Between the last round at Port Elizabeth and this event, Duminy and Gary Formato went to Germany to meet with Ford Motorsport in Germany. “It was a very successful meeting as they are building similar cars to ours for the Nurburgring 24-hour and other endurance races. We shared knowledge and they’re also going to give us technical help. Then we also drove around the famous Nurburgring Nordschleife track. It’s an incredible place with over 100 corners in its 20 km lap. It was an awesome experience.”
To finish first you first have to finish. That’s an old motorsport adage and it rung true on Saturday at Zwartkops.
The weekend started well when Gary Formato put in a blistering lap to claim pole position for the opening race while Duminy started from sixth in the 14 car field.
As expected Formato led off the line and held a comfortable lead until a turbo pipe worked loose which resulted in a loss of boost and his car started losing power and he eventually called into the pits
With Formato, a winner at the last race meeting, out of the picture, the team’s fortunes rested squarely on the shoulders of Duminy. Anyone watching from the packed stands would never have guessed it was only his second race meeting in the ‘big league’. He pressed on and a determined drive resulted in a hard earned fourth place. “You won’t believe how difficult it was. A technical problem and fading brakes made for hard work. That’s one area of the rules they (the controllers) need to look at. Our cars are so quick that the brakes are marginal so it’s a safety issue, not a performance issue,” he said afterwards.
There was action from the start of race two as Formato started from the back of the grid. Some brilliant, on the limit driving saw him scythe through the pack to catch the Opel of race leader Gary van Heerden on lap three and that was where the drama started. Formato explains, “I went for a gap at the top of the hill and van Heerden closed the door a bit and we touched which put him sideways a bit. I knew it was my fault and backed off so he could get ahead of me again but he just drove into me and spun me off the track!”
Once again Nando’s Team Ford Racing hopes were in the hands of Duminy and once again he rose to the occasion like a seasoned pro. This time he was in the midst of a four car scrap and battling with inconsistent brakes which led to a brief off road excursion. In never say die fashion he clawed his was back into contention and finished third, only 2/10ths of a second behind second placed Graeme Donker.
With first race winner Iain Pepper having retired and runner up Graeme Nathan nursing an ailing car to the end, the overall win for the day went to Duminy.
As expected, Duminy was elated afterwards. “I didn’t know what had happened to Gary and wasn’t sure if he’d rejoined so I just drove as cleanly as I could and must give thanks to God for the success. I tried to be consistent and keep my nose clean, but at the end of the day it’s a team effort.
“Between races we made a few changes to the car and dropped the tyre pressures. I’ve got a good understanding with my race engineer Nick Thornton. I tell him what the car’s doing and he makes the necessary changes,” he added.
“We’ve put together a good team in a short period of time and got Okkie van Schalkwyk on board because he runs a good operation. It’s a small team who all put in an enormous effort to make everything happen.”
“We also want to thank the Ford ST Club who came to Zwartkops en masse to support Gary and I over the weekend and it made such a difference to have their support and cheering from the stands.”, concluded Duminy.
Next outing for Nando’s Team Ford Racing is at the historic East London Grand Prix circuit on 7 June.
