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20th Club Mykonos Resort & Casino Gymkhana

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Club Mykonos Gymkhana Series

Author: Patrick Vermaak

Publishing date: 28.04.2007 17:51

Izak van Zyl - Leon Mostert - VW Golf

When Tygerberg Subaru entered the Gymkhana scene as title sponsor of the very first event at Club Mykonos Resort back in 1999 the intention was to run a single annual event catering for a maximum of thirty cars on a single lane format.

That first event attracted 57 teams and a second event was added to the annual calendar. Still the number of entries grew and more events in Vredenburg and Wolseley were added. Still the popularity of these events grew and then the Casino arrived at Mykonos with a much improved parking area which allowed a dual format!

Donevan & Adrian Denyssen - Opel Kadett

Many hours later Neville Gleeson created the Jayen Timer, André Mitchell designed a software package, Xandré du Toit created a fool proof Judge of Fact system, Neels Rabe and Pieter Swanepoel became the voice of gymkhana events whilst Coca-Cola added their sound truck, Richelieu the after hours relaxation, Base 4 the most awesome helicopter rides, Bugaloo Adventures the worlds fastest RIB and Hyperformance Camshaft Specialists added their name to what became the best event of it’s kind – not once a year, three times per year! As a facility the Club Mykonos Resort caters for everyone in the family, even if you dislike motorsport and the Casino has a following of it’s own – we prefer the Casino Challenge though!

The first event won by Peter Degens in his Opel powered Lotus 7 and the next two events dominated by Werner Koekemoer in his full spec racing spaceframe Opel Supercar but since then the current format have been adopted where teams have to consist of a driver and navigator to score in the overall results of each event whilst a separate single seater category cater for the dedicated racers.

Nathan - Vermaak - Rustler

The most dominant figure at Club Mykonos have to be Mike Nathan and his incredibly quick AWI Mazda Rustler LDV, the only combination to have contested every one of the nineteen events to date. Victorious six times as a driver and once as navigator makes Mike the individual to beat at Club Mykonos. Now the owner of AWI Saldanha he can truly claim to be a local, but Vredenburg based André Dreyer can proudly boast that he was the man who stopped the Rustler in it’s tracks in November 06.

Eugene Brand - Keith Dorrell - Ford Escort

With time however, comes change and on 19 May 2007 the 20th Club Mykonos Resort and Casino will see the event face the test of time. A great big thank you to Leon Scheepers who boldly stepped in to support a event that was built on the enthusiasm of a few close friends, it is now THE gymkhana in the Western Cape and quite possibly South Africa. Hopefully we will soon be able to announce another long term agreement with a new title sponsor. Mike Nathan have decided to concentrate his efforts on his rallying prospects and have converted the legendary Rustler to the first Clubmans racing LDV in the Western Cape. You want him at Mykonos! – let’s hear it for him at We want Nathan Whilst on the subject of popularity – who comes to mind as the most popular driver of all time at Mykonos?

The Mayor alias Werner Koekemoer in the awesome M3 powered BMW 325i rally car enjoy a cultus following at Mykonos with the red M3 of Knysna based Mynhardt de Jongh a serious challenger, but never forget about the blue M3 of Gary Mahnke and the yellow M3 of Hermann Mahnke or the white Supertrucks Nissan Skyline 2.8GTX driven by Dirkie Boonstra or the Heeltyd Speeltyd version of Mynhardt de Jongh and so many more! We have seen some truly awesome cars present at Mykonos including examples from the stables of BMW, Nissan, Mazda, Lotus, Porsche, Renault and now we await the debut of what could be the car of the century – the Aerial Atom!

Geoffrey Wellstead - Mike Brown - VW Jetta

Of course there are effectively eight events running simultaneously on every Mykonos day as cars are split into eight different classes and as such spectators enjoy the spectacle of seeing the absolute best from each team as many a duel have only been settled once the final run of the day had been completed. Blink, and you have possibly missed the deciding factor in a class duel – it really takes only a single mistake to turn your championship winning run into an also ran mediocre effort! What has been most encouraging is the many clever commentating spectators who changed sides to discover just how difficult these events are by becoming regular competitors and eventually building their own individual identity. You simply do not know what you are talking about until you have experienced gymkhana first hand!

Henko de Klerk - Johannes vd Westhuizen - Mazda Rustler

Not only does it provide the most cost effective entry level to motorsport, it’s done under the auspices of MSA and even finishing stone last will see you to leave the venue a better driver on the road.

Herman Scholtz - Patrick Vermaak - Porsche

Want to know your own limits and improve with every outing, then you need to be at Club Mykonos on 19 May 2007. One of the classic marketing slogans in motoring belongs to Pirelli and really fits in perfectly with the challenges presented by Gymkhana. “Power is nothing without Control” and we have time and again seen exceptionally well prepared and powerful machines fail miserably at Mykonos and other similar events. A fat checque book and kW muscle is worthless compared to genuine skill – do you have what it takes! Even Mike Nathan will confirm that the nature of a gymkhana puts more pressure on the driver than any other form of motorsport – it allows no mistakes!

Come and watch Dee-Jay Booysen set another blistering time in his class H Formula M racer, or enjoy the spectacle of a Lotus Elise or Porsche 911 being driven at the limit as an entry in class G, or those spectacular BMW’s driven by the likes of Werner Koekemoer or Thorsten Pey in class E, or have you taken a liking in the antics of the Nissan 1400 LDV fraternity present in class F, or would you bet on the outcome of the incredible battles witnessed in class D where Jeandré Pepper and Jehan de Jongh currently set the standards, or the indecently quick 1600’s in class C, more powerful but cumbersome 1800’s in class B or even the 2000 powerhouse entries in class A. More and more movement is noted towards the supercharged entries in class G but also take into consideration the presence of some pretty impressive female drivers such as Nashrene Schloss, Jeanette Kok-Kritzinger and Linda Binedell to name but a few.

Nashrene Schloss - Toyota Sprinter

Mike Nathan (x6), Anton van Bosch (x2), Dave Köpke (x2), Werner Koekemoer (x2), Cobus Erasmus, Nicholas Slabbert, Anton Slabbert, Peter Degens, Peter Petersen, Johnny de Beer and André Dreyer have all risen to the status of “Greek God” at Club Mykonos, will 19 May bring a new challenger or will it simply remain Greek to most? Part of this problem could be placed in front of one John McLinden, the mystical route designer who emails each thrilling challenge from some remote part of the earth (obviously making sure nobody can reach him for at least four weeks after each event). No sympathy here as his latest edition is apparently not going to lead to any new friendships. If you have the wife navigating please book for counseling the Monday after the event!

Mazda fans have eight overall victories behind their names (Mike Nathan / Rustler and Dave Köpke / R100) whilst VW fans have seven (Anton van Bosch / Fox, Cobus Erasmus / GTi 2.0, Nicholas Slabbert / Citi 1.6, Anton Slabbert / Citi 1.6 and André Dreyer / GTi 2.0). Opel could claim three (Werner Koekemoer / Supercar and Johnny de Beer / Superboss) with one each to Subaru (Peter Petersen / Impreza Station) and Lotus (Peter Degens / Lotus 7). Brothers Nicholas and Anton Slabbert both won their titles in the same Golf whilst André Dreyer claimed his title in the same car used by Cobus Erasmus, albeit much improved over the years.

Zumeika McGregor - Leandré Booysen - VW Golf

Witness another awesome Greek Challenge on 19 May 2007!

Cobus Erasmus - Liezel Roux - VW Fox

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