Wet weather fails to dampen local action
THE MOTORSPORT LAP/ It was all about local racing this past weekend with both the Autobarn Super Hatch and the South African Cross Country Series
The opening race for Autobarn Super Hatch took place at Zwartkops Raceway in Tshwane this past weekend in inclement weather. Brett Garland (Autobarn Honda Civic) and Jonathan du Toit (TAR Honda Civic) were jostling for position on the penultimate lap of the first heat when they touched, sending both spinning off the circuit. This left Werner Pieterse (Scarlet Sun VW Golf) to claim the victory, followed by a recovered Garland and Du Toit in third.
Du Toit made no mistakes in the second heat, leading from start to finish. He was followed by Garland and Pieterse in second and third respectively.
Nic Clarke (AVO Suspension Polo) won the first Motor Mart VW Challenge race, followed by Waldie Meintjies (Dimension Signs Polo) and Lyle Ramsay (Monroe Polo). Rory Atkinson (BHIT Polo), who had retired from race one, returned to win race two ahead of Ramsay and Meintjies respectively,
Jaco Schriks (Bean Child Rhema) emerged as the opening Hankook Formula Vee race winner, after a race-long dice with Lushen Ramchander (Technical Rope Forza) and Lendl Jansen (VW Formula Vee). Schriks won race two as well, this time chased to the finish line by Ross Rugheimer (Rhema) and Symm Grobler (Rhema).
The first Car Care Clinic 111 Sports and Saloon Car race went to Neil Lobb (TVR Chimeara), leading home Gerhard Henning (VW Golf) and George Bezuidenhout (Accolade Nissan Primera). Bjorn Gebert (FAS Alfa Romeo GTV6) won race two ahead of Lobb and Henning.
Martin Botha (Climax Datsun 1200GX) won the first Midvaal Historics race ahead of Brendon Parker (Datsun GX Coupe) and Andy Gossman (Dimension Signs VW Scirocco). Botha also won race two, followed home by Gossman and Regard van Zyl (Alfa GTV).
Both the Motul Modified Production Car races went to Keagan Pottas (EV Dynamics Honda CRX), ahead of Adrian Dalton (Xtra Shoes VW Golf) and Jeff Langeveld (JDM Tuning Honda CRX).
Marius Jacobs (AA Recovery Tigra) took the first Big Boss Auto Supersaloon race from Franco di Matteo (Deltech Batteries Alfa GT) and Evert Seyffert (Cable Solutions Chev Can-Am). Di Matteo took the second win ahead of JP Nortje (N4 Autocraft VW Corrado) and Jacobs.
Mark Lauth won the opening National Sports Car race in his Shelby Can-Am, followed by Klippies Krige (Lotus 7) and Fritz Kleynhans (Comenius Ligier J549). The next time around Lauth led home Ian Smith (Shelby Can-Am) and Krige.
The opening Bridgestone Challenge race went to Coen Erasmus (Auto Investment BMW S1000RR), ahead of Warren Els (Honda CBR) and Mark Wakeling (Westside Kawasaki ZX10). Els won race two ahead of Erasmus and Wakeling.
The first national round of the 2018 Extreme Festival will take place at the Kyalami circuit this Saturday, March 24.
It was also the start of the 2018 South African Cross Country Series (SACCS) in a rather damp Dullstroom, Mpumalanga where Lance Wooldridge and Ward Huxtable (NWM Ford Ranger) took overall victory ahead of Gary Bertholdt and Geoff Minnitt (Toyota Hilux) in second, while Gareth Woolridge and Boyd Dreyer (NMW Ford Ranger) finished in third.
The next race is the Battlefields 400 in Dundee, KwaZuluNatal, on May 4 and 5.