04/05/2026
We welcome Lance Jonas, the current chairman of the Western Province Motor Club, as the new Executive Manager of the Killarney International Raceway, as Des Easom retires after 13 years of service to the Club on Thursday April 30.
Lance, 55, brings with him forty years of racing experience (yes, he still races!), a decade of experience as a team principal during his son Hayden’s racing career, and more than twenty years of experience in the retail industry.
We wish him every success in his new post and feel sure that he will guide the Club, and Killarney, to new heights.
When Des Easom, a former motocross and enduro racer, took over as Executive Manager in January 2013, he inherited a mess. Membership was declining, the facility was run-down and the City wanted to close Killarney down for low-cost housing.
They hit us with noise complaints, lease disputes and crippling rates bills; the team of Deon van Zyl, Pieter Cronje and later, Tim Reddell, with Des always the voice of reason, fought each one. We put a Noise Abatement Plan in place, sorted the rates, fixed our tax status and won some big legal battles.
The team built relationships with City officials and got them to see Killarney’s real value in the jobs, tourism and economic boost we bring to Cape Town.
With Des at the helm, WPMC and Killarney were split into two separate brands, giving the circuit its own identity. The Killarney Motor Show was launched in 2016, as was Robot Racing on Wednesday nights, an important road safety initiative.
In 2017 we hosted the first of three World Rallycross Championship events, earning Killarney upgrades and international respect as a world-class motorsport venue. New events such as the Time Attack, local rallycross, drifting and spinning, charity events such as the Sunflower Fund and the Toy Run, and even a Vintage Tractor Show helped Killarney to become the most-used sporting arena in Cape Town, with more than 150 events a year.
Our race days became events, with market stalls, fan walks, livestreaming and series sponsors. Even the City, which once saw Killarney as wasted real estate, now supports events at Killarney.
Then came COVID, in March 2020, effectively shutting us down; Des negotiated funding from SAFT and TERS, and thanks to the sacrifices of the staff and the unflinching support of our occupants and sponsors, Killarney not only survived, we came back stronger.
In December 2022, after years of work by the team, Des signed our new lease, securing the future of Killarney for an effective 30 years.
Since then, we have built a magnificent spinning pitch and been awarded a Blue Plaque as a place of historical interest.
In the 13 years of Des’ tenure, Killarney has grown from a race-track out in the sticks with a clubhouse and some garages to a multipurpose events venue with no less than eight hospitality outlets, hosting corporate functions, major charity events, even weddings and birthday celebrations.
Circuit safety has been dramatically improved, and there have been huge improvements to the facility in general. There’s now a waiting list for bomas as well as garages, and WPMC Membership is up by 45 percent.
Des would be the first to give credit to the Killarney admin team and our maintenance crew for all the hard work they have put in to make Killarney what it is today – but equal credit must go to his guidance and leadership.
We wish him all the best as he takes a well-earned break, although he has agreed to continue helping with headline events such as the Killarney Motor Show, the Toy Run and the 2027 Cape Grand Prix Revival.
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