They don’t call them sprints for nothing: the pair of eight-lap races for Bridgestone Production Cars at Aldo Scribante on April 6 provided plenty of fast-paced action, and a bizarre incident which reduced Ford’s class T challenge to just one car.
In qualifying, Shaun Duminy had a physical failure as he hit the brake pedal: his Achilles tendon snapped…that was the end of his weekend (and probably his next few meetings) leaving Gary Formato to fly the Blue Oval alone. Then the Golf GTI of Graeme Nathan refused to start, and he didn’t make it out of the pitlane, reducing the field still further.
None of this stopped local hero Michael Stephen from controlling the start perfectly to take a flag to flag win in Class A though. What went on behind him was less straightforward but it was Melvill Priest who eventually got the upper hand from Johan Fourie, with Hennie Groenewald in close attendance.
Class T saw Michael van Rooyen in the Chevrolet Cruze emerge as a relieved winner, having lost the lead to Jacques “The Stiglet” Joubert who then slowed with a clutch problem. Van Rooyen was followed extremely closely by Gavin Cronje while Gary Formato benefitted from a fracas between the Renault of Devin Robertson and the MINI of Lee Thompson to get into third place.
The start of the second race was dictated by Gennaro Bonafede, but with a forceful Tschops Sipuka behind him in another S4 Audi – and with what appeared to be an advantage on the brakes – it had all the makings of drama. It came to a head in the last corner of the lap, and with a determined shove from behind, Bonafede found himself using all of the Audi’s four-wheel-drive ability to keep the car pointing in roughly the right direction, eventually re-joining fifth.
It was Fourie who finished second, just holding off the Audi of Priest, in turn holding off Stephen. Groenewald didn’t make the grid after a turbo failure on the Subaru, but the team was confident that a replacement could be bolted in place in time for the ‘endurance’ event.
Class T was dramatic, and the hard-fought dice between young guns Robertson and Joubert eventually turned ugly, with a distinctly tense air in the post-race paddock. It concluded in Renault’s first win, but only just, with Cronje – fast earning a reputation as Mr Consistency – right there at the finish once again.
Graeme Nathan had two sprints to forget, and spent the day playing catch up, the only reward being the fastest lap – which will give him pole position for the class T grid for the feature race.
