Stephen ready to wrap up GTC title
Team Engen Audi driver Michael Stephen will target his third Sasol GTC championship title as the competition enters its final round at Zwartkops Raceway in October.
Stephen took a major step towards his third consecutive crown after claiming victory in the penultimate races of the Sasol GTC Championships held at Killarney Raceway at the weekend.
Stephen occupied the front of the pack from the first practice until the final race with his teammate Simon Moss following in second place.
Currently on 331 points in the standings, Stephen can secure his hat-trick of GTC titles with a good performance in the final race of the series at Zwartkops.
Stephen is followed in the championship standings by teammate Moss, who sits on 300 points after claiming two second-place finishes.
In race one, Stephen, who set a new qualifying lap record around the 3.2km Killarney track, was the first driver to see both the start and finish flags as he claimed victory ahead of a determined Moss.
Moss had a blistering opening lap and he was already hunting down Gennaro Bonafede (BMW) from second position in lap 2.
Stephen, meanwhile, took a relatively conservative approach but steadily worked his way through the field.
With just four laps to go, Stephen caught up and swiftly passed Moss, who was struggling with his brakes, and the Engen Audi duo claimed the second double podium of the day, with Stephen setting a new lap record in the process.
“There aren’t enough superlatives for a weekend like this,” Terry Moss said.
“We dominated this weekend in an unimaginable way – a first and second place in every single session and race, plus a new lap record.”