Drag racers cherish memories of loved ones

It’s a Saturday morning, you’re at Dezzi Raceway on the south of KwaZulu-Natal, the sun is peeking over the coastline, a light breeze is in the air, tainted with the smell of methanol while thunderous 16 valves are firing off in the background.

Your family and friends are with you, and it's a beautiful day for racing.

For people who are into cars, this is the dream. Beautiful weather, fast cars, a race track and your team by your side.

The sport of drag racing has churned up quite a negative reputation in the eyes of society. But, illegal street racing and drag racing on the track are not the same.

For most racers who take the time [and lots of money] to make their way to one of the two race tracks available in KZN, either Dezzi Raceway in Port Shepstone or Mkuze Airfield in uMkhanyakude Municipality, it's about passion, hard work and results but mostly to have fun.

For the Govender family of Savannah Park, racing their 1978 smurf blue Mazda 323, FE 2 litre turbo powered street car, is about cherishing the memory of a late wife and mother.

Trevor Govender, 42, a diesel mechanic, lost his wife Charlene last year after a battle with breast cancer. Besides Trevor, Charlene Govender also left behind her two sons Tyler, 15 and Cree, 11.

For the Govender family of Savannah Park, racing their 1978 smurf blue Mazda 323, FE 2-litre turbo-powered street car, the sport is about cherishing the memory of their late mother and wife.

Trevor Govender, 42, a diesel mechanic, lost his wife Charlene last year to breast cancer. They have two sons Tyler, 15, and Cree, 11.

To ease the pain of his wife’s passing and to spend more time with their sons, Govender races their Mazda 323 at the legal drag races in KZN.

“The days after Charlene’s passing were painful. I knew that we needed to do something as a family to move on, but still stay connected to one other.

“It was then that I bought the car for racing. We started building it last year and finally got it completed. We ran it for the first time on June 29 at the Dezzi Raceway. Our quaint, under-dog Mazda 323 became a bridge that brought us together,” said Govender.

“I’m sure my wife would have loved to take it down the track. She was fearless behind the wheel and even had her fair share of street racing with a Datsun 180U that I owned.

“Having the boys there was even more special because all of their hard work that went into the car from the time we started was validated in a way. They got to see their work go down the track and they were lucky enough to sit in it.

“That is something I want to impart on them, that it's important to push on even when life doesn’t always go your way. With whatever parts you have left, you can still go on,” Govender said.

Being in the passenger seat next to his father while their project was going full-tilt, gapping all sorts of cars, was special because Tyler got to feel exactly the way their mother did, when she used to go for drives with Trevor while they were dating.

“My brother and I always fight to sit in the front seat because that’s where mum used to sit. So it's almost as if we get to feel how she felt, looking at him driving. We always talked about how cool it would feel to be in that seat. I’m sure she would have loved to see what we did to this one [The Mazda].

“After she died it was tough on all of us but we started building the car together and we used to talk about how they would drive around together and go racing and how she would drive like a maniac. We got to talk about all of their memories.

“People always make fun of backyard builds but to see our backyard builds going up against Audi’s and AMG’s was fun,” Tyler Govender said.

While the Govender family get a chance to make new memories, 35-year-old Sahir Mahajaj from Newlands West goes to track to remember the times with his father, Rishi, who passed away 17 years ago.

Rishi used to take part in a “sort of Gymkhana autocross” style of events, which could be considered a mix between drifting and spinning, according to Maharaj.

Sahir used to accompany his father to events that were frequently held at the Durban Workshop, Newlands Shoprite Mall and Mason’s Mall during the late 1990’s.

“I can clearly remember him taking me with his team to all these events when I was around 5 and 6-years-old. They'd all be dressed up to race. Preparing the car before the event.

“I loved the loud noises, the smell of the fuel, how thick the smoke used to be and the rubber all over. I was hooked from then on. I was amazed to see cars doing those stunts,” Maharaj said.

“Racing has stuck with me since then, and today I race my own Golf 1. It has a Nissan SR20 engine in it which sounds really unique and I think I wanted the car to have a nice sound because the noise was the thing that pulled me to racing in the first place.

“I tried to stop racing because of how much time and money it took but I honestly think it came back to me calling. I sold a Caddy bakkie that I had and didn’t race for two years, then someone asked me to race for their team. We eventually parted ways and then I got the SR20 Golf 1.

“The feeling of race day is unexplainable, your body and senses are on another level. The adrenaline is unmatched. Nothing else can give you the feeling of sitting on the line and watching those lights go green,” Maharaj said.

KZN Drag Racing administrator Harry Naidoo, 42, said that drag racing and motorsport in general is more than enough “to learn all you need to learn about being a better person.”

Besides the fun and the opportunity to make good memories, racing on a track prompts you to become a more hard working individual, Naidoo believes.

Getting up early to prepare, spending weeks before the event preparing and dedicating time to a cause are valuable lessons children need to learn, he said.

“Motorsport is everything you need to learn about being successful in life. Not just drag racing but motorsport in general. Waking up early and prepping your tires, your fuel, making sure the car is ready to race teaches you the value of hard work.

“When people introduce their children to that life, it's even better, because they are soaked in it from a young age. It teaches them responsibility and takes them away from an idle mind. They always have to be hands on when they are at the track because there is a lot going on.

“The spillage of that is your child understanding the dangers of these machines because they are not toys to be played with. Today we see far too often parents buying their teenage children fast cars that are capable of doing 10 and 11 second quarter miles out of the factory.

“What’s even better to see is the amount of women in motorsport today. Our women are seriously flying, from the drags to spinning,” Naidoo said.

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