After completing 277 laps around the magnificent 4.529 kilometre Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit in Midrand in the allocated 9-Hours, a mere couple of seconds separated the top two cars with the Rico Barlow Racing Nova Proto sports-car driven by Nick Adcock, Michael Jensen, Johnathan Thomas and Charl Visser finishing just ahead of the Into Africa Lamborghini Huracan GT3 of Xolile Letlaka, Stuart White and Mikaeel Pitamber. Jonathan Thomas in the Nova put in a brilliant performance during his late afternoon stint to shatter the Kyalami lap record of 141.425 seconds that was set by Michael Stephen in an Audi R8 in 2023, posting an unbelievable time of 140.303 seconds.

Unfortunately for the Rico Barlow team on-board camera footage showed Charl Visser remove one of his gloves during a safety car period in the dying minutes of the race to wipe the sweat out of his eyes after putting in a massive effort to close down the huge lead that the Into Africa Team enjoyed. An exhausted and dehydrated Visser had to be helped out of the car after one of the most exhilarating drives ever seen in the South African Endurance Series as he un-lapped himself and then chased down the Into Africa Lamborghini that had Stuart White behind the wheel for the last part of the race.

Visser and his team’s victory celebrations soon changed to bitter disappointment as the news of a 21 second penalty for the rule infringement broke, which ultimately dropped them into second place behind the Into Africa Lamborghini.

The jubilant celebrations for the Into Africa Team, who with their second place finish had clinched their first ever South African Endurance National Championship, soon escalated into euphoria with the announcement of the Visser penalty that promoted them to first place overall in the Kyalami 9-Hour Race.

The class-E battle amongst the huge field of Backdraft Roadsters became a race of attrition for many of the teams but the never say die camaraderie amongst the competitor’s ensured that cars were repaired and continued the race. Team Pesty Racing consisting of the father and son pair of Harem & Barend Pretorius and guest driver Michael Kernick showed grit and determination to overcome an overnight gearbox change amongst other niggles, to complete the race 6 laps ahead of their nearest rival with their gear lever stuck in fifth gear and held in place with a piece of fencing wire.

The race weekend at the iconic Kyalami circuit saw drivers from sixteen different countries taken part in the season ending motoring and lifestyle spectacle that was concluded for the first time in the last fifteen years without a drop of rain falling.