Car show marks 500 episodes

THE world biggest Afrikaans show and South Africa’s longest running car show on TV, La’t Wiel, celebrated 25 seasons and 500 episodes in speed at the Zwartkops Raceway this week.

Founded by motoring journalists Waldo van der Waal and Hannes Visser, who always felt sad that there was no Afrikaans motoring show, La’t Wiel attracted a large diversity of car enthusiasts who have tuned into kyknet to get their dose of torque, speed, fun and specs since 2004.

The crew enjoyed a fun-filled day at the Zwartkops Raceway, taking rides with champion racer Michael van Rooyen, who is practising for the South African premier racing track championships, the Global Touring Car series.

The crew and media teams rode the trendy Yaris GR Rally, whose capabilities and costs have been questioned because of its size – and the fact that it is a Yaris.

However, those who were at the raceway and took a ride quickly learnt that it was just a Yaris by name, but a beast on two wheels in reality.

Visser, who is also a superb driver and a defensive-driving teacher, took members of the crew on high speed rides in the Yaris while Van Rooyen also had them holding tightly on to the seat and praying for their dear lives inside a Porsche 911.

A proud Van der Waal said there was just no way a group of journalists who wrote about cars for different magazines could foresee establishing a show that earned the respect of the industry in South Africa and internationally.

“I am very happy, because this is a milestone that we cherish as a team, including Plan C Productions and kyknet, who have been very supportive and appreciative of our content to the point that we started airing more than one season a year.

“We saw a gap in the market, made a presentation to kyknet and they liked it. We were not TV people, so we thought maybe if we can just get 13 episodes we would be lucky, and we got them. Then we got 13 more episodes, and then suddenly they gave us 26 episodes to do and 26 more after that. We just never thought in our wildest dreams this would carry on for 17 years.

Weza Matomane, the young presenter who aids Van der Waal and Visser, said he was only in his second season, but the wealth of knowledge he had already learnt from his colleagues was insane.

“They can tell you detailed specs about every car without referring to notes.

“I’m just so blessed, and when they brought me on board I was so emotional because since I was a child I’ve always loved cars.

“I used to go around telling my parents the names and models of cars,” he said. Van Rooyen and Visser said they had a wonderful time driving everybody around the track and seeing them get the shock of their lives at the corners. It was those moments that made people appreciate what high performance cars could do.