Witbank drag racer Leon du Plooy sets bold new South African record
Witbank drag racer Leon du Plooy became the first South African to make a 7.5 second pass in a bakkie.
Leon du Plooy [centre in blue plants] is surrounded by his team at Tarlton Raceway in Krugersdorp. Leon du Plooy [centre in blue plants] is surrounded by his team at Tarlton Raceway in Krugersdorp.
Image: Auto Rush
A little under three decades ago when a twenty-something Leon du Plooy hoped in a drag racing vehicle for the first time, he had no idea that he’d become a South African “legend”.
Du Plooy, who hails from the northern City of Witbank in Mpumalanga, became the first South African to cross the quarter mile trap in 7.5 seconds in a bakkie.
His Nissan 1400 bakkie, which is the country’s most beloved utility vehicle aside from the Toyota Hilux, is also the fastest 4 cylinder drag racing vehicle in the country.
Du Plooy set a new record at Tarlton International Raceway on Saturday, May 31, in front of a sold-out crowd at the Mecca of South African drag racing. 7.57 seconds at 290km/h was his fastest time of the day.
What’s in it?
Now, let's just state at the outset that this is not some Nissan 1400 that anyone can jump in and start driving. The engine is made of a range of custom parts, from the pistons, crank and rods. The base structure that Leon used is a Toyota twincam 16 valve engine, that comes out of a Corolla RSI.
It’s been fitted with custom, aftermarket parts from the United States, which is also where Du Plooy sourced the G-Force 2000 gearbox from. The G-Force 2000 gearbox is one of the most expensive parts within this machine.
The engine bay on Leon du Plooy's Nissan 1400 bakkie The engine bay on Leon du Plooy's Nissan 1400 bakkie
Image: Auto Rush
Du Plooy fitted a 9 inch Moser Engineering differential at the rear end to help deliver the power evenly to the both wheels.
“For most of these specialised parts like the gearbox and diff, you have to import from the United States because nobody makes them here in South Africa. But the rest of the bakkie, I built myself.
“The suspension, all of the welding and fabrication were done by me. Marius Oosthuizen from Fullboost tunes the car for me,” Du Plooy explained.
What a 7.57 second pass means to du Plooy
Leon [in blue] is embraced by his wife Mariaan du Plooy beside his bakkie 'the Ultimate' Leon [in blue] is embraced by his wife Mariaan du Plooy beside his bakkie 'the Ultimate'
Image: Auto Rush
On the day, his family including his wife Mariaan and son Wynand as well as his teammates were at the track providing vehicle and emotional support. Drag racing in front of 6,000 plus fans is somewhat daunting as you could imagine.
Nevertheless, du Plooy’s experience and poise behind the wheel helped him etch his name in South African drag racing history.
“I think I’ve come a long way and I proved it by becoming the fastest 4 cylinder in the country and the first to run a 7.5 second pass with a UTE.
“But none of this is possible without the team. I'm extremely grateful for them, my wife and my son. This is not a vehicle you can just get up and go with, it takes a team to get to the line. Everyone has a job to do and they did it on the day,” du Plooy said.