Despite falling foul to race stoppages the SA Sports and GT division of the national super series delivered two entertaining races at Zwartkops on Saturday.
Ben Morgenrood continued his charge for the title by leading race one from start to finish The SA motorsport stalwart lined up in pole position with Rui Campos alongside him. The field managed to get through turn one, but a midfield incident involving Carl Nel, Andrew Strike and Brian Algar going into the hairpin caused mayhem, forcing a red flag
Morgenrood led the restart, with Terry Wilford and Franco di Matteo soon hot on his heels, after they had overtaken Campos. The V8 GT’s better traction out of Zwartkops’s slow corners made life difficult for the Shelby Sports, but that did not deter Campos who led Larry Wilford throughout the race, with Algar and Alan Eve in close attendance.
Terry Wilford then slid off the road with fading brakes when second place seemed a certainty and that promoted Di Matteo to the runner up spot at the flag. Campos finished third and in the process broke a seven year long Shelby lap record at Zwartkops with a best lap of 01 min 02,287. The previous holder was Donovan Roscoe with a lap time of 01 min 02,493, which he set in 2007!
Larry Wilford finished fourth ahead of Algar and Eve. The inverted grid for race two saw Andrew Strike and Ray Wilford lead the field away, but Wilford took control at the front, while the faster drivers all set about making their way from the midfield, Franco di Matteo amongst them. The Italian picked his way through the field in determined fashion and eventually relieved Ray Wilford of the lead with a couple of laps to spare.
Behind him, Ray put in his best performance this year, finishing second ahead of Morgenrood. Ferdi van Niekerk was the first Shelby Sports home in fourth place on the road, with Larry Wilford fifth, and Rui Campos sixth. Terry Wilford spun halfway through the race on oil deposited by another competitor and was a distant thirteenth. Not surprisingly di Matteo took the overall win for the day in the V8-GT division, with Campos doing the same in the Shelby Sports ranks. In the championship stakes, Morgenrood consolidated his lead, with Campos looking equally good for the runner up spot with two rounds to go, the next of which is at Killarney on October 5th.
