The Castrol/Honda Day of the Champion day at Zwartkops Raceway on Sunday, January 31, will see many the greats of international and local motorcycle racing on the track.

The programme will feature 18 International riders competing with locals. Among the riders will be 2009 Isle of Man Senior TT winner, Steve Plater, who set the fastest-ever race-winning average speed of more than 210km/h.

Heading the International contingent will be eight-time world champion Phil Read and seven-time Isle of Man TT winner Mick Grant, along with Alan Walker, Sir Alan Cathcart, John Chapman and Tony Salt.

Many of former champions make up the South African contingent, including Dave Peterson, Alan North, Buks Boshoff, Howard Mellet, Jerry Anassis, Jimmy Guthrie, Kevin Hellyer, Keith Zeeman, Les van Breda, Peter Ekerold, Rodney Gray, Wayne Duncan and Wayne Heaseman.

Of special interest is that Ian Scheckter ? six-time South African motor racing champion - will return to racing motorcycles.

Honda SA managing director Yoshiaki Nakamura will be racing over the weekend on a Honda RC171. He was a factory racer in the 1970?s and will take the opportunity of launching a special edition of the TT-winning Honda Fireblade during the day.

The Historic Motorcycle Group will feature a full field of racing motorcycles with such great names as Norton, AJS, Bultaco, Greeves, Triumph and the Japanese onslaught in the sixties with the screaming Hondas, Suzukis and Yamahas before the Italian empire struck back with the might of Ducati.

The day will not only be for demonstration events. There will be an SA Tourist Trophy race for historic motorcycles. the Suzuki SV Cup for more contemporary Thunderbikes, while the stars of tomorrow will compete in the first race for the Honda NSF 100 series which is the Honda initiative for development and young riders.

Motoring journalist and publisher Ian Groat says his Team Incomplete will not be all there this year, with one of its members, Errol Cowan having passed away last year after a short illness.

Multiple world champion Jim Redman, who is now 78 years young, will again be on the team?s four-cylinder Honda 250 R163. Last year this six-time world champion took part in no fewer than 14 classic motorcycle race meetings around the world as Honda celebrated 50 years of international motorcycle Racing.

Peter Labuschagne will ride Team Incomplete?s 1963 Matchless G50 this year, with Jimmy Guthrie, a Manx GP winner, on a Manx Norton 500, while Ian Groat?s 1954 350 Manx will be the oldest bike out there.

Sir Alan Cathcart, arguably the world?s leading motorcycle racing journalist, will ride Ian?s Bob McIntyre replica AJS 7R, while Team Incomplete strives to complete its latest machine, a replica of Peter Williams? alloy-wheeled Matchless G50 in time for the Zwartkops event.