Audi S4 quattro racers ready for PE charge‏ (South Africa)

Press Release from Audi South Africa

THE Port Elizabeth round of the WesBank Super Series will see the Audi S4 quattro racers embroiled in a serious battle for honours. Round two saw all four Audi S4 quattro cars compete together for the first time and Scribante will be just the second opportunity for race fans to see this spectacle for themselves.

For defending Bridgestone Production Car Class A champion Michael Stephen (A1 – Engen Xtreme / Tsogo Sun), the PE round is an important part of his championship as it is his opportunity to compete in front of his home crowd. Stephen wrested the championship title from fellow Audi S4 quattro competitor Johan Fourie (A9 – EPS / IndyOil) at the end of last season, but Fourie is determined to fight back this year.

While Fourie is a Capetonian, his Audi S4 Quattro “lives” in PE and is prepared there. This means that Scribante is also his home track and where he does the bulk of his testing. Two Audi S4 quattros that consider PE to be there home ground is daunting enough for the opposition, but there are three Audi S4 quattros that hail from the friendly city.

Tschops Sipuka (A2 – Engen Xtreme / Tsogo Sun), teammate to Stephen, is also a Port Elizabethan and that makes a trio of Audi S4 quattros that have a very specific knowledge of the circuit – and a claim to homeground advantage. This is not going to make it easy for their opposition.

Factor into this equation Melvill Priest (A7 – Mueller Sport Medicine) who slid in behind the wheel of his Audi S4 quattro for this first time at the start of the 2012 season. Priest has indicated that he does not have quite the pace of the other teams as the development of his race car is a year behind the Audi S4 quattros.

The points don't seem to indicate any lack of pace on Priest's part though as he is currently the second highest scoring Audi S4 quattro entry this year, second only to the defending champion Stephen.

In fact, the Audi S4 quattro entries currently hold consecutive positions in the championship overall, fourth to seventh. This is quite an achievement considering Priest only started with his Audi S4 quattro this season and that Fourie missed the first round of the year completely!

Race fans in Port Elizabeth can look forward to serious action as this quartet of Audi S4 quattro racers push hard for honours and their opposition is going to be under serious pressure trying to keep up.

Audi South Africa

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Bridgestone Production Cars Website

Bridgestone Production Cars FB page

Audi S4 quattro quartet a force in the Cape‏

Press Release from Audi South Africa

THERE are now four Audi S4 quattros competing in the Bridgestone Production Car championship – and Killarney was the venue for this quartet to compete for the first time. The event was round two of the WesBank Super Series which took place in Cape Town on Saturday.

The four cars are made up of defending Bridgestone Production Car class A champion Michael Stephen (A1 – Engen Xtreme / Southern Sun), Stephen's Engen Xtreme teammate Tschops Sipuka (A2 – Engen Xtreme / Southern Sun), the Mueller Sport Medicine Audi S4 quattro of Melvill Priest (A7 – Mueller Sport Medicine) and the EPS / IndyOil entry of Johan Fourie (A9 – EPS / IndyOil).

Fourie missed the first round of the championship held at Zwartkops Raceway but appeared determined to make up for it with his Cape Town performance. Fourie kicked off the event with the fastest qualifying performance in the championship, closely followed by Stephen.

Priest and Sipuka qualified seventh and eighth with Priest's team having to do quite a bit of work on his Audi S4 quattro after it was damaged during the practise sessions. A great deal of work later Priest described the car's handling as acceptable but not optimal. It didn't seem to slow him down much though.

In the first race Fourie kept up the performance of his qualifying session to claim the race victory with Stephen right behind him. Here Priest raced home to fifth place with Sipuka one place back. Race two again showed Fourie to be unstoppable in his charge for points and he claimed the chequered flag for a second time. Stephen crossed the finish line for fourth with Sipuka in seventh and Priest unable to complete the race – he missed a gear (second gear) on the start which allowed Stephen to pass. Brief contact between the pair resulted in a broken steering arm which meant Priest had to pull off and could not complete the race.

Race three saw Priest back on form, crossing the line for third with Stephen in fourth. Sipuka finished in ninth place but Fourie had to settle for 13^th when the bonnet clips on his Audi S4 quattro snapped after contact with Stephen earlier in the race. The result was that his bonnet flew open, obscuring his view and smashing his windscreen and roof in the process.

Overall for the day Stephen claimed third place with Sipuka in fifth, Fourie sixth and Priest in eighth. The Audi S4 quattros will contest round three of the WesBank Super Series at Aldo Scribante Raceway in Port Elizabeth on Saturday, 28 April.

Audi South Africa

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More information:

Audi South Africa

Audi Motorsport in South Africa FB page

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Bridgestone Production Cars Website

Bridgestone Production Cars FB page

Johan Fourie - Audi S4 (Johan Fourie Racing)

Michael Stephen - Audi S4 (Terry Moss Racing)

Tschops Sipuka - Audi S4 (Terry Moss Racing)

Melvil Priest - Audi S4 (VMP Motorsport)

Nieyaaz Modack - Audi A4 (Private ex-Johan Fourie Racing A4)

SA Bridgestone Production Cars and the Audi teams returning to Durban streets

2007 Durban Race

By Johan Laubscher

The South African Bridgestone Production Cars championship has provided many action packed race days for the South African fans. With some of the best drivers and teams in the country battling it out on track. The series will have a street race in Durban this year. The event will be part of the Top Gear Festival which will be held on a constructed street circuit in Durban at the end of June 2012. The closing weekend of the festival will see a round of the Wesbank Super Series, of which the Bridgestone Productions Cars is a part of. Seeing the grid of Audis, BMWs, Subarus and the lower classes racing round a tight street circuit will be spectacular.

2012 Top Gear Festival Durban street track

This will not be the first time the series has graced the streets of Durban. In 2007, as part of the A1GP event in Durban on a street circuit, some of the national championships were invited as support events. The Bridgestone Production Cars was one of these series, and the racing it provided was spectacular. The cars battling and sliding around the twisty track made for a great spectacle.

The date for the race weekend is set for June 23. It remains to be seen how similar the 2012 circuit will  be to the A1GP circuit, but one thing is guaranteed, the racing will be close and fast.

Photos hosted at Motorpics.co.za and TopGearFestival.co.za

More information:
MotorPics

Audi South Africa

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Bridgestone Production Cars Website

Bridgestone Production Cars FB page

Top Gear Festival

Footage from the 2007 Durban races:

2007 Brigdestone Production Cars at Durban Race 1

2007 Brigdestone Production Cars at Durban Race 2

2007 Durban Race - Shaun Watson Smith - Terry Moss Racing Audi A4

2007 Durban Race - Melvil Priest - VMP Motorsport Audi A4

2007 Durban Race - Johan Fourie - Johan Fourie Racing Audi A4