40 of the fastest, bravest car racers take on inhospitable Gydo Pass

Once a vast inland sea at the heart of Africa, the Karoo town of Prince Alfred's Hamlet is a 400,000 sqm of tightly packed rough road and earth where only reptiles and amphibians prosper. Its only fertile and hospitable portion comes after a stretch of more and more dirt roads. Known as Little Karoo, this oasis south of Karoo served as pit stop for the more than 40 insanely brave entrants to the recently concluded King of the Mountain.

From Gydo Pass--the start of the trail--there was no turning back for these veritable Kings of the Mountain. A 6.5-km drive under the scorching sun, the Gydo Pass is even made more deadlier by the camber-changing corners. It has sheer drops on one side and unyielding rock face on the other, as do all mountain passes. If you understand what it means to be caught between a rock and a hard place, Gydo Pass leaves little to your imagination.

This piece of land gets human traffic only but once a year. With its vaunted harsh conditions, the Gydo Pass has been a perennial venue for the prestigious King of the Mountain tour. Feting more than 40 of the fastest and bravest car racers in Africa this year, the King of the Mountain tour pushes both car and driver to rise over the difficulties of the mountain passes and dirt roads.

Brave souls

Among these brave souls were rally driver Enzo Kuun in a Porsche Carrera S, Ian George's Noble M400, Rob Beaumont in a Ferrari 360 Modena, "gymkhana" specialist Herman Mahnke's banshee-like BMW M3, Nick Vernon's 300kW, supercharged 1972 Chev Camaro SS, and Natalian Des Gutzeit, father of motocrosser Jade, in a Chevy Lumina Ute with a supercharged 7.5-litre engine churning out in excess of 550kW, entitled simply "The Hammer."

Also slated was the motorcycle division that featured Danie Maritz on the Seesa GSX-R1000, with which he recently won the Western Province Regional title; Wynand Basson aboard a Yamaha R1; Jacques Geldenhuys, Suzuki GSX-R1000; Gerhard Gerber's Aprilia RSV Factory and Coert Steynberg on a Honda VTX1800 cruiser.