Endurance Series roars off
30 CARS EXPECTED TO CONTEST AT PHAKISA RACEWAY NEAR WELKOM
The 2018 Mopar South African Endurance Series kicks off in the Free State this Saturday, with Phakisa Raceway near Welkom hosting the opening sixhour event.
The series has grown substantially over the last two years and about 30 cars are expected to contest at Phakisa. Heading up the entry list should be the AidCall/247 Ligier JS53 Honda of Nick Adcock, Johan Engelbrecht and Michael Jensen, plus the similar Comenius Ligier JS53 Honda of Fritz Kleynhans and James Forbes.
Others in the top class include Andre Bezuidenhout/ Franco Scribante (Juno Nissan V6), Mike Altona/ Steve Pickering (Classic Motorsport Porsche 910) and Stefan Puschavez/Peter Jenkins (Nardini GT Volkswagen).
Class V for two-litre spaceframe sports racing cars will be the most competitive, with a trio of South African-built Nash MVW-Volkswagens driven by Dean/ Steve Venter, Andrew Teixeira/ Jackie/ Jody Morrison and Peter Schmidt-Loffler/ Anton Muller and Glenton Rebello.
They take on Nicholas/ Ronald Van Weely (Magnificent Paints Van Weely Volkswagen), Eric Salomon/ Dave Sinclair/ Hennie Trollip (ELF S06-Toyota), Estelle Vermooten/ Gerdus Smit/ Klippies Krige (7 Boys’ Locost 7) and Josh Dovey/ Gerald Wright (Wright Sports 2000 Opel).
Topping the GT class should be Kishoor Pitamber/ Charl Arangies (Stradale Ferrari 458), Sun Moodley/ Manogh Maharaj (Bigfoot Express Porsche 911 GT3 Cup), Sarel Van der Merwe/ Geoff Mor- timer/ Greg Mills (Africa Le Mans Ginetta G5) and Johan de Bruyn/ Peter van der Spuy (Stradale Porsche 997 GT3 Cup). The GT5 category will see three Backdraft Cobra-Toyota V8 entries manned by Trevor Graham/ Brian Martin, Mike McLoughlin/ Mark Owens and Mike Schmidt/ Bruce Avern-Taplin, challenged by the Audi V8-powered Porsche Boxster of Richard de Roos and Stefan Snyders.
The saloon car category will be headed up by the Arnold Chatz Cars Alfa Romeo Giulietta of Bradley Scorer/ Theo van Vuuren, chased by Steve Truter/ Wayne Lotter (Sasolburg Autobody BMW M3), Hubi von Moltke/ Stuart Grant/ Jose Vasques (MercedesBenz 280CE) and Adrian Dalton/ Wayne Lebotschy (Xtra Clothing Shield Volkswagen Golf 1 GTi).
One can follow the race from noon on www.facebook.com/SAEnduranceSeries/. It’s the first of five SA Endurance Series rounds, with the Killarney Four Hour in Cape Town on May 19, the Zwartkops Four Hour on June 9, the Port Elizabeth Four Hour at on August 11 and the East London Four Hour at the Grand Prix Circuit on November 23. – Endurance