Cape Town played host to the second round of the Wesbank Super Series this past weekend at the Killarney racetrack. All the usual suspects were once again at the top of the four-wheeled field, including Johan Fourie, Des Gutzeit, Devin Robertson, Gary Formato and the Auby family. The bike action was the source of most of the drama, however.
In the Production Car field, the premier class A category saw local hero Johan Fourie make full use of his home ground advantage by winning the first two heats with his Audi. Unfortunately, Fourie’s bonnet came loose and he lost valuable time in the pits… which left the door open for Anthony Taylor to take the win in the final race with the new Afrox F30 3 Series BMW.
In Class T, Gary Formato stole the show in the BP/Castrol Ford, managing a clean sweep of the day’s races to take command of the championship early in the season.
Class T was totally dominated by reigning champion Gary Formato who, for the second time in two seasons, completed a clean sweep of wins. Formato, in the BP/Castrol Ford Focus, won all three heats to take a firm early grip on the championship. Graeme Nathan managed to put his IndyOil VW Golf in second place twice, sharing the spoils with youngster Jaques Joubert in another IndyOil Golf.
In the V8 supercar GT1 category, Jimmy Auby took the first race win ahead of brother Brandon, both driving ELT International/SFK/Cummins Ford Falcons, and veteran Ben Morgenrood in the IndyOil Falcon. The second heat saw father Deon Auby take the chequered flag after starting in fifth, beating Jimmy and Danie Correia’s Pontac Manor Chevrolet Corvette. In the GT2 class, Des Gutzeit (Dezzi/Cummins Ford Falcon) and Pat Seddon (Contact Refrigeration Lumina) share victories on the day.
The Engen VW Cup produced the most furious racing on four wheels on Saturday, as three winners shared victory throughout. Current champion Devin Robertson (Big Boss Auto) took the first race, with teenage sensation Kelvin van der Linde (Ferodo VW Polo) and another local favourite Kosie Weyers (Xtreme Team VW Polo) taking podium top spots as well. The three tussled for command of the podium all day, with Kyle Barnes (Conti Partner Polo) throwing a spanner in the works by clinching a second place in race two.
Defending champion Jayde Kruger (Time Freight FVW), Robert Wolk (Midas FVW) and Simon Moss (Southern Sun FVW) have once again put in outstanding performances in the Formula VW category to distinguish them from the rest of the pack, with Kruger taking the first heat ahead of Wolk and Tasmin Pepper (PG Glass/VW Motorsport FVW). After finishing fifth in the first heat, Moss was desperate to make up for it in race two, and he did just that by besting Kruger and Wolk. Victories were also shared in the Midas 1600 heats, which also produced some very competitive racing. Reigning champion Mathew Merton (Matsam Mygale) snared the race one win ahead of Werner Scholtz (Scholtz Civils Mygale). Young Jason Campos (Etana Mygale) upstaged everyone in race two with Temple edging out Merton in the battle for second and third.
The two SA Supersport 600 heats and a brace of SA Superbike unlimited races provided for some enthralling racing with close finishes the order of the day. And if individual honours had to be dished out new kid on the block Dave McFadden (Pepper Racing Kawasaki) and two-time Superbike champion Greg Gildenhuys, on the factory Motorrad BMW, would be at the front of the line.
Local boy Dave McFadden (Pepper Racing Kawasaki) twice upstaged Greg Gildenhuys (factory Motorrad BMW) at the opening round of the WesBank series at Zwartkops and took another win in the opening Superbike heat. After 10 laps of skirmishing between the two, McFadden won by less than a wheel. There was drama at the start of race two when Kawasaki riders Richard Carmody and Chris du Preeze fell at the first corner and the race was red flagged. After the restart McFadden and Gildenhuys proceeded to put on a breathtaking show with the pair tied together with a piece of string.
The two Supersport heats were also loaded with drama and for one and a half races it looked as though the Bikefin Honda team would make a clean sweep of the podium places for the second time in a row. Local hero Lance Isaacs took the first heat from team-mate Clint Seller in a photo finish with teenager Cam Petersen taking the final podium place. Race two saw Ivan Torlage win comfortably ahead of Dean Vos (both riding Kawasakis) and Petersen.
The next round of the Wesbank Super Series travels to the Eastern Cape for the field to do battle at Aldo Scribante circuit on April 28.
