Leading the pack in the Wesbank championship so far, Johan Fourie is expected to add the maximum amount of points when the pack meets at Zwartkops this weekend.
Leading the pack in the Wesbank championship so far, Johan Fourie is expected to add the maximum amount of points when the pack meets at Zwartkops this weekend.
With seven wins from eight races this season, most of the action in rounds nine and ten of the championship are expected to take place in Fourie’s wake. But as was demonstrated at Kyalami and Port Elizabeth on the previous outings, Fourie should not allow complacency to set in.
Grant van Schalkwyk (Hi-Q Mustang) does all his testing at the Pretoria circuit and picked up two second-place finishes there last year. Gary Formato lies third in the championship, despite problems with his Sasol Mustang’s handling, which isn’t seem to be improving. Trailing Formato by just one point is Hennie Groenewald (Havoline Jaguar), the only other driver to have won a race this season.
After kicking off the season on a high note, the promising Larry Wilford (Fuchs Titan Mustang) will need a change of luck to start scoring double points again. Also showing great potential is the Mackie Adlem (Sabat Mustang) whose consistent finishes in the top six should pay dividends soon.
Steve Smith (Cool Cat Carriers) would be hoping to continue his brilliant form after he snatched his best finish yet with a third place finish in Port Elizabeth. Franco di Matteo (Resili Jaguar) returns to racing after recovering from an injury while Melvill Priest will join the lineup again after missing the last race.
In the GTC class, Jaco Correia (Omega Spares Corvette) has also won seven of the eight races thus far despite convincing challenges from Zane Pearce (Hi-Q Mustang) and Andrea Taurino (Dischem Mustang).
The 2002 Wesbank champion Roelf du Plessis (Devco Africa Gardener Ross Corvette) has been expected to win a race all season, but a series of non finishes is all that he has produced. But with a win a Kyalami under his belt already, he may use Zwartkops to unveil his winning formula.
While Ian Young, in his Independent Projects Astra, is getting to grips with his new car, the newcomer Gordon Connelly (Gardener Ross Corvette) is starting to finish in the points.
Wade van Zummerin, using his father, veteran Wesbank racer Martin van Zummerin’s car, looks promising too as he steered the car to two strong finishes in his first race a V8 in Port Elizabeth.