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Groenewald in form for Zwartkops
Hennie Groenewald (Timken Subaru Impreza) heads to the Sasol Race Day at Zwartkops Raceway with high hopes of a good showing following encouraging testing times in the run-up to the 11th and 12th rounds of the Bridgestone Production Car Championship.
Groenewald won in Port Elizabeth and at Kyalami this season - heading an historic 1-2 for his team - while Dawie Olivier was victorious last time out at Phakisa. With Richard Pinard joining the Subaru fold, the team will be out in force to thrill the thousands of fans that flock to the tight 2.4km circuit located outside Pretoria.
Multiple V8 champion Groenewald loves the Zwartkops Raceway and hopes to add to his winning tally on the Highveld circuit.
"The development done on my car has been phenomenal," said Groenewald. "It is a completely different car to the one we started the year with. Racing at high altitude is always going to give us a slight advantage. We've spent a lot of time working on the Impreza's power delivery and have shifted our focus to the chassis to further refine the handling. The layout of the circuit is conducive to tight, close racing with a bit of everything, from high-speed stuff to tight and twisty corners. It's a very technical circuit with big braking and the brakes take a hammering."
Dawie Olivier is also a big fan of the Pretoria circuit.
"I love it," he said. "I started my racing career at Zwartkops and scored Subaru's first ever production car race win in 2007. I know all the shortcuts around the circuit and I expect us to be very competitive. Tyre wear isn't an issue and the Impreza is happy running in the spring heat. I hope to reward all our fans with a better result than we got at Phakisa where I won a race - I'll settle for two wins!"
Richard Pinard slips behind the wheel of his Subaru for just the second time after making his debut in the Free State last month.
"It's been very interesting finding the right lines," said Pinard. "I pussy-footed a bit at Phakisa trying to get used to the car and after some more mileage, I expect to be much closer to Hennie and Dawie. Hennie drove my car and reported that he couldn't tell any difference between his car and mine, which is encouraging. the technicians did a fantastic job of fixing my car after I stuffed it into the wall. I can promise our fans a lot of action come race day."
Team Manager Carel Pienaar forecasts a frenetic time at Zwartkops.
"We have a very strong team and production car racing is all about the team and strategy," said Pienaar. "Our drivers are out of the top drawer and can deliver the results we hope for. I am concerned that the rules are up and down and the latest restrictor size imposed on us could cause a question mark on our performance".
