Fourie leads by one point
The Bridgestone Production Car Championship treated the Zwartkops' crowd to some dramatic results at round eight of the WesBank Super
Series this past weekend.
Many teams struggled all weekend with overheating engines and brakes as the full force of the Highveld sun blazed down on Pretoria
West.
The Afrox BMW team seemed to have everything under control however, as Anthony Taylor put his BMW 335i on pole position with Melvill
Priest securing an all-red-and-white front row.
Michael Stephen (Engen Audi S4) and Hennie Groenewald (Sasol Subaru WRX STI) shared the second row of the grid with Audi S4 drivers,
Tschops Sipuka (Engen) and Johan Fourie (Indy Oil) on row three. Richard Pinard (Sasol Subaru WRX STI) was the final Class A qualifier.
Class T qualifying went to Heinz Bose (Mazda 3 MPS), but he was later moved to the back of the grid following a technical infringement.
This elevated Graeme Nathan (Indy Oil VW GTI) into the top spot. BP Ford Focus ST drivers, Shaun Duminy and Gary Formato took up second and
third respectively with Ferodo's Gennaro Bonafede (VW GTI) in fourth. After setting a blistering pace during the practice sessions, Michael
van Rooyen (Williams Hunt Opel Astra OPC) battled to the third row of the grid, ahead of Andrea Bate (BP Ford Focus ST). Newcomer, Jacques
Joubert was marginally behind Bate in eighth place.
Race one got under way without incident. The Class A leaders held station while further back, Fourie made short work of passing Sipuka
for fifth. Taylor went on to take the race win from Priest, Stephen and Groenewald. Fourie held fifth from Sipuka and Pinard.
The action was more robust in Class T with Graeme Nathan running wide and losing six positions on the first lap. Formato passed Duminy
for the lead and the Ford duo crossed the line first and second. Bonafede finished ahead of van Rooyen after a race-long fight for third.
Nathan recovered to fifth place, ahead of Bose. Bate finished less than a car length ahead of Joubert, who made a run for the position to
the line.
The top four finishers were inverted for the race two grid.
Class A was unusually uneventful with the field remaining static as the competitors conserved their cars for the endurance race.
Groenewald led the field from lights to flag ahead of Stephen, Priest and Taylor. Fourie continued to battle down in fifth place, while
Sipuka lost his sixth position to Pinard on the last lap.
Class T once again offered some daring manoeuvres. Fans held their breath as competitors dived into turn one four abreast. When the class
came back into view, van Rooyen was leading from Formato, Bonafede and Bose. Duminy had dropped down to fifth, straight into the clutches of
Nathan. A lap later, Formato bombed past van Rooyen to take the lead. On lap three, Bonafede moved into second place before ploughing off
the circuit. Van Rooyen was certainly in the thick of things as Duminy challenged for and succeeded in taking second place and a lap later,
Nathan took third. Van Rooyen and Bose had a three-lap tussle for fourth, but the Opel driver managed to hold the position. The flag came
out for Formato who finished ahead of Duminy and Nathan. Van Rooyen took fourth from Joubert, who passed Bose on the final lap. Bose managed
to stay ahead of Bate despite slowing dramatically to the line. Bonafede circulated to finish three laps down.
Excitement escalated as teams prepared for the two-hour endurance race. The Taylor/Etienne van der Linde combination took pole from
Priest/Leeroy Poulter. Stephen/Shaun Watson-Smith were up next, ahead of Groenewald/Jonathan du Toit. Fourie/Kosie Swanepoel and Sipuka/Simon
Moss shared the third row, in front of Pinard/Jon Williams.
Formato/Garth Waberski and van Rooyen/Devin Robertson led the Class T field from Duminy/Graham Donker and Nathan/Reghard Roets. Bonafede/Lee
Thompson and Bate/Naomi Schiff were the final runners after Bose and Joubert failed to start the race.
The two-hour race got under way at a rather robust pace as teams tried to establish gaps. The lead chopped and changed with every pit
stop and pit lane become a flurry of activity with both scheduled and unscheduled stops. The Priest/Poulter BMW lost a lot of ground as the
team rapidly repaired some damaged brake ducting. A few other competitors picked up punctures and had to adapt their race strategies to
accommodate these unplanned stops.
With about half an hour to go, Taylor/van der Linde were leading Stephen/Watson-Smith and Fourie/Swanepoel. Fourie had to make a fourth
pit stop with a puncture and with just five minutes to go, Taylor slowed with a boost pipe which had come loose. This left Stephen/Waston-Smith
to take the win from Taylor/van der Linde, with Fourie/Swanepoel third. Pinard/Williams did a great job to claim fourth from Groenewald/du
Toit. Sipuka/Moss finished sixth ahead of Priest/Poulter.
Formato/Waberski secured the Class T win from Nathan/Roets. Bonafede/Thompson took third, ahead of Duminy/Donker. Van Rooyen/Robertson
were the final finishers after Bate/Schiff retired with a damaged gearbox.
As the spectacular fireworks display finished, Fourie founded himself leading the Class A championship by just one point from Stephen,
while Formato is 20 points clear of Nathan in Class T. The final round of the championship will take place at Zwartkops on 26 November.