Subaru's first Killarney win
Team
Sasol Subaru arrived in Cape Town sporting a bright new livery on their three Subaru WRX STIs.
In a weekend of mixed fortunes at Killarney, scene of round 2 of the Bridgestone Production Car Championship, Hennie Groenewald
claimed a storming victory in race 3 from third on the grid and set two fastest laps during the day's four races, the best performance yet
by the Subaru WRX STI at the coastal circuit.
Groenewald was issued a penalty after a stewards' meeting over a Kyalami incident between himself and Melvill Priest's BMW.
After an appeal against his disqualification, and potential loss of championship points, Groenewald was forced to start race 1 from the
back of the class A grid, irrespective of his qualifying position.
Practice and Qualifying
The Sasol team was up to full strength at Killarney with a third car for lady racer Tannith Gardner. The SP Race Engineering team
had a busy Friday, replacing Richard Pinard's gearbox after it started jumping out of fourth gear. Although Groenewald had CV issues
too, he set the
fastest time in practice session three, leading the field by 0.222 second. Gardner's car caught fire after an oil pipe came off which
fried the wiring and rendered the STI out of service for the remainder of the weekend.
With so little track time, qualifying was going to be tough. Groenewald was quickly up to speed but a severe vibration cut his
session short and the Kyalami winner lined up fifth on the grid. With only four laps of practice under his belt, Pinard was a disappointed
eighth on the grid for race 1.
Races 1 and 2
Groenewald stormed off the line, past the pair of Nissans and team mate Pinard. Once up
into fifth place, he set about reeling in the BMWs but slowed on the penultimate lap and pitted with smoke pouring out of the car.
"I thought the car had seized a bearing but an oil pipe had come off." he said. "The car's ECU kicked in as it sensed its engine had lost oil
pressure."
The team quickly set about cleaning up the engine bay, topped up the oil and sent Groenewald on his
way, but he had to start from the pit lane behind the Class A field.
What followed was a brilliant drive as Groenewald picked off the opposition one by one. He quickly dispatched the pair of Nissans
with better drive out of Cape Town Corner, and in quick succession, reeled in and passed Johan Fourie's Audi. The short six-lap race was
over as he homed in on the BMW pair, leaving Groenewald in fourth place with the fastest race time.
"I'm happy with the result considering where I started," beamed Groenewald.
Pinard was quickly into battle, passing Da Cunha's Nissan into Cape Town Corner but on the exit, he selected the wrong gear, allowing
the Nissan to re-pass.
"I tried everything to get past again, but Paulo (Da Cunha) drove a wide car again. It was a
great race!" said Pinard.
Race two was uneventful for Pinard.
"I got quicker and quicker during the race and set my fastest lap of
the weekend on the second-last lap. It shows how much I lost out with so little running on Friday," Pinard said.
Races 3 and 4
From third on the grid, Groenewald was involved in a huge fight with the Audi of Sipuka and Michael Stephen's new S4 model, which made
its debut in the Cape. As the Audi ran wide at Malmesbury Corner, Groenewald lunged for the inside line and swept through, claiming the
inside line for Cape Town Corner where he slipped up the inside and into second.
Stephen fought back, with Anthony Taylor and Melvill Priest in close attendance. Groenewald slid past the new Audi under braking at
the end of the start/finish straight and into a lead he built up to 1.099 seconds over the final laps.
The on-grid draw for the final race saw Groenewald start sixth but he quickly had his car into fourth place after passing Johan
Fourie and Melvill Priest in Quarry Corner. Two laps later, he was into second place and gunning for the lead Nissan before the oil
pressure problem returned, forcing him to slow; he slipped back to sixth over the last two laps.
"It was our best Cape Town performance by a long way," said Groenewald. "We have a good package for the year ahead
which will keep me in the championship hunt. The oil pressure problems cost me quite a few points. We need to find the cause of these
gremlins and fix them."
Richard Pinard graciously handed his car over to Tannith Gardner so she could go racing. With no running or experience of the car, she settled in and got quicker over the 12 racing laps she completed.
"It was awesome," exclaimed Gardner. "I didn't want to damage Richard's car and spent my time shaking the rust off. In
race 4, I had a nice tussle with Paulo Da Cunha and managed to stay with him, so I'm happy with my progress. The gearbox warning light
came on so I started short-shifting; I didn't want to leave the gearbox at the side of the track!"
SP Race Engineering's Carel Pienaar was reasonably happy with his team's performance in Cape Town.
"We passed the test
on speed," he said. "The oil pressure issue is a new problem which we need to understand and fix quickly. I'm encouraged and disappointed. Richard
had no seat time while Tannith did well with no laps under her belt. There are not many women drivers who could do what she did today.
We scored points for a couple of fastest laps which is a good bonus."
The next round of the WesBank Super Series is in Port Elizabeth on 30 April.