The first of the SASCAR Summer Night Series will see fifteen V8 stock cars thundering around the 1 kilometre banked oval at Germiston’s WesBank Raceway under floodlights for two 100 lap events, both with a compulsory GoodYear tyre change. –
– One man who will only have winning on his mind will be veteran driver Peter Lindenberg (#2 Mack Trucks) who has taken the last two SASCAR rounds and will be looking to make it three in a row, but he wont have it his own way with the young gun of V8 racing Johan Fourie (#4 MD Transport) sure to be flying as he tries to make up for lost points having missed the third round held in East London. But Fourie will not find the going easy with the entire field out to burst his bubble. “I am now leading the championship and anybody who wants to take that lead – and that includes Johan – better realise that I am not going to give it away without a real fight,” said Lindenberg. –
– Twenty-five year old Fourie, however, knows he has age and fitness on his side. “Our longest race to-date has been 20 laps. With a continuous left corner on the tri-oval, the older guys are going to fine the 200 lap event a pain in the neck-
– Amongst the racers to look out for is Cape Town’s oval specialist Kosie Swanepoel (#3 Team Lindenberg) who having been the nearly man of SASCAR for so long, is determined to escape team-mate Peter Lindenberg’s shadow and snatch his first victory of the season. Team Tyco Trucking Rob Beaumont (#69 Tyco Trucking) and Deon Auby (#96 Tyco Trucking) are both experienced drivers who excel at oval racing and will be pushing the other competitors and one another very hard. –
– A strong contingent of Eastern Cape drivers will be making the trip up-country to show their big-city brothers what racing Eastern Cape style is like and Patrick Seddon (#22 Refrigeration & Air Conditioning), Nick De Jong (#5 Everite) and Rudolf De Vos (#6 Team Timjan) will definitely be a juggernaut to be reckoned with. A man who knows speed and embraces is Krugersdorp’s young Tommy Wotherspoon who as a former champion drag racer will find the 280kph speeds of SASCAR old hat and will be looking to come flying out of the banked corners and screaming past the others V8 magicians on the straights. –
– Ardent V8 fans will be able to feel the power and fury at nearly 300kph from the SASCAR grandstands, which are as close to the oval as possible and allow the spectator to literally feel the vibrations and smell and feel the action while directly overlooking the oval. –
– The drivers have the added incentive of knowing that SASCAR racing is unique in that all the cars are identical in horsepower and construction, so winning the R1m prize kitty is down to tactics and driver ability. The prize kitty is funded by series sponsors Hand-e, Carnival City, the House of Bonne Cuisine, GoodYear and WesBank Raceway. The cars are all either Fords or Chevrolet machines and run huge 500hp engines. –
– The junior SASCAR drivers who race in 350hp machines have been challenging the more established racers and could see their youth and natural fitness playing a real factor, 16 year old Jimmy Auby (#J20 The Glen Mica) who recently claimed the South African Karting championship in the 125 GP cc class has been developing a reputation for hard charging and having tasted victory will be out for more while his older brother Marc (17) (#J46 Amalgamated Panelbeaters) has not stood back for anyone this season including dad Deon Auby. Former Junior Powerboating champion Ross Lazarus (#10 Valvoline/Lindenberg Racing) took his first overall junior win in East London and will be looking to repeat his performance on the oval, rounding out the group of talented youngsters is Edenvale scholar Kurt Bakewell (J11 Sovereign Steel) who races with a maturity that belies his years. –
– In another first but this time in the air the legendary flying ace Scully Levin and his Harvard Flying Lions team will be performing at dusk and have ingeniously fixed a light that shines on the aircrafts exhaust that should create an impressive display of colour against the early evening skyline. Also wowing the crowds will be Ian Billing in his Trade Centre Zlin. –
– The evenings racing also sees an exciting addition to the SASCAR series with the 2 Litre Hot Rod class which is a support class running in only its second race on the big oval. There will also be a new and exciting extra with single seater racing taking place for the first time on the 1km tri-oval with a field will be made up predominantly of Formula GTI’s and Formula Vee’s. –
– Gates will open at 15h00 to the public at R40 and free for children under 1.5m. Racing gets underway at 6pm.The two SASCAR races take place at 18:55 and 21:00. –
– The fast food court will be open and refreshments will be available throughout the evening. –
– The championship points after 3 rounds are as follows: –
– 1st Peter Lindenberg (#2 Team Mack Trucks) Ford (602 points) –
– 2nd Kosie Swanepoel (#3 Kosie Swanepoel Racing) Ford (564 points) –
– 3RD Deon Auby (#96 Tyco Trucking) Ford (466 points) –
– 4th Jimmy Auby (#J20 The Glen Mica) Ford (427 points) –
– 5th Rob Beaumont (#69 Tyco Trucking) (424 points) –
– 6th Johan Fourie (#4 MD Transport) (394 points) –
– 7th Kurt Bakewell (#J11 Sovereign Steel) (240 points) –
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