First and foremost there is the situation whereby a number of championships have gone all the way to the wire. While some title fights look to be cut and dried others, particularly the overall Bridgestone Production Car title chase, are delicately poised.
Current scoring in the Bridgestone battle sees three drivers left in the championship stakes – although that could change. Johan Fourie (Johan Fourie Racing Audi A4) goes into the Kyalami shootout with a slender two point lead over Shaun Watson-Smith in the Xtreme Team Audi 4, with reigning champion Leeroy Poulter (Sasol Nissan 350Z) a further nine points in arrears.
The water is muddied, however, by a pending appeal over the results of a Cape Town race earlier in the season. This could alter the situation with Class B also in a state of flux.
In both the car and motorcycle categories recent events include protests, counter protests and courts of appeal. It has led to a situation whereby more than a little needle has crept into some of the title issues, and the potential is there for high drama.
The meeting is also likely to produce a little international motorsport history. CitiBike SA Superbike championship leader Arushen Moodley is poised to become the first black rider worldwide to win a national Superbike championship.
Moodley (Team Suzuki) takes into the meeting a 39 point lead over reigning champion Shawn Whyte from the Nashua Mobile/Daikin stable. With 50 points up for grabs Whyte, the Zimbabwean veteran, has a mountain to climb and Moodley is staring history in the face.
BRIDGESTONE PRODUCTION CAR CHAMPIONSHIP
The Bridgestone Production Car overall and Class A championships are balanced on a knife edge.
With or without the behind the scenes tugs of war, the scene is set for an explosive final act of a long running play. The season has gradually developed into a battle between Audi and Nissan with cameo performances from the BMW and Subaru teams – notably at Zwartkops where Dawie Olivier produced stunning wins in the Bosal Subaru Impreza.
Kyalami is not likely to be any different but there is huge pressure on the three drivers involved in the championship battle.
Championship leader Johan Fourie (JFR Audi A4), Shawn Watson-Smith (Xtreme Team Audi A4) and Poulter (Sasol Nissan 350Z) are all battle hardened veterans who won’t ask for or dish out any favours.
Poulter and Watson-Smith, however, will be looking to assistance from team-mates. Poulter will be looking at Tschops Sipuka and Gavin Cronje to run interference, with Watson-Smith looking to Michael Stephen for a helping hand.
Fourie, for his part, will be hoping that Melvill Priest, in the MiKar Audi A4, can get in among the Nissans. Former champion Anthony Taylor and Etienne van der Linde, in the Castrol BMWs, along with Olivier and Seef Fourie in another Subaru, could also play influential roles and the most likely scenario is a knock ‘em down and drag ‘em out fight in two heats brimming over with potential for drama.
The Class T championship issue is also delicately poised. Only four points separate long time adversaries Iain Pepper, in the PG Autoglass/Plastomark VW Golf GTi) and Graeme Nathan who has campaigned a similar car running in BP Ultimate/Webcom/Kaye Eddie colours.
There is a possibility, however, that Nathan and former champion Philip Kekana will be out in a pair of Seat entries. Either way a Pepper/Nathan confrontation is always an interesting prospect and Hein Bose (Speed Tuning VW Golf GTi) and Robert Wolk (Castrol/Afintapart Mini Cooper), who has had a good run of late, will keep them honest.
Another clash worth watching is the confrontation between veteran Ben Morgenrood (Zoom Zoom Mazda RX8) and youngster Riyad Jaffer in the Sasol Toyota RunX. Theirs has been an absorbing battle and, according to the Sasol team, Jaffer should go to Kyalami with a four point lead.
Official scoring, however, has Morgenrood ahead by 16 points. Protests and appeals are in the pipeline over the RunX engine specifications, but these should not stand in the way of what should be another good fight between a grizzled oldtimer and a talented youngster.
Class C, which carries with it the Junior Production Championship, will also produce an interesting confrontation. Official scoring has Robi Beninca (BTS VW Citi Life) 17 points ahead of reigning champion Trevor Tuck in the Motorsport Infinity Fiat Grande Punto.
Etienne Prinsloo, in the BizhubVW Polo TDi, won twice at East London recently, and Mark Silverwood (OKI Ford Fiesta) was a winner at Aldo Scribante. With VW, Ford and Fiat all involved in a class where close racing is the norm there could be fireworks.
WESBANK V8 SUPERCAR CHAMPIONSHIP
The WesBank V8 Supercar championship is the one Super Series category where championship issues have already been settled.
Hennie Groenewald (SP Racing/Timken Jaguar) wrapped up back to back titles at Aldo Scribante, and could afford the luxury of handing over his car to team-mate Robert Briggs in the final heat of the subsequent East London meeting. A Briggs win took him into second place in the championship where he is now seven points ahead of former champion Grant van Schalkwyk (Hi-Q Jaguar), who has recently missed three rounds of the series, and Gordon Connelly (Dezzi/Cowan Signs Jaguar) who has a 100 percent scoring record this season.
