Friday June 14 provided three sessions for the Bridgestone Production Car racers to familiarize themselves with the Mean Streets of Durban and it was inevitable that the unforgiving concrete walls would claim a victim or two…
The first casualty was Richard Pinard, who ran slightly wide at the tricky right/left sequence at the end of the new pitlane, giving the wall a firm kiss with the front right corner of his Subaru WRX STI. That was enough to red flag the session – fortunately, it was almost over anyway – but Clerk-of-the-Course Piet Swanepoel was true to his word was that he would be unequivocal in stopping track action outright rather than putting his marshals in danger.
For most of the drivers the first two sessions were all about familiarising themselves with the changes made to the layout, and the consensus was that it was a big improvement over the 2012 layout. With the exception of a rather wicked bump at the intersection of what is normally Sylvester Ntuli and Argyle Roads, the drivers were full of praise.
“It’s got more flow – it really works now so its hat’s off to the organisers,” commented Audi S4 pilot Tjchops Sipuka, who is currently lying fourth in the championship.
“It feels really fast, really challenging, and much more demanding than in my Golf GTi which I ran here last year,” added Gennaro Bonafede, a year down the line Audi S4-mounted.
Top honours in class A went to Johan Fourie in the opening session, powering his BMW 335i around the 2,51 kilometre circuit in 1 minute 26.6 seconds, followed by reigning champion Michael Stephen in his all-black Audi S4. The Mini Coopers dominated class T, Gavin Cronje (who is leading the championship) ahead of the similar car of Lee Thompson.
Stephen moved to the top of the timesheets in session two, Fourie spoiling the Audi party by finishing second, just ahead of Bonafede, and Melvill Priest’s S4. Etienne van der Linde in the second works Beemer was fifth, Hennie Groenewald’s Subaru STI completing the top six, engine boost issues affecting outright pace.
The pace of the Minis once again raised eyebrows (Cronje from Thompson), outpacing the Indyoil Golf GTI of Jacques Joubert by over a second (having the faintest touch with the barriers along the way), and some of the class A runners by even more. Nevertheless the day was really one of shakedown and finding the limits, with most drivers circumspect – especially those with bad memories from last year.
The final session of the day was more of the same, the time charts reflecting an Audi one-two-three, Stephen a full half-second ahead of the similar cars of Priest and Bonafede. The BMWs were fourth and fifth, struggling for traction out of the slower corners.
In class T, the VWs went faster still – but so too was Thompson’s Mini, and it was still a second or so between them. Cronje used the session to bed in brakes and didn’t set a competitive time. The day was ultimately an encouraging one for Michael van Rooyen in the Chevrolet Cruze, and he pronounced himself happy with a new engine configuration with more low-end torque and was confident it would stand him in good stead during the course of the weekend.
With the ‘green’ nature of a temporary street circuit it was a day of exploration and finding the limits, with most competitors happy to end it without the prospect of extensive overnight repairs. Pinard was the exception to that of course, but the team were confident of being ready in the morning and it looks like a full complement of 17 Bridgestone Production Cars will line-up for qualifying at 8.25 am, to determine the pecking order for an eight-lap race which starts at 12h15. Visit www.spcc.co.za/race-results for the full results of today’s three sessions.
