Walton is favoured to win the seventh DJ Rally

Springs resident Gavin Walton is strongly favoured to score a seventh win in the iTOO VVC DJ (Durban-Johannesburg) Rally for classic motorcycles, when he takes to the start of this year’s event in Hillcrest, outside Durban, on March 14.

Not only has he won this prestigious event in 2009, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, and 2024 but he also put up a phenomenal performance in the recent Pre-DJ Rally, scoring only 52 seconds error at 11 control points. Mike Venables was second with 106 penalty points.

This year’s event, which commemorates the road race held between Durban and Johannesburg from 1913-1936, is the 53rd of these regularity rallies, which began in 1970 and was held annually except for 1974 (fuel restrictions) and 2021 (Covid).

In keeping with the historic nature of this event, the competing motorcycles must have been manufactured before 1936.

The clerk of the course, Gwyneth Cronjè, received entries from riders of 76 motorcycles and two sidecar combinations for the 2025 DJ Rally.

“We are delighted at the support because we know how costs have risen, which ruled out many of the previous competitors who came from the Western Cape,” commented Cronjè, whose late husband, Pierre, had been both an enthusiastic DJ competitor and clerk of the course.

The field this year includes nine first-timers – Lloyd Weber from Zimbabwe, Robert Cantwell, Candice Truda, Helen Nicolau, Brian Bontekoning, Michael Buchan (the youngest rider at the age of 21), Justin Langley, Jason le Roux, and Claude Oberholzer. The oldest rider is Neville Smith, aged 89.

There are also five woman riders this year – Helen Nicolau, Tamarin Skead, Candice Truda, Benita Palmer, and Bev Jacobs – while Camilla Hyson will be the passenger in Hans Coertse’s 1921 Harley Davidson sidecar combination.

The other sidecar entrant is Brian Lange, who will have Patrick Dacey as the sidecar passenger in his 1928 AJS Big Twin combination.

Martin Davies, a former DJ winner, is route director this year and says he tried to stick close to the R103 road route used for the race more than 100 years ago.

From the start at 06:00, the route takes competitors to refuel at Pietermaritzburg and Mooi River and a lunch stop in Estcourt before an overnight stop in Newcastle.

The restart is at 07:00, with the route taking the riders over the Majuba and Laingsnek passes to Volksrust for a refuel.

The next refuel is in Standerton and then there is a lunch stop and a final refuel in Balfour. The first competitor is expected to arrive at the finish at the Benoni Northerns Sports Club at 14:00.

This year there are only three previous DJ winners in the field which is fewer than in recent years.

Besides Gavin Walton, there is Mike Ward (1936 Velocette), and Adrian Hollis (1935 Sunbeam Lion sidecar combination). Ward won in 2004 and 2023, while Hollis took first place in 2000.

A group from several Gauteng motorcycle clubs organises the event on behalf of the Vintage and Veteran Club of South Africa.

Also Read: Mike Ward takes second win in DJ Rally for classic motorcycles

Also Read: Gavin Watson wins fifth DJ Rally for classic motorcycles