STEPHEN MAKES UP FOR MOSS JINX
DESPITE a disappointing day for Engen Audi Racing team driver Simon Moss, his teammate Michael Stephen secured an overall victory for the team in round four of the Sasol Global Touring Car Africa Championships at the weekend.
Stephen, in third place in the standings ahead of the East London event, had a decent day out, claiming two podium positions to stay in the hunt, only four points adrift of new championship leader Gennaro Bonafede (Sasol BMW GTC).
Stephen finished in second place in race one before claiming a third in race two to take the overall win.
He is now in second position on 156 points, one place ahead of teammate and previous championship front-runner Simon Moss, who had a day he would want to forget on the East London track.
Setting a blistering lap time of 1min 22.773 seconds to claim pole position in race one, and a fast start to the race, Moss finished in sixth position after an issue with his car caused him to lose power.
With the reverse grid in force for race two, Moss again started in pole position, but another loss of power saw him finish the race in seventh position.
Moss led the championship from the second round in Cape Town and, going into the East London race, had hoped to extend that lead. He now finds himself 17 points from the top, and 13 points behind Stephen.
“I was hoping to be at least 10 points ahead after this [East London] race, but then I got thrown this curve ball,” he said.
Moss could not confirm the problem that caused the loss in power, saying technicians were still getting to the bottom of it.
“I think we have been fairly consistent throughout the season this far. So we just need to get rid of the little gremlins and we will be back to our best going into the home leg,” he said.
Moss said his main objective would be to close the points gap with Bonafede and Stephen.
He was quietly confident the PE leg of the championship would provide the catalyst for them to move back up the standings.
“Racing at home is always nice – historically we have been very fast on this track and I don’t foresee any difference come next month,” he said.
Team principal Terry Moss said although the team arrived with the feeling of being the underdog, they still managed to make their mark.
“The competition tightens up when you’re the fastest around the track and leading both races,” Moss said. “It’s unfortunate that Simon has dropped to third in the championship, but he’s still in very close contention for the title.
“Michael raced excellently and has secured himself in second position, which we’re very glad about,” he said.
Elsewhere, local Volkwagen Motorsport driver Daniel Rowe remained in fifth position in the standings after two disappointing races which saw him finish seventh in race one and fifth in race two.
The next round of the GTC championships visits the Bay next month.