A trio of Class A Bridgestone Production Car competitors fought an enthralling do or die battle for the duration of the 14-lap finale of the penultimate round at Killarney on October 5 – all in a bid to secure the runner-up position.
While this was going on, Melvill Priest was disappearing into the distance in his Audi S4 and as it turned out, he led from start to finish. When the chequered flag came out he had stretched his advantage to almost seven seconds.
The battle for second place was eventually resolved in Etienne van der Linde’s favour, the BMW driver holding off a race-long challenge from reigning champion Michael Stephen’s Audi S4, in turn harried by the similar car of Gennaro Bonafede. The trio was seldom separated by more than a car length, engaging in a duel that kept the diehard crowd on their toes.
Never far behind, and waiting for an opportunity to pick up any scraps that may come his way, was Johan Fourie, whose BMW 335i was unable to challenge the trio ahead with any conviction. In the early laps young Roman de Beer had a grandstand view of some enthralling action, before retiring with a gearbox problem on his previous-generation version. Post-race, he was reprimanded for a first lap incident which put the Audi of Tschops Sipuka into a spin – the culmination of another sub-optimal day for the Port Elizabeth racer.
In class T there was a four-way dice with two Mini’s up against the two VWs, with some nail-biting action. It eventually went the way of Graeme Nathan’s Golf 6 GTI, keeping his nose ahead of championship-rival Gavin Cronje in the Mini Cooper S, though it was initially the similar car of Lee Thompson who made the running, having already won both the seven-lappers.
In what is almost becoming routine for his Mini, it blew an engine on the penultimate lap, which gifted Jacques Joubert in the second bright orange Golf6 GTI a podium. Other casualties included the Chevrolet Cruze of Michael van Rooyen who ran as high as fourth, his car still showing an appetite for overtaxing its tyres, and the Renault Megane of Devin Robertson, still bedevilled by electrical problems.
When the flag came out the positions had all settled down but it was still a case of any slip being a costly one. Bonafede was adamant he could’ve been out front if he had grabbed the opportunity which came his way earlier, but rivals like Van der Linde and Stephen seldom make mistakes.
The end result was that the class A championship will go to its final round on November 2 with Stephen’s advantage trimmed slightly, but he is definitely still odds-on favourite for his third title on the trot. If that happens the runner-up spot is certain to be a BMW pilot, though whether it is Van der Linde (who came away with a trio of silver medals for the day) or Fourie is still not a certainty.
In class T matters are no quite so clear-cut. The outcome of the day was turned on its head when the Nathan’s Golf was excluded for a technical infringement, which elevated Cronje to first in the feature race – a development which has significant repercussions for the championship as it causes a massive shift in the results. However, the Indyoil team has protested the matter, and whether the original results stand will be decided by the stewards of the meeting, and will be announced on Wednesday October 9.
If Nathan retains his points for the day he will go to Kyalami more than 20 points to the good, but if not, Cronje will suddenly inherit a lead of a similar amount – the outcome is awaited with bated breathe.
