
They don’t promote the driver, but the country. The announcer will tell the crowd that “
Today’s feature race was relatively short. They would race for one hour and nine minutes plus 1 lap or 48 laps whichever came first. I did have a large video screen within my grandstand view. At the start of the race about half the field crashed at a hairpin turn. There were several more stoppages like this one because the track was so narrow.
On the plane ride home, I ran into two members of the
I would not want anyone to get the wrong impression. No, I could not see much of the racing. That didn’t matter to me. I was here for the EVENT. I saw everything and more than I was looking to see. I give the racing an “F”. I give the event a “B”. However, I give my overall experience an “A+”. It was a super day of trackchasing in my 13th overall country.
J.J.’S COMMENTS
It was a great trip – I definitely will go back and check out
RENTAL CAR UPDATE
When we arrived at the Thrifty Rental Car counter in
Back in 1996, I purchased a brand new Mercedes E320. That was a really nice road car. It didn’t have all of the luxury appointments that my Carol Lewis owned and Life of
J.J. and I drove the Thrifty Rental Car Racing Mercedes Compressor 1,281 miles (2,051 kilometers) in the four days we had it. I paid an average price of $3.69 per gallon (7.74 South American
Thanks for reading about my trackchasing,
Randy Lewis
KwaZulu-Natal’s #1 Trackchaser
At the speeds I drive, I don’t worry about high cholesterol
TRAVEL DETAILS
AIRPLANE
Los Angeles, CA – New York, NY – 2,430 miles
RENTAL CAR –
Greenville Junction, ME – 543 miles
Clarence
AIRPLANE
New York, NY – Dakar,
TRANSPORTATION –
Used taxis exclusively
AIRPLANE
Dakar, Senegal, Africa – O.R. Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg, South Africa, – 4,192 miles
RENTAL CAR –
O.R. Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg,
O.R. Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg,
AIRPLANE
O.R. Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg,
Washington, DC – Los Angeles, CA – 2,330 miles
Total Air miles – 20,895 miles (5 flights)
Total auto and air miles traveled on this trip – 23,590 miles
TRACK ADMSSION PRICE