After 25 years in the motorcycle business, the body kept score, resulting in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). Now I’m healing myself in the most unexpected of places. Racing. At least, preparing to Race.

One farm. Many cars. One obsession. I build, race and document my growth from a farm in the Swartland. Ten years of Simola Hill Climb. One home-built racecar. One home-built RaceVan. No instruction manual, just YouTube. And more recently AI.

RACING IS LIFE,
EVERYTHING ELSE IS PREPARATION

  • Understanding, Hopefully
    Ten years in, the approach is different. The Widebody is built.The Bedford RaceVan is built.The system exists. That doesn’t guarantee anything. It just reduces the unknowns. For the first time, the focus is not on making it work.It’s on arriving ready. The hill hasn’t changed.The event hasn’t changed. Only the approach has. Whether that’s enough … Read more
  • Ambition Over Reality
    The Widebody represented the next step. Bigger, faster, more serious. It didn’t start. A misaligned clutch, among other issues, meant the car never ran. The Stepnose became a fallback, which only highlighted the gap between ambition and execution. 2025 followed a similar pattern. Problems accumulated. Fatigue set in. The decision was made to withdraw. Watching … Read more
  • Progress, Accidentally
    The decision to road-trip to Simola seemed aligned with the spirit of the event. In reality, it exposed another layer of unpreparedness. 250km took most of the day. The wrong fuel pump had been fitted, leading to constant stops and adjustments. The car dictated the pace, not the plan. And yet, for the first time:Arrived … Read more
  • Preparation, Finally
    This was the year everything was supposed to come together. And then it didn’t. Broken pistons on the dyno days before the event. A situation that would have ended previous years. Instead, the system absorbed it. Rebuilt. Reassembled. Sent. The difference was not the absence of problems.It was the ability to deal with them. The … Read more
  • Intent without Execution
    The Stepnose finally made its debut. This was supposed to be the shift. A purpose-built car, built with intent, replacing the compromised daily driver approach. Seven days before the event, it still needed a proper shakedown. That alone says everything. Three runs in, it refused to go into third gear. That ended the weekend. The … Read more