Durban-Jozi rally attracts 90 entries

The organisers of the 2023 iTOO DJ regularity rally, for classic motorcycles made before 1936, have received an entry of 90 riders for this year’s event, which starts from the Hillcrest shopping centre, outside Durban, on Friday March  10.

It finishes at the Benoni Northerns Sports Club on Saturday afternoon after an overnight stop in Newcastle.

“We are delighted to have received such strong support for this prestigious event given the tough economic climate in which we are now living,” said Clerk of the Course Leo Middelberg. 

This is the 51st running of this regularity trial which commemorates the running of the DJ Run which was an annual race on public roads between Durban and Johannesburg between 1913 and 1936 before authorities refused to give permission for the race in 1937 due to safety concerns. This is the reason only motorcycles made up to 1936 are permitted to compete in the ongoing series of regularity rallies between the two centres.

The route of 700km follows closely to the original route of the race which was on gravel roads. Nowadays the riders must contend with deteriorating road surfaces which make riding these old motorcycles even more taxing.

The winner is presented with one of the most famous sporting trophies in SA, the silver Schlesinger Vase, which was made in London and awarded to the winner of the second DJ race in 1914 by New York-born Issy Schlesinger. At the time he was chair of the Johannesburg Motor Cycle Club, which organised the early events and changed its name to the Rand Motoring Club in 1934. Schlesinger is best known as the head of the African Theatres cinema chain which produced the popular African Mirror newsreel for many years.

The oldest rider in the field this year is 87-year-old Neville Smith, whose 1935 Rudge Rapid Tourist 250 carries the number 35 which is the year Neville was born and when his Ridge was made. He has been a DJ regular for many years and in his younger days was a successful racing driver. 

The oldest motorcycle in the field is a belt-drive Durkopp 500 built in Germany in 1910, ridden by Yugandhar Jasti.

Trevor Binder, father of MotoGP racers Brad and Darryn, will compete in the DJ Rally on his 1934 Indian Scout 600, but his sons will not be joining him this time, as they did in 2020 and 2022.