Bridgestone Production Cars Press Release
BRIDGESTONE PRODUCTION CARS TAME ALDO SCRIBANTE
The Bridgestone Production Car Championship put up some close racing as part of the third round of the WesBank Super Series held at Aldo Scribante this past weekend.
QUALIFYING:
The weather played along nicely and it was good to see race fans parked around the circuit, despite it being a long weekend. Friday's practice sessions were exceptionally close, but Michael Stephen (Engen Xtreme / Tsogo Sun Audi S4), Johan Fourie (JFR Audi S4) and Hennie Groenewald (Sasol Subaru WRX STI) all featured very strongly at the top of the charts. This trend continued into Saturday's qualifying session with Stephen taking pole from Fourie and Groenewald. Tschops Sipuka (Engen Xtreme / Tsogo Sun Audi S4) claimed fourth place, whilst Lee Thompson (Pirtek BMW 335i) was the fastest rear wheel drive competitor in fifth. He was followed on the time sheet by Anthony Taylor (Afrox BMW 335i) and Melvill Priest (Meuller Sports Medicine Audi S4). Although Etienne van der Linde only qualified eighth, he was just a second off the pole position time. Richard Pinard (Sasol Subaru WRX STI) and Nieyaaz Modack (Audi A4) claimed the fifth row of the grid, with BMW 335i drivers, John Mayer (Tricor Signs) and Kishoor Pitamber (Pirtek) a row further back.
Fourie, Priest and Sipuka were later moved to the back of the grid after data showed that their Audis were boosting too high. Whilst the reason for this was likely caused by the coastal altitude and cooler weather, the rules had to be enforced.
Graeme Nathan (IndyOil VW GTI) blitzed the Class T competition, qualifying a full second ahead of the rest of the class. Michael van Rooyen (Williams Hunt Opel Astra OPC) was the best of the rest, qualifying marginally ahead of Jacques Joubert (IndyOil VW GTI). Up next, was Gennaro Bonafede (Ferodo VW GTI) ahead of Castrol Ford Focus ST teammates, Gary Formato and Shaun Duminy. Only seven tenth of a second separated second to sixth. Ebrahim Levy (Jive VW GTI) was the final qualifier. He and his team arrived at the track in the early hours of Saturday morning after their tow vehicle broke down. Levy went straight into qualifying without the benefit of a practice session.
RACE 1:
Race one got under way from a rolling start. Although Stephen had a good start, he couldn't pull away from Groenewald and the two had a race long fight for the lead. Taylor, van der Linde and Thompson were in a tussle of their own, the teammates jostling for third place. In the end, Stephen took the win from Groenewald, Taylor, van der Linde and Thompson. Fourie had worked his way up to sixth, but was never really able to challenge the BMW trio ahead of him. Sipuka finished ahead of Pinard, with Priest struggling down in ninth. Modack had a great race in his older spec A4, taking the flag in front of Pitamber and Mayer.
Graeme Nathan left nothing to chance, taking an unchallenged Class T victory. Behind him, things weren't quite as simple. Joubert managed to get ahead of van Rooyen on the first lap and spent the next seven laps defending the position. The youngster withstood the pressure claiming his third second place finish of the season. Van Rooyen has happy to take the final podium spot ahead of Bonafede, Duminy and Formato. Formato was up to fourth place, before his alternator stopped working, he limped home a lap behind. Levy retired at the end of the first lap.
RACE 2:
The top four finishers in each class we inverted for the start of the second race.
As the pole sitter, Etienne van der Linde had an easy decision and chose to have a rolling start. The field got away cleanly and van der Linde kept his lead from Taylor and Groenewald. Stephen was caught in a five way tussle for fourth but managed to keep Thompson, Sipuka, Fourie and Priest at bay. A lap later, Stephen successfully challenged Groenewald to take third. Not happy to settle for this position, he closed down Taylor, lining the BMW driver up. He passed Taylor on lap four and chased hard to catch van der Linde. Further back, Taylor was losing ground and slipped down to fifth place, behind Groenewald and Fourie. The chequered flag came out and Stephen made one last ditch effort to pass van der Linde. The BMW driver was wise to Stephen's sprint for the line and held his position, taking the win by one tenth of a second. Groenewald took third with Fourie working his way into fourth. Taylor crossed the line ahead of Priest, Sipuka, Thompson, Pinard and Mayer. Modack was the final runner after Pitamber retired on lap two.
There was some start line confusion in Class T and although Bonafede was meant to take up pole position, van Rooyen crossed the line first. By the end of the first lap, van Rooyen led Bonafede and Nathan. Nathan wasted no time, moving his way into the race lead by the third lap. He went on to take his second unchallenged victory of the day. The positions remained fairly static after that, with van Rooyen crossing the line ahead of Bonafede and Duminy. Van Rooyen was later moved behind Bonafede as a result of the start line confusion. Joubert finished a lap down after a boost pipe came off his GTI. Levy finished sixth, whilst Formato did not start the race.
RACE 3:
Based on the fastest race two lap times, Stephen took up pole position and opted for a standing start. There was a lot of action on the start line. The lights went out and the four wheel drive cars launched off the line, with the exception of Priest who had inadvertently left his Audi in reverse after lining up in his grid box. As he dropped the clutch, he went flying into Thompson who in turn drove straight into the back of the Audi. Fortunately, Priest's reaction time was exceptional and he quickly snapped to first gear and no major damage was caused. Going into turn one, Fourie and van der Linde were side by side. Fourie was running out of track and the two cars touched. Van der Linde spun in front of Fourie and Sipuka used the opportunity to catapult himself into third. By the end of the race, Stephen lead from Groenewald, Sipuka, Fourie and Priest. Taylor was sixth, ahead of van der Linde, Thompson, Pinard, Modack, Pitamber and Mayer.
Nathan was the Class T pole sitter and took an early lead from van Rooyen, Duminy, Bonafede, Formato and Joubert. On lap four, the mid field was turned upside down. Formato passed Duminy for third, taking Bonafede with him. Duminy and Joubert had a huge tussle, while the status quo up front was also under threat. Van Rooyen took the race lead on lap five and was delighted to take his first win of the season. Nathan took second, with Bonafede passing Formato for third. Duminy ended fifth, with Joubert sixth.
The next round of the championship will take place at Zwartkops on 26 May.
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