SA crowns first champs
CIRCUIT RACING: EXTREME FESTIVAL IN THE CAPE FULL OF ACTION
Raise your cap to Robertson and Van der Watt for their crowning glories.
The Extreme Festival Series visited the Western Cape Killarney cicuit last Saturday, with the event producing this year’s first two South African circuit racing champions.
Devin Robertson needed a victory and a couple of championship points to clinch the season’s Engen Volkswagen Cup title.
Starting as the pre-event favourite in his Payen Polo, Robertson was expected to clock up the quickest time in Saturday morning’s official qualifying session.
That he did, just two thousandths of a second quicker than lady racer Tasmin Pepper in her Campos Polo.
Then, in the opening race, Robertson’s car lost fourth gear, and he had to settle for a ninth place.
His team managed to fix the car before race two, and Robertson produced his usual ultra-professional performance by taking the lead, setting the quickest lap while establishing a gap between himself and the rest, and then clicking off the rest of the laps without drama.
He won, and when all the permutations were worked out, it turned out that he can no longer be beaten on the points ladder in the season’s remaining four races.
Julian van der Watt clinched the season’s Investchem Formula 1 600 title in a less spectacular manner.
The youngster scored full points in his Race Driver South Africa Mygale, by taking the quickest qualifying lap, both race victories and the category’s quickest race lap on the day.
At the end of that, he was crowned as the year’s champion, to underline a season of faultless car preparation, understated driving brilliance and a relentless pursuit of excellence by everybody involved.