The national racing circus that is the Wesbank Super Series returned to Zwartkops in Gauteng for a third time for round seven of the racing series this weekend, as the season headed into its final third.
Hennie Groenewald will no doubt walk away from pleased from his sterling performance on Saturday in Class A of the Bridgestone Production Car championship. The Sasol Subaru WRX pilot managed to win the first sprint race ahead of Michael Stephen (Engen Xtreme Audi S4) and Anthony Taylor (Afrox BMW 335i) and the feature race later in the day – again ahead of Stephen, with Tshops Sipuka (Engen Xtreme Audi S4) taking the final podium spot. Ettiene van der Linde (Afrox BMW 335i) won the second sprint race, with Taylor and Stephen in second and third.
In Class T, Lee Thompson (Castrol Mini Cooper) won the first sprint race as well the feature event. Had it not been that the Minis of Thompson and Gavin Cronje ran into cooling problems, a Mini might have won the second heat as well, but championship leader Graeme Nathan capitalized with a second heat win. Nathan also finished second in both of the other races.
Devin Robertson (Big Boss Auto Polo) and Kyle Barnes (Gold Liberations Polo) were the stars of the Engen VW Cup, each winning a heat ahead of Jordan Pepper (PG Glass Polo), with championship leader Kelvin van der Linde (Ferodo Polo) and Rickie Napier (Supa Fuel Polo) managing third in the heats respectively.
In the combined field of V8 Supercars and Shelby Can-Am, Ben Morgenrood (IndyOil Ford) managed to win the first heat and a third place in the GT1 category, while Franco di Matteo (Varta Batteries Jaguar) managed consistent second places. In the GT2 class Ray Wilford (Fuchs Lubricants Chevrolet) managed first and third, while stalwart Willie Hepburn (Chevrolet) managed third, and a win. Alan Eve (Pilot Shelby Can-Am) won the first heat in that category, ahead of Brian Elgar and Craig Shorter (both in Hollard Can-Ams). Rui Campos (Q8 Oils Can-Am) won the second race, ahead of Elgar and Ferdi van Niekerk (Motorola Cordless Can-Am).
Simon Moss (Tsogo Sun FVW) and Jayde Kruger (GF Plastics FVW) managed a first and second respectively, while Nicholas van Weely (Anglorand FVW) took third in both races of the Formula Volkswagen single seater category. Werner Scholtz (Motorvia Mygale) dominated the Midas Formula 1600 single seater races, beating James Temple (GWM Mygale) and Matthew Merton (Matsam Mygale) in the first and Merton and Jason Campos (Etana Insurance Mygale) in the second.
Greg Gildenhuys (BMW Motorrad Motosport BMW) looks set for a third consecutive title as he took victories in both Superbike races, beating Chris Leeson (Race! Ducati) and Ryan Ottens (Northside Motorcycles BMW) in race one – and Nicholas Grobler (Jonway BMW) and Leeson in the second race. Brent Harran (Bikefin Honda) won a maiden Supersport victory ahead of team-mate Lance Isaacs and Steven Odendaal (MS Air Suzuki). Clint Seller edged out the competition in race two.
The next round of the Wesbank Super Series is the penultimate of the season, at Killarney in Cape Town on 22 September.
Championship standings
Production cars Class A
Michael Stephen – 200 points
Hennie Groenewald – 176
Anthony Taylor – 171
Production cars Class T
Graeme Nathan – 191
Gary Formato – 143
Jaques Jourbert – 115
Engen VW Cup
Kelvin van der Linde – 361
Devin Robertson – 326
Kyle Barnes – 242
V8 Supercars GT1
Ben Morgenrood – 78
Franco di Matteo – 53
Jacob Correia – 37
V8 Supercars GT2
Patrick Seddon – 84
Des Gutzeit – 83
Ray Wilford – 45
Formula 1600 single seaters
Werner Scholtz – 110
Matthew Merton – 107
James Temple – 87
Formula Volkswagen single seaters
Jayde Kruger – 128
Simon Moss – 109
Robert Wolk – 56
Shelby Can-Am
Brian Alger – 216
Rui Campos – 207
Alan Eve – 199
Superbike motorcycles
Greg Gildenhuys – 262
David McFadden – 202
Nicholas Grobler – 200
Supersport motorcycles
Clint Seller – 196
Lance Isaacs – 179
Brent Harren – 160