SA brothers 3rd in Belgium
24 HOURS OF SPA: THEIR CAR SUFFERED A SLOW PUNCTURE DURING THE MARATHON RACE
Jonathan Aberdein sets two quickest laps in three Formula 3 races at same raceday.
South African drivers fared well at international level last weekend. In Europe, three performed brilliantly at the iconic Belgian Spa Francorchamps circuit.
Brothers Kelvin and Sheldon van der Linde, driving alongside German racer Jeffrey Schmidt, took their Montaplast by Land Audi R8 LMS to third place overall in the weekend’s Total 24 Hours of Spa, a round of this year’s Blanxpain Intercontinental GT Challenge series.
They finished the marathon event behind the BMW M6 GT3 entries of Tom Blomqvist, Christian Krognes, Philipp Eng and Alexander Sims, Jens Klingmann and Nicky Catsburg.
During the race, the Audi suffered a slow puncture and a collision with one of the Lamborghinis.
“We were playing catch-up to the BMW squad throughout – they were just quicker than us in the prevailing cold weather conditions, and I took huge pride in sharing an eventual podium place with my younger brother,” said Kelvin afterwards.
During the same race meeting at Spa, Capetonian Jonathan Aberdein enjoyed a positive European Formula 3 attack.
Aberdein qualified 10th, 13th and fifth for the three respective races.
He dropped out of the opening race while fighting for seventh, when his car was struck by one of his team-mates.
To make matters worse, Aberdein was slapped with a threeplace penalty, meaning he had to start race two from 16th on the grid.
He charged through the field in that one, setting the quickest lap en route to an impressive seventh-placed finish.
The young Capetonien set the quickest lap of the final race as well on his way to another seventh.
“That was tricky – half the circuit was wet and the other half dry, making it hard to guage braking distances and cornering lines, which is one of the many reasons why Spa is known as one of the toughest motorsport challenges in the world,”Aberdein said.
He is seventh in this year’s European Formula 3 Rookie champi- onship.
“We are looking forward to racing on another epic circuit at Silverstone on August 18 and 19, so I hope to deliver another strong performance there.
“Thank you to my team Motopark and all my supporters,” Aberdein concluded.
In America, South Africa’s Julian van der Watt enjoyed mixed results in the weekend’s US Formula 2000 series triple-header at Mid-Ohio.
The South African Investchem Formula 1600 champion qualified 13th and drove up to fifth and eighth respectively in the opening races on Friday and Saturday.
In Sunday’s race Van der Watt started fifth and was running fifth with the pace to possibly make it on to the podium, when he was punted into a spin and dropped
I hope for another strong performance ... on another epic circuit at Silverstone on August 18 and 19
Jonathan Aberdein, Cape Town-based Formula 3 racing driver
down the pack.
Julian has moved up to eighth in the overall championship and fifth among the rookies.
“We have four races left – two more at Portland, Oregon end-August, and the final two at the Indianapolis Grand Prix Circuit late in September. Bring it on,” Van der Watt concluded.