SHANE Gutzeit (29) finally broke through to his first win on the national Supadrift series, clinching victory in Brakpan last weekend.
He was thrilled, saying that a lot of hard work had finally paid off. “It’s been a long time coming, two years of racing,” said Shane.
“It takes a special person to win early in their career. The sport is already six or seven years old in this country, so the others have had a head start on me,” explained the champ.
He has worked incredibly hard to get his racing up to that level, particularly in the last six months or so.
Shane has come close to winning before, with some second and third place finishes, but up until last weekend, hadn’t been able to seal the deal.
“The long wait has just made it extra sweet,” he said.
He felt physical conditioning and mental toughness were as important as the other, with the racing taking place over three days.
“As far as the mental side goes, you just have to go out there and face your fears,” he said.
For Shane, this basically meant practising enough so that he was comfortable with what he was doing. And then to take that form and convert it to a win.
While he is generally pretty laid-back, when he gets on the track, things change.
He is a Gutzeit after all, and racing is in his blood. His father Des is also a very keen racer and his brothers Jade (a past winner of the Roof of Africa) and Blake have excelled on two wheels.
“Anything we do, we do wholeheartedly. We go to win, otherwise what’s the point of competing,” he said.
While it’s competitive on the track, Shane has enjoyed the camaraderie of it. “It’s like a big family really. It’s light-hearted off the track, but good fun and seriously competitive once we get down to the line,” he said.
So far so good.
Perhaps getting married earlier in the year has had something to do with his improvement.
“I would say I am more level-headed,” he laughed.
“I wear my wedding ring all the time, even while racing. It’s my good luck charm,” he smiled.
It hasn’t all been about racing though.
A single-figure handicap golfer, he slows things down with a round of golf at Port Shepstone Country Club from time to time.
After all, his wife Nicola is a golf pro. “I shot 79 at Sheppie last week, had to up-and-down from the bunker to break 80,” he said.
