Pretoria - Winning a world cup is no mean feat. And doing it strapped in a car around a 300 metre oval track with 27 other competitors aiming to do the same is something to savour for Jason Loosemore.
Loosemore, who hails from Richards Bay, managed to win the National Hotrod Class World Cup Championship at the Mahem Raceway in Pretoria at the weekend.
Held over two weekends that included three heats, two 20 lap races and a 25 lap final, the 23-year old kept two world-class English racers, two Irishmen and a host of South Africans at bay to hoist the South African flag and place the trophy in his cabinet.
“I started racing in carts when I was six and progressed from there. My dad also races hotrods and in 2016 I entered the hotrod class, winning the National Hotrod Tour in 2019. ”
When you hear the word hotrod most South Africans think Gas Monkey Garage-type cars with big engines and even bigger wheels.
That’s not the case though.
They race spaceframe cars with a fibre body fitted with a 1.3-litre fuel injected, normally aspirated 13B rotary engine that pushes out an impressive 279kW.
The corners are shod with H10 slicks with slippers in the differential and geared to do a maximum speed of 135km/h.
Try that on an oval track.
It may sound scary but according to Loosemore, not really.
“The racing is very close and there’s lots of adrenaline especially with everyone trying to overtake. I was in a bad crash in 2017 when I hit the wall. I had internal bleeding but was out of the hospital in a couple of days, so nothing too serious.”
With dad Neville, the family run a racing shop in Richards Bay so all the know-how is close at hand.
“We tow two to three cars to every event which comes out of our own pocket. It’s tough to sign sponsors but fortunately we have the race shop to keep us going.”
Races are held in Pretoria, Vereeniging, Rietkuil Raceway outside Middleburg, Richards Bay and Mokopane.
Loosemore ascribes part of his success to competing in the World Championships in England in 2017.
“It was a fantastic learning curve as well as a great experience fighting it out with some of the best drivers in the world.”
Next up he’s been offered a car to drive in the world final in Ipswich, England, in July.
“The 2021 world champion drove one of our cars when he was here and he offered his spare car for me to race in
“Hopefully we can get there and compete in the World Championships,” he said.
Visit the National Hot Rods site on Facebook to keep up with the tour.