Sipuka proves to all he still has what it takes
It was a fairytale homecoming for Batshobonke “Tschops” Sipuka as he claimed his first win of this year’s Global Touring Car Championship as part of the Extreme Festival held at the East London Grand Prix Circuit on Saturday.
After being out of racing for six years before making a return to the track at the start of the year, Qumbu-born Sipuka, who studied in East London, made a return to what he called his home track and claimed his first podium position and win of the season in the second race.
It was a thrilling race, with Sipuka starting on pole and putting in a masterful drive to lead from the front and hold off a huge challenge from Michael van Rooyen’s Toyota in the closing laps.
“I had a range of emotions – it was very special,” he said.
“I could see people had come from Mthatha, Mount Frere, Butterworth, Dutywa, you name it, I could see it and the glow on their faces when I won was just phenomenal,” admitted Sipuka.
“It was wonderful because they came all the way to East London to support me and I couldn’t have found a better way to reward them.
“I just felt God was smiling on me on the day.
“I needed that win and it was the most difficult one – that Toyota (Van Rooyen) was on my case all the way.”
Van Rooyen took the runnerup spot in both races while race one winner Keagan Masters in his Volkswagen Jetta finished third in race two and Johan Fourie in his BMW was race one’s third-place finisher.
Sipuka’s teammate Simon Moss had a difficult day out, finishing fifth and sixth in the two races which saw him lose the championship lead to Masters. Moss now trails him by six points and will have to bounce back in the next race to stay in the hunt.
Sipuka will now look to build on this win, going forward.
“It definitely gives me a confident boost. After six years being out of the game a lot of things change, so the more you practice, the better you become. This result shows that I have been going in the right direction,” he said
In the GTC2 race Charl Smalberger (Universal Golf) dominated, claiming two wins over Brad Liebenberg’s GTI.
Other races on the day saw some thrilling action, particularly in the Falken Polo Cup where the first race was redflagged after a multi-car accident that saw Clinton Bezuidenhout rolling out.
With no serious injuries – just a few bumps and bruises – the race got back under way and Jeffrey Kruger (Universal Health), put in a superb drive to steal the win on the last lap of race one, and then dominate race two for an easy win.
The Investchem F1600 then produced a classic battle between championship leader Scott Temple and former champ Julian van der Watt that saw Van der Watt take pole, Temple win race one and Van der Watt win race two.
On the motorbikes, Steven Odendaal did the double in the 1000cc Superbikes races, while Jared Schultz and Kewyn Snyman won race one and two respectively of the 600cc Supersport category.
The only local action on the day was the Border Modified race and it was Bevan Swartz in his TSE Corvette that absolutely dominated to win all three heats.
The Extreme Festival now moves on to Killarney International Raceway in Cape Town when it will see its penultimate round battled at the end of the month.