Round six of the Bridgestone Production Car series had a fiery finale on Saturday August 3, with the 12-lap feature race red-flagged after the Golf GTI of Jacques Joubert caught fire and stopped on the main straight of the Phakisa Freeway, which is situated near Welkom in the Free State.
The teenager – nicknamed ‘The Stiglet’ – had been lying third in class T at the time, behind his team-mate Graeme Nathan and Gary Formato, who was leading and on track for a first win with the new-generation Ecoboost Ford Focus ST. In class A, the BMWs of Etienne van der Linde and Johan Fourie were first and second in class A with the Audi of Gennaro Bonafede third when the flag came out.
With only seven laps completed it was deemed necessary to run a further four-lap sprint to ensure the full race distance was covered. In that event, Fourie finished ahead – having timed the rolling restart perfectly to take the lead from his team mate into the left-hander at the end of the pit straight. On aggregate time from the two segments though, Van der Linde was still the winner of the feature race.
In class T, Formato held off a hard-charging Nathan in both portions to take a maiden win for the new Ecoboost Focus ST, with Shaun Duminy making it two Fords on the podium. Nathan, in good spirits after a day which moved him close to the front of the class T pecking order, relished the tussle with what he dryly described it is the widest Ford he had ever seen.
In the first portion of the race, Subaru pilot Hennie Groenewald had been snapping at the heels of Van der Linde when an oil fitting failed, spewing lubricant into the engine bay and onto the tyres. He pitted, where a small fire also broke out, team personnel quick to kill the flames before they got out of hand. Groenewald is rapidly earning a reputation for being the unluckiest man in the series, possibly closely followed by MINI pilot Lee Thompson.
It was also a miserable day at the office for the driver of the second MINI, Gavin Cronje, who was also forced to pit in the first segment of the feature race, his handling still awry from his race two altercation. Team personnel changed the offending suspension component in double-quick time and he was at least able to rejoin, albeit a few laps down. It was another frustrating weekend for Thompson, who despite the best efforts of his team couldn’t get out of the pitlane in time for the start, his engine having failed in the opening sprint.
The overall outcome of the day’s racing was victory for Fourie, followed by Van der Linde, with Bonafede third for Audi. In class T it was victory for Nathan, well ahead of Formato and Duminy.
