Following on the heels of Louis Oosthuizen's magnificent win in the British Open, another young South African will be taking on the world's best in Britain. Johannesburg motor bike racer, Ronan Quarmby (19), has been given the opportunity of a lifetime - to race in the World Super bike Series at Silverstone. He replaces the injured Michele Pirro in the Dutch Ten Kate Honda team.

Quarmby has been racing motorcycles for the past four years and is currently leading the South African Championship. He has raced abroad once before, in the British Virgin Media Cup in 2007, where he was fast but prone to crashing. “I was not in top form, I was young, I was a bit crazy with the bike, there was a lot of crashing and never finished any races,” says Quarmby.

Quarmby was due to ride for the Ten Kate team in the South African round of the Super bike series, but broke his leg in qualifying after he had crashed into Pirro. Ironically, Pirro broke a leg in the previous round of the series and that opened the door for Quarmby again. He's become the first South African to be given a works ride since Kork Ballington in 1979. Quarmby will contest the rest of the Super bike World Championship series as well as the local series.