- Over a decade of trial and error, 6 engines, only the Lord knows how many CV Joints, blood, sweat, tears and countless hours is what Lance Pillay sacrificed to enter the 9 second club in his VW Golf 16v turbo – “Baba Yaga”
Over 11 years ago, when Lance Pillay purchased a 1979 Volkswagen Golf 1 GT 2 door, it’s safe to say that he had no idea how long and arduous the journey to the 9-second club would be. In fact, the first time he took his newly built 2-door to the race track in 2011, he ran a 16.4s quarter mile. At the time, the car ran an 8v turbo set-up.
Being 20-years-old at the time, Lance bought the 2-door Golf 1 as a project and only acquired a body and chassis. But he, like many other young men with octane for blood, had big dreams for his golf 1.
Now 38-years-old, Lance has finally cracked into the single digit club of drag racers. It’s a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow that he’s spent years and countless Rands chasing.
During the forward wheel drive shootout at Dezzi Raceway on August 10, Pillay’s Golf 1 nicknamed “Baba Yaga”, ran the quarter mile in 9.9 seconds with an exit speed just north of 206 km/h.
This, despite the car experiencing a broken water pipe just before the 400m mark on the same run.
“I’m sure she’s capable of going at least 9.7 because I did not hold it flat out till the end of that run,” Pillay said.
“This car has gone through so many engines and broken parts. But you know how it is when you chase times and want perfection, things break. Initially we started out with an 8 valve turbo motor in it and went through about 6 engines.
“The first time I took the car to a race event with the 8v turbo, we ran a 16.4 second quarter mile. That was around 11 years ago at Nitro Raceway in Benoni,” Pillay said.
The current set up which took Lance into the 9 second bracket consists of a 16 valve 9A motor boosted by a Garret GTW turbo charger.
The orange gold dragster has ABF cams with upgraded rods and pistons while the head remains stock. Just a look at the engine bay and its easy to decipher that Lance suffers from a condition popular among drag racers called “Show Car Syndrome” or “SCS”.
The car runs on a stock O2M H-pattern gearbox, quarter master clutch and a quaife LSD. Both the rear and front suspension have been custom built while a wheelie bar helps keep the nose tucked during runs.
Pillay said the wheelie bars helps keep the front end down during races, as it tends to lift up due to the amount of force generated when the car comes off the line.
The Golf makes around 700 horsepower and achieved its fastest exit out the quarter mile in Johannesburg, with a 231 km/h exit speed.
The vehicle has been managed by a Dicktator ECU so far while Lance has plans to convert to a Fueltech system soon. He has both systems installed in the car [this brah is just flexing].
“This setup has been in the car for around 2 years. All of the work was done by myself here at ERF Racing in Joburg. Building cars and racing and all of that was just a hobby of mine that turned into a sort of business,” he explained.
“My passion for cars is something that comes from back in my younger days. My family was involved in it and that time you had to learn the trade or your father won’t be too happy about it,” Pillay said.
As the owner of East Rand Fasteners in Johannesburg, Lance explained that the racing team name emanated from his business name, giving birth to team ERF racing. Since leaving Durban more than 20 years ago, the Witteklip Secondary School alumni has built himself two successful businesses, one in racing and the other in commercial hardware.
Pillay said that it was unfortunate that his late father Gona Pillay, did not get to witness his successes both on and off the track.
“He did not get a chance to go in my cars or ever see me race. Yeah…”
What started out as just a dream 19 years ago, finally felt like it was materialising after Baba Yaga broke into the 9 second bracket at Race Art’s FWD Shootout.
It took Lance and his team over a decade to get the car from 16.4 seconds to 9.9 seconds – talk about patience…
“It was a good achievement for all of us, not just me, because we put a lot of time and effort into the car. You must have seen how the guys were behaving on the line after we got the time, so yeah, it felt really good going 9 seconds.
“For the future, I think if funds allow it, we will be putting a sequential gearbox in the car and hopefully go to the low 9 second area,” Pillay said.
Jehran Naidoo/Auto Rush