Road & Riders
A community poll and a chorus of local voices weigh in on the burning question: could — or should — the legendary R44 from Gordon’s Bay to Betty’s Bay ever host an organised motorbike race?
By the Helderburger Community Desk · May 2026
There are roads, and then there is Clarence Drive. Ask any motorcyclist in the Helderberg — or, for that matter, in the country — and the name alone is enough to produce a faraway look and a slow, satisfied nod. The R44 coastal route, stretching from Gordon’s Bay through Rooi Els and on past Betty’s Bay toward Hermanus, is among the most talked-about stretches of tar in South Africa. With 77 bends, curves, and corners packed into its first 21 kilometers alone, it has drawn riders from across the Western Cape and beyond for decades. Four of those corners exceed 150 degrees. The scenery — mountain on one side, False Bay on the other, fynbos everywhere — is the kind that makes riders slow down involuntarily, just to look.
So it is perhaps inevitable that the conversation eventually turns to racing. In recent months, the idea of an organised motorbike race or timed event along the Gordon’s Bay–to–Betty’s Bay corridor has been circulating in local riding clubs, the Strand Grill social circles, and more than a few comment threads on community Facebook groups. The Helderburger put the question directly to the community — and the responses, as you might expect from people who live and breathe this coastline, were anything but one-sided.
The Case For the Race
The strongest voices in favour of a race tend to start — and often end — with the road itself. Clarence Drive is already, by any measure, a destination. International motorcycle travel platforms rank the R44 among the finest coastal riding roads in the Southern Hemisphere, comparing it favourably to California’s Highway 1 or the Amalfi Coast. Riders describe the road surface as near flawless, the sightlines dramatic, and the flow of corners as close to purpose-built circuit design as a public road gets. The argument from enthusiasts is simple: if you are going to race motorcycles anywhere in the Western Cape, this is where it belongs.
There is also an economic case being made. Proponents point to the success of charity runs, rally weekends, and timed hillclimb events around the province as proof that temporary road closures for motorsport can generate meaningful tourism spend, bring visitors to Betty’s Bay’s restaurants, accommodation, and the Harold Porter Botanical Gardens, and put the Helderberg on the international biking map in a new way. The Helderberg Motorcycle Museum on Old Sir Lowry’s Pass Road — which has drawn motorcycle enthusiasts from as far afield as Mpumalanga since opening — is cited as evidence of existing demand that a race event could amplify.
The Case Against
Opposition to the idea is not coming primarily from people who dislike motorcycles. Many of the most thoughtful objections come from riders themselves. The chief concern is geological. The R44 is notoriously exposed to the mountain above it. In late 2022 and again in 2023, severe storms caused mudslides and rockslides that closed sections between Gordon’s Bay and Rooi Els entirely, costing an estimated R80 million in repairs. The Western Cape Department of Transport and Public Works has been frank about the road’s vulnerability: even in good conditions, it warned, “sections where the road surface has been undermined are not safe for any weight.” For race planners, that unpredictability is a serious insurance and safety obstacle.
There is also a speed conversation that the wider community is having in real time. Just last year, the Western Cape Provincial Government formally reduced the speed limit through the Betty’s Bay commercial corridor — “The Hub” — from 80 km/h to 60 km/h, following a sustained campaign by residents and local stakeholders. “We’ve seen far too many near-misses and reckless speeding through this stretch,” a local shop owner told the provincial infrastructure department at the time. MEC Tertuis Simmers, confirming the reduction, made clear that the change reflected community concern about pedestrians, wildlife, and general road safety. In that context, some residents find it difficult to reconcile the speed-reduction campaign with an endorsement of motorcycle racing on the same road.
The Biosphere Factor
One dimension that rarely gets mentioned in the pub debates but carries significant regulatory weight is the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve. The R44 runs directly through this UNESCO-designated area, home to more than 1,600 species of fynbos, several of which are found nowhere else on earth. Any application to host a closed-road event here would require sign-off not just from the Western Cape Department of Transport, but potentially from environmental authorities and the Overstrand Municipality. Local environmental voices have been notably quiet on the racing question so far — but anyone attempting to formalise such an event would need their blessing.
What a Race Would Actually Take
Race promoters with experience in South African road events are broadly agreed that a Gordon’s Bay–to–Betty’s Bay closed-road motorcycle event is not impossible — but it is not simple either. At minimum it would require Overstrand Municipal approval, a full road closure with Marshall support, medical and emergency services staged along the route, an environmental impact waiver, insurance coverage appropriate for a mountain coastal road, and co-operation from communities on both sides of the closure. The Isle of Man TT is often invoked as a template — but that event has had over a century to build its legal, logistical, and community infrastructure. Clarence Drive, for all its beauty, would be starting from scratch.
A more modest version — a charity touring rally, a timed regularity run, or a club event rather than an outright race — might find an easier path through the necessary approvals. Several respondents to our poll flagged this distinction: 28 percent said they would support a charity or closed-road event, even among those who hesitated at the word “race.”
The Road Decides
Perhaps the most honest thing that can be said about the idea of racing Clarence Drive is that the road itself tends to set the terms. It is not a road that rewards impatience or overconfidence. The combination of tight technical corners, exposed clifftop sections, baboons on the verge, and weather that can shift from brilliant sunshine to mountain mist within minutes has always asked more of its riders than sheer speed. Those who love it most tend to say the same thing: the road is already a test. You don’t need a chequered flag to know that.
What the community poll makes clear is that there is genuine appetite — roughly six in ten respondents — for some form of organised motorcycle event on this corridor. Whether that appetite can be channelled into something safe, sanctioned, and sustainable remains an open question. The Helderburger will be watching — and, we suspect, so will every rider in the Helderberg.
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