Fourie wins two-hour race
The two-hour production car endurance race at Phakisa lived up to all expectations on Saturday.
It was clear from the start that the Class A fight was going to be between Subaru and BMW, the
two powerhouses setting the pace throughout Friday's practice sessions. This trend continued into
Saturday morning's qualifying with Hennie Groenewald (Sasol Subaru WRX STI) taking pole from Etienne
van der Linde (Afrox BMW 335i) who was right on the pace in his one-off return to production car
racing. Melvill Priest (Afrox BMW 335i) took third with Michael Stephen (Engen Audi S4) the first of
the Audi drivers in fourth. Richard Pinard (Sasol Subaru WRX STI) and Johan Fourie (Indy Oil Audi
S4) shared the third row with Tschops Sipuka (Engen Audi S4) claiming seventh position. Teammates
Marco da Cunha (Q8 Nissan 350Z) and Paulo da Cunha were the final runners after the Nissan 370Z
retired from the event with overheating problems.
Michael van Rooyen (Williams Hunt Opel Astra OPC) blitzed the field to take pole in Class T, with
Gary Formato (BP Ford Focus ST) eight tenths of a second behind. Gennaro Bonafede (Ferodo VW GTI)
and Shaun Duminy (BP Ford Focus ST) were fractionally slower than Formato and shared the second row
of the grid. Graeme Nathan (Indy Oil VW GTI) appeared to struggle down in fifth, the result of food
poisoning, with Asrin Motorsport teammates Ebrahim Levy (VW GTI) and Nizaam Esa in a similar car up
next. Mishal Sing (LiquiMoly BMW 120d) took eighth with Kieren Quarmby (Tyres in Transit VW GTI)
being relegated to the back of the grid after being found to be underweight. Nieyaaz Modack
(Woodmead VW GTI) retired from the event with electrical maladies.
The first race was quite demure by production car standards with Groenewald taking an
unchallenged win. Priest took second from van der Linde and Stephen. Pinard, Fourie and Sipuka held
their midfield positions with Paulo da Cunha the final runner. Marco da Cunha was forced into
retirement following a freak accident in which a rock smashed through his windscreen hitting his
left hand. It is suspected that two of his fingers were broken in the accident.
Class T saw van Rooyen lead from lights to flag. Nathan sliced his way through the field to claim
second, ahead of Formato and Duminy. Quarmby drove hard to work his way up to fifth place, with
Bonafede losing ground in sixth. Sing and Esa were the final runners.
Following the grid draw, the top six finishers in each class were inverted for the second race
grid. Fourie, who took up pole position in Class A, opted for a rolling start.
The strategy of driving conservatively during the sprint races in an attempt to look after the
cars for the endurance race, seemed to go out the window as the proverbial red mist overcame the
drivers.
Fourie held onto the lead off the start as Groenewald began to work his way through the field.
Priest and Pinard then had a coming-together which resulted in the BMW being sent sideways and being
solidly collected by Sipuka. The safety car was deployed as marshals removed the stricken BMW and
cleaned up the deluge of oil left on the circuit. A lap later, Sipuka retired. When the race
resumed, Fourie was leading Stephen and Pinard. Groenewald was fourth ahead of van der Linde and
Paulo da Cunha. By the penultimate lap, there was a five-car race for the win, but in the end, the
Subarus had the legs over the rest of the field. Groenewald stole the race win from Fourie with
Pinard taking an impressive third place. Stephen finished fourth ahead of van der Linde and da
Cunha.
The Class T race began with Bonafede, Quarmby, Duminy and Formato going four abreast into turn
one. By the end of the lap, Duminy had the lead from Bonafede, Formato, van Rooyen and Quarmby.
Nathan and Levy pitted with technical problems. By the time the safety car was deployed, Formato had
the lead from Duminy, Bonafede, van Rooyen and Quarmby. Nathan and Levy were fortunate to get out of
the pits behind the safety car, not losing any laps. The restart saw Formato drive into the distance
and take the race win. Behind him, there was a five way dice for second. The position eventually
went to Bonafede with Nathan third and Duminy fourth. Van Rooyen took fifth, ahead of Levy, Quarmby
and Sing.
The pits came alive with an air of excitement and strategy as competitors prepared for the
two-hour endurance race. Groenewald took an early lead from Priest, van der Linde and Fourie. In an
interesting strategic move, the Engen team started the race with Terry and Simon Moss in the
driver's seats. The pit stops and driver changes began and teams were crowded by spectators and
media all wanting to get close to the action. The Subaru team took the lion's share of bad luck with
the Pinard / Jon Williams car having to pit for a spark plug change and the Groenewald / Jonathan du
Toit car catching alight and causing the safety car to be deployed on lap 45. After two hours of
driving, the race win was going to come down to a three-lap sprint to the flag between van der Linde
/ Roets and Fourie / Kosie Swanepoel.
On the penultimate lap, the Audi took the lead and won the race. The driver combination of Priest
/ Leeroy Poulter finished third with Stephen and T. Moss fourth. P. da Cunha / Auby did well to
finish fifth, ahead of the Sipuka / S. Moss pairing. M. da Cunha / Christiano Morgado finished four
laps down and although they experienced some difficulties, both Subarus were classified as
finishers.
The driver combination of van Rooyen and Devin Robertson was too strong for the rest of the Class
T field and the duo took a comfortable win. Duminy / Graham Donker stole second place away from
Bonafede / Lee Thompson on the last lap after the Ferodo GTI slowed with a broken turbocharger. Sing
/ Jose Pereira took an impressive third place, relegating Bonafede to fourth. Nathan / Heinz Bose
did well to recover to fifth after having to pit with their GTI which was going into limp mode.
Quarmby / Carlos Nobre were up next, two laps ahead of Formato / Iain Pepper. Ebrahim Levy / Nizaam
Esa were the final Class T finishers.
The crews now have a two-month break before the next round of the championship.