With the two sprint races run, the stage is set for a thrilling conclusion to Round Six of Bridgestone Production Cars, taking place at the Phakisa Freeway circuit near Welkom in the Free State.
The Class A honours have been shared by BMW and Subaru, with Etienne van Der Linde winning the first outing and Hennie Groenewald the second. It ended a long lean spell for him, his last win coming at Killarney in mid-March.
The first 8-lapper ended with a BMW one-two, Groenewald giving notice of his pace with a very close third, despite losing ground at the start as the field concertinaed after the rolling start. Behind them it was an all-Audi affair (though Priest dropped out early with an engine problem), with Bonafede the best of the S4s.
Attrition and reliability determined Class T matters, with Lee Thompson retiring with a blown engine, which passed the lead to the Golf GTI of Graeme Nathan, who himself was slowed by an ABS-related braking issue. That gave the win to Jacques Joubert in a similar car, who made up ground rapidly in the race after qualifying badly.
Further back, Gary Formato was having a good race in the Focus ST, lapping consistently, and catching and passing the second MINI of Gavin Cronje, struggling with his pace as the tyres wore. Michael van Rooyen’s campaign with the Chev Cruze continued to frustrate, the car proving to be exceptionally hard on its front tyres.
Race two, with an inverted grid, promised plenty of action and certainly delivered. While Groenewald powered into the lead and then powered away, behind him spectators were treated to an all-out battle between Fourie and Stephen, which the former described as one of the best dices he’d ever had. Van der Linde enjoyed a grandstand view of it, and was right there at the finish. Fifth place went to Bonafede, who managed to eventually outmanoeuvre Sipuka on the final lap.
Class T also had a busy start, the MINI of Cronje and the old Focus of Niyaaz Modack tangling, the two both retiring as a result. There was more contact in the opening lap, Formato ending his race with the rear bumper hanging off. Another ‘casualty’ was Robertson in the Renault Megane, who stopped on the warm-up lap to reset some engine parameters and was forced to re-join at the back of the grid.
Van Rooyen found himself at the sharp end of the field, but not for long and Joubert made an impressive start to take the lead on lap two, Formato doing the chasing as they both dispatched Van Rooyen. Nathan was on a charge and Van Rooyen went back a further position, while Nathan continued to make up places and moved into the lead on lap six, to finish ahead of Joubert.
In the aftermath there was plenty of work to be done in the Mini garage, Cronje’s car requiring suspension surgery and an engine change in progress on the Thompson car. With a 17h05 start for the final race, they should be ready in good time.