Groenewald’s comfort zone has allowed him to debut the SP Racing/Timken Chev Lumina he will campaign next season, and progress will be keenly watched. Behind him the battles for the minor placings in the championship will also provide for plenty of interest.
A clash between Briggs, the rookie of the year, and van Schalkwyk holds plenty of potential and Connelly’s consistency keeps him a player in the runner-up stakes. Mackie Adlem (Fuchs/Kyalami Ford Mustang) has had an up and down season but is a potential winner and, on his ‘home’ circuit, would love to finish the year on a high note.
Veteran Larry Wilford (Fuchs Ford Mustang), former off road motorcyclist Jade Gutzeit (Dezzi/Trysome Ford Mustang) and Marc Auby (Masana Petroleum Jaguar) will also be looking for end of year highs, with Wilford and Auby having good days in east London recently. There is plenty of depth in the WesBank V8 ranks and good scraps are guaranteed throughout the field.
The reverse grid system for heat two will also provide for a little added interest. Veteran Willie Hepburn (Motorsport Logistics Chev Corvette) has turned into a second race specialist, with the 65-year-old taking three podium finishes in his last three outings.
ENGEN VW CUP
To all intents and purposes the Engen VW Cup championship is done and dusted.
Lee Thompson (Xtreme team VW Polo) has been a frontrunner all season and goes to Kyalami needing only a single eighth place to wrap up the title. Given Thompson’s consistency in a season where he has hardly put a wheel wrong, it is a formality.
But Formula One rookie sensation Lewis Hamilton will tell you that motor racing is a funny old game. It will be a major upset of Thompson doesn’t settle the matter in heat one.
The Kyalami outing will be a nostalgic affair for the Engen VW Cup brigade. After nearly a decade the series will return in different guise next season.
An age limit of 27 next year sees to it that stalwarts like Graeme Fonker (Mini/Maxi Panelbeaters VW Polo), Curt Alchin (Bodyman/Assist2Sell VW Polo) and Kosie Swanepoel (Barnett’s VW Polo) – all of then frontrunners this year – will be missing next year.
CITIBIKE SA SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP
CitiBike SA Superbike champion elect Arushen Moodley (Team Suzuki) faces at test of character at Kyalami.
Moodley will make history if he converts the 39 point advantage he has in the series into a championship winning score. Shutting out reigning champion Shawn Whyte (Nashua Mobile/Daikin Yamaha) will make Moodley the first black rider to win a national Superbike title.
On the face of it Moodley’s 39 point lead, with Whyte having a mountain to climb, should be the end as far as the Zimbabwean is concerned. But here were indications at the recent all motorcycle day at Phakisa recently that Moodley, like a batsman at cricket, is into the nervous 90s.
He and Whyte finished eighth and ninth respectively in heat one at Phakisa. But Whyte picked himself up to finish second in race two where team-mate Clinton Seller did him no favours by taking a narrow win.
Moodley came in fifth but picked up a place when Lance Isaacs, on the Seesa/Race Nation Honda Fireblade) crashed. And while Moodley is an experienced rider, battling for a championship in the final races of the year is nothing new to the seasoned Whyte.
Whyte, of course, has no option but to throw caution to the winds. Moodley can afford to race for points, but that is often a dangerous strategy.
And, as was the case at Phakisa, the two title contenders could find themselves upstaged by other riders. Former champions Hudson Kennaugh (Rezist Yamaha) and Sheridan Morias (Ducati Cafe) are potential winners as are Seller, Isaacs and Robert Portman (CitiBike Suzuki) who has shown impressive form of late.
It all adds up to an interesting situation and Moodley should put the finishing touches to an historic occasion. But, once again, the name Lewis Hamilton crops up.
CITIBIKE SA SUPERSPORT CHAMPIONSHIP
As is the case in the CitiBike Superbike series, the CitiBike SA Supersport championship is a two horse race with Chris Leeson (Team Suzuki) and Dane Hellyer (Kyocera Kawasaki) the contenders.
And, as in the case of the senior championship, all the same ifs and buts apply. Leeson goes to Kyalami with a 33 point lead and looks to be holding all the cards.
The major difference, however, is that Leeson and Hellyer do not have the experience that veterans like Whyte take to the party. But the exuberance of youth is not a bad commodity in situations such as this.
Between them Leeson and Hellyer, who crucially missed rounds of the series due to overseas commitments, have done most of the winning this year. Hellyer needs that trend to continue at the Midrand circuit, but there are other youngsters who could upset applecarts.
James Egan (Thundersport/Timefreight Yamaha), Eddy Alberts (Race Nation Honda) and Ronan Quarmby (Gallardo Yamaha) all went well at Phakisa, and of the trio only Quarmby has not won this year. John Oliver (Atlantic Motorrad Suzuki) and veteran Graem van Breda (Springs Suzuki) are among a bunch of other riders who could spring surprises, but the focus will be on Leeson and Hellyer.
