Poulter, who was quickest in qualifying (setting a new outright fastest lap time for a production car at Killarney), was third in race one, setting a new lap record for class A in the process. He started race two in sixth place and was up to third by turn three, when he was hit from behind by Anthony Taylor (BMW 330i). This dropped him to seventh and he fought his way back to fifth (setting fastest lap of the race in the process). Then, with just two laps to go, he was unable to avoid hitting a spinning Marco da Cunha (Nissan Dealer Team 350Z), dropping back again to finish eighth.
Sipuka, following his excellent second place in race two at Kyalami three weeks ago, was sixth in race one and a fighting fifth in race two after running in a challenging second place for the first six laps of the 10-lap race.
The Nissan Dealer Team fielded three Tubular-backed 350Zs, prepared by Lee Philips’ SAM Racing, for Marco da Cunha, Darryn Lobb and Deon Joubert (making his first appearance of the year). Da Cunha finished seventh in race one and was running second in race two with two laps remaining when he was knocked off the circuit. He was classified ninth despite only completing eight of the 10 laps. Lobb scored a ninth and a sixth, while Joubert was 10th in race one and seventh in race two.
Race 1 – 7 laps (22,87 km)
Poulter: qualified 1st, finished 3rd
Sipuka: qualified 6th, finished 6th
Da Cunha: qualified 8th, finished 7th
Lobb: qualified 10th, finished 9th
Joubert: qualified 9th, finished 10th
Poulter’s hard-won pole position was immediately negated at the start by the superior traction off the line of the all-wheel drive Audi A4 quattros of Shaun Watson-Smith and Michael Stephens, who led the field from second and third on the grid into turn one. “I didn’t have a bad start,” said Poulter. “I was still in first gear when the Audis went past – Stephens actually had his wheels in the dirt as he took me on the inside on the way to turn one; there was nothing I could do. I decided to just stay with them in the opening laps, instead of challenging them for position, and was planning to make my move towards the end of the race.”
But just five laps into the scheduled eight-lap race, a class B car dropped oil in turn one after an oil pipe broke and several cars spun off the circuit. The safety car was deployed and the race ended behind the safety car after seven laps.
Poulter earned a valuable bonus championship point after he was credited with the fastest lap of the race, 1 min 20,204 sec, which is a new lap record for class A production cars.
Sipuka was at the tail end of a three-way battle for fourth with Johan Fourie (Audi quattro) and Anthony Taylor (BMW 330i) and looked to have got past Taylor in turn one at the start of lap four, but outbraked himself and went wide. Before he could get his momentum going again the safety car was on the circuit and the race was effectively over.
“I was disappointed with my grid position, which was not a true reflection of what we were capable of,” said Sipuka. “I had hoped to make up for it in the race, but it was almost over before it had started. I had good pace and was all over Taylor and Fourie. I was giving it all I had and nearly got past Fourie before the safety car came out.”
Da Cunha was first among the three Nissan Dealer Team 350Zs, finishing seventh behind Sipuka after starting eighth and ahead of team-mates Lobb (ninth) and Joubert (10th) in the other Tubular-backed Nissans.
Provisional result:
1 Shaun Watson-Smith (Audi) 11m 46,30s; 2 Michael Stephen (Audi) +0,26s; 3 Leeroy Poulter (Nissan) +1,04s; 4 Anthony Taylor (BMW) +1,59s; 5 Johan Fourie (Audi) +2,54s; 6Tschops Sipuka (Nissan) +2,81s; 7 Marco da Cunha (Nissan) +3,38s; 8 Etienne van der Linde (BMW) +4,26s; 9 Darryn Lobb (Nissan) +5,40s; 10 Deon Joubert (Nissan) +6,77s. Fastest lap (new lap record): Poulter, 1m 20,204s on lap 2.
Race 2 – 10 laps (32,67 km) (reverse grid)
Poulter started 6th, finished 8th
Sipuka started 3rd, finished 5th
Da Cunha started 2nd, finished 9th
Lobb started 9th, finished 6th
Race two featured the usual rolling start and a reverse grid with the first eight finishers from race one starting in inverted order) and saw Etienne van der Linde (BMW 330i) lead from pole with a very determined Sipuka hot on his heels for the first six laps. Sipuka went wide out of turn six on to the pit straight and he dropped back seven places to ninth. He fought back gamely to eventually take fifth place and valuable championship points.
Poulter started sixth and was up to third by turn three of the opening lap. He was hit from behind by Taylor’s BMW and dropped back to seventh. By half distance he was the tail of a five-car battle for the lead. With two laps to go he was unable to avoid a spinning Marco da Cunha (who had been hit from behind by Fourie’s Audi) and dropped back to eighth at the finish.
Da Cunha was in a strong position to win race two, pushing Van der Linde hard, when Michael Stephen (Audi) ran into him in turn three on lap nine. He ended up off the circuit and out of the race.
Lobb and Joubert swapped places during the race to give the Nissan Dealer Team a consolation sixth and seventh following Da Cunha’s mishap.
Glyn Hall, general manager of Nissan Motorsport: “Again, we promised a lot and were unable to come away with the rewards. Leeroy clearly demonstrated his class with his fastest laps and new lap record, but he got mugged by the Audi quattros at the start of the first race. Tschops fought hard, as usual, and might well have won the reverse grid race if he’d kept the car on the tar. We didn’t get the points we were looking for, but we had the pace and this gives us confidence for the next round in Port Elizabeth in three weeks’ time.”
Provisional result:
1 Johan Fourie (Audi) 16m 4,86s; 2 Etienne van der Linde (BMW) +0,08s; 3 Michael Stephen (Audi) +0,34s; 4 Anthony Taylor (BMW) +1,63s; 5 Tschops Sipuka (Nissan) +2,25s; 6 Darryn Lobb (Nissan) +3,34s; 7 Deon Joubert (Nissan) +3,72s; 8 Leeroy Poulter (Nissan) +4,11s; 9 Marco da Cunha (Nissan) 8 laps. Fastest lap: Poulter, 1m 57,86s on lap 2.
