Stephen wins in GTC race

IT’S going to be a red-letter day for motorsport in Port Elizabeth at the Aldo Scribante circuit on September 10.

The second round of the Sasol GTC Championship – introduces a brand new motorsport category.

At the first event at Zwartkops, Port Elizabeth’s multi-motorsport champion Michael Stephen, went down in history as the first winner of a GTC race, taking his Engen Extreme Audi A3 GTC to a pair of victories.

It didn’t take long for the action to start when local PE lad Simon Moss, in the second Engen Audi A3, spun out in turn one during qualifying, parking his pristine machine in the barriers. After the red-flagged session restarted, the top four qualifiers were within a second of each other, with Mathew Hodges setting the second-fastest time in his Volkswagen Motorsport Jetta GTC, followed by the Sasol GTC BMWs of Gennaro Bonafede and Hennie Groenewald.

The Terry Moss-run Audi team put in a huge effort to straighten the badly bent car and to their credit got it race ready. The first race saw Stephen bolt into the lead, leaving his rivals staring at the bootlid of the black Audi.

Hodges hung on gamely in second place, falling away a tad as Bonafede kept him honest.

Behind the leading trio, Groenewald dropped back with a misfire, allowing Nathan to close and pass the Sasol driver.

Mid-race, Nathan spun in turn six, allowing Groenewald back into fourth place.

As the race wore on, Nathan again hunted Groenewald down, taking his position as the race neared its end. The Sasol GTC team withdrew Groenewald’s car from race two.

Race two saw Stephen, again from pole position, make another great start and led the field from lights to flag. Nathan slotted his Jetta GTC into second place, followed by Bonafede and Hodges.

Bonafede, on the final lap, dropped a wheel onto the dirt in turn six, which promptly put the BMW into an elegant pirouette.

Hodges flashed past into third place, but pitted before the chequered flag fell, allowing Bonafede to reclaim his third place.