Cricket and Rugby battle on the Racetrack at Speed Stars

They may come from completely different sporting codes but what Dane’ van Niekerk and Ryan Kankowski do have in common is that they have both excelled at the highest level in their sport. Will they produce stand out performances when they take to the racetrack on Speed Stars?

Dane’ van Niekerk went from playing cricket in her backyard in Pretoria to rewriting cricket’s record books at this years ICC World Cup. Not only was our captain the leading wicket taker at this year’s tournament, she also broke Richie Benaud’s 58 year old record by becoming the first bowler to take four wickets without conceding a single run!

Ryan Kankowski’s close friends called him ‘Definite’ because they were so sure he would play Springbok rugby one day…and they weren’t wrong! He first donned the Green and Gold for the Blitzbokke in 2006 before making his Springbok debut with the 2007 World Cup winning team on their year-end tour to the UK. Tall, strong and fast, the number eight played over 10 seasons for the The Sharks and is currently playing in Japan.

Will Dane’ keep ‘spin’ on the cricket pitch and can the number eight finish in the Top 8? Catch Dane’ and Ryan in action on Speed Stars on Ignition, DSTV 189 at the following times:

Saturday4th November @ 19:00 Sunday 5th November @ 07:00  Monday 6th November @ 01:00 Tuesday7th November @ 09:00 and 21:00 Wednesday 8th November @ 06:00 and 18:00  Thursday 9th November @ 13:00  Friday 10th November @ 15:00

You too can be a winner with Speed Stars by entering our weekly Predict the Winner Competition. Simply head to our website www.speedstars.co.za and predict who you think will win: Dane’ van Niekerk or Ryan Kankowski and an Advanced Driving Course from Volkswagen Driving Academy valued at R3000-00 could be yours.

KWAGGA SMITH IS NOT JUST A BLITZBOK, HE’S BLITZ BEHIND THE WHEEL TOO

What do you get when you pair up two naturally competitive sports stars? THE most action packed episode to date. In a Speed Stars first, our Blitzbokke Justin Geduld and Kwagga Smith had their two lap race red flagged when Justin lost control of his VW Polo at Turn 8 and ended up in the Zwartkops pit wall. Safety is of paramount importance on Speed Stars, which is why the Polo’s we use are fitted with roll cages and our stars not only wear helmets but are strapped into racing seats using a five way racing harness. Just like taking a big hit on the rugby field, Justin dusted himself off and was ready to go again! Respect.

Down to just one car, our two-lap ‘head to head’ race format was amended to a straight two-lap shootout between the two. Justin made sure he kept his Goodyear’s on track this time round and posted a highly respectable fastest lap time of 1:30.46, slotting into sixth place on our leaderboard.

Kwagga on the other hand knows only one way and that’s full attack mode! Even with a massive off at Turn 8, he still managed to post the second fastest time of the season with a 1:25.62. There is no doubt had he have had a clean lap, it would have been his name at the top of the Speed Stars leaderboard.

The leaderboard as it currently stands after four episodes:

And don’t forget that our two public contestants, Jason Absmeier and Louis Pires have already posted their lap times, but we will only be revealing these at the end of the season – what impact will that have on our top eight who’ll contest the final?

Congratulations to our winner of our Predict the Winner Competition: Lizandra Barnard. For correctly predicting that Kwagga Smith would win this match up, she has won a R3000 tyre voucher from Goodyear to spend on any Goodyear tyres fitted at her nearest Hi-Q Fitment Centre.

Speed Stars 3 will be on your TV screens from the 7th October until the 8th December on Ignition, DSTV 189 as well as being available on Catch Up.

Speed Stars is brought to you by Volkswagen Driving Academy and Goodyear, and supported by Greensky Brand Architects, Zwartkops Raceway and The Fairway Hotel.