Kosie Swanepoel, in his newly branded Wynns V8 SASCAR, took his first race win when he won both 75-lap heats at the series first night race at the fourth round of the 2003/4 SASCAR Summer Series on 15 November. –
– The early evening saw a typical highveld storm which causes some concern, but the drivers were committed to a night of hard dicing and close racing so took to the track in their road cars which dried up the 1 kilometre banked tri-oval. –
– The qualifying for the first 75 lap heat saw the drivers continually bettering times and in the end the top three racers were only separated by 100th of a second with team-mates Kosie Swanepoel (#3 Wynns Racing) and Peter Lindenberg (#2 Nationwide Airlines) qualifying first and third with the adrenaline junkie Rob Beaumont (#69 Tyco Trucking) sandwiched between the two. The first of the junior SASCAR drivers was newly crowned karting champion Jimmy Auby (#J20 The Glen Mica) who qualified overall fourth ahead of his father Deon Auby (#96 Tyco Trucking), who has seen his middle son race ahead of him throughout the season. –
– The first SASCAR heat was marked by two things, the complete dominance of Kosie Swanepoel who led from start to finish from championship leader Peter Lindenberg only relinquishing the lead for a lap and a half after his pit stop. Swanepoel took his first heat of the season with a great display of controlled racing setting the quickest lap and then the number of drivers who did not make the compulsory pit stop and in so doing received a number of time penalties, this was detrimental to Rob Beaumont and Kurt Bakewell (#J11 Sovereign Steel) who would have finished third and fourth respectively while Deon Anthony (#12 Cargo Brake) had a miserable race which was compounded by not pitting in time. All three drivers received a 30 second penalty and were credited with the longest pit stop. –
– Thanks to the penalties third place went to a very excited Tommy Wotherspoon (#9 Rapid Towing Services) with Patrick Seddon (#22 Contact Refrigeration and Air Conditioning) from Queenstown grabbing fourth place and valuable points towards the championship race. –
– The second of the 75 lap heats started without the orange car of Rob Beaumont who was sufficiently peeved by the penalties imposed on him in the first race to hang up his racing helmet for the night. –
– Again it was the charger from Cape Town Kosie Swanepoel who showed that he is fast ridding himself of the tag of bridesmaid and will be pushing Lindenberg and the rest of the field and that they will have a fight on their hands every time they step onto the track with him. Current point’s leader Peter Lindenberg again finished in second and kept some light between himself and Swanepoel in the race for the title but will be looking to take back the momentum at the next round. The youngster Tommy Wotherspoon was beaming from ear to ear when he grabbed a second third place for the evening while Jimmy Auby (#J20 The Glen Mica) continued to show the form that had seen him win the SA championship for 125 GP karting. Auby is fast developing into a quality driver and is developing a reputation for his gung –ho and fearless style of racing, such has been the disbelief at the results he is achieving that many people could not believe that he is racing in a junior SASCAR with a 350hp engine as opposed to the 500hp senior cars. “This kid is good, very good and could soon be challenging the best drivers in the country,” said Lindenberg. –
– Motorsport in South Africa has never seen a category of racing like this. This is truly stadium racing and is in the true blue US style of motorsport. With its high octane action, large prize purse and level playing fields SASCAR is with out a doubt poised to become the latest and ultimate thrill in motorsport. –
– After a great evenings racing the final word went to the man from the Eastern Cape Nick De Jong who exclaimed in awe after racing on the oval for the first time, “man, I was born for this.” –
– The SASCAR’s were supported by the 2 litre Hot Rod class, which is an AC-DC class able to run on both the larger oval as well as short ovals. This exciting new class was only in its second race on the 1km oval but the drivers showed no sign of fear or nervousness, and were soon going hammer and tongs in a clockwise direction (opposite to the SASCARS) over their two 10 lap heats, followed by a 15 lapper. In the first heat of the evening it was Mark Fry (#100) who took the comfortable win from Nico Muller (#302) and Flip van der Merwe (#12) who had a great dice with Muller narrowly coming out on top. The second heat saw an inverted pole which gave the lower placed drivers from the first heat a chance to get a drop on the other competitors and it was the lady driver Cindy Evans (WesBank Raceway) who showed a neat turn of skill and a willingness to mix it up who found herself leading the field only to have to retire with engine problems with just two laps to go. It was again Fry and Muller who finished in first and second with Rolius Smit (#109) rounding out the podium. –
– In the 15-lap final 2 litre Hot Rod heat, again it was Mark Fry and Nico Muller who dominated the proceedings, but this time Fry did not have it all his own way with Muller pushing him all the way and veteran oval racer Bert Horn (#143) finishing third. After the points had been tallied for the three heats, it was Fry and Muller who finished the evening in first and second respectively and Rolius Smit third. –
– Entertainment for the day included a fantastic aerobatics display by the BP/Nissan Flying Lions who used smoke and lights for the first time to create a truly awesome spectacle at dusk. Other entertainment a demonstration by Ian Billing in his Trade Centre Zlin, Slot car Racing, as well as Quad and Big Boy Scooter racing and all the other fun activities WesBank Raceway has to offer for great family entertainment. –
– The next round of the SASCAR Summer Series will take place at WesBank Raceway on Saturday evening, 6 December. –
– Sunday 30 November sees the 21st annual Toy Run come to WesBank Raceway with a 90-kilometre convoy of motorbikes making their way to the Raceway in aid of charity. Entrance is a toy and no exceptions will be made.
