Defending champion Leeroy Poulter managed a good fourth and first two-wheel drive car in race one, before being eliminated in a multiple crash on the first lap of race two.
Tschops Sipuka had one of his best qualifying sessions of the year, recording a grid time 0,093 sec slower than Poulter. He was a victim of an ambitious move by Anthony Taylor (BMW 330i) in race one and finished a good sixth in race two.
Gavin Cronje, making his debut appearance in the team, finished eighth in race one and fifth in race two, after leading the second race for two laps.
Race 1, 12 laps (29,76 km)
Michael Stephen (Audi A4 quattro) led from pole position throughout the race to take a comfortable win from Johann Fourie (Audi A4 quattro), who finished 1,78 sec in arrears. Making it an all-wheel drive Audi 1-2-3 was Shaun Watson-Smith (Audi A4 quattro), 1,99 sec behind the winner.
Defending champion Leeroy Poulter (Sasol Nissan 350Z) was fourth and first of the two-wheel drive cars after starting the race from fifth on the grid. He harried Watson-Smith in the early laps, passing him in the hairpin at one stage only to be repassed by the Audi driver in a robust challenge into the sweep immediately after the hairpin.
New team-mate Gavin Cronje kept out of trouble in his first race for the team following the departure of Gary Formato and finished eighth after starting ninth.
Tschops Sipuka finished an angry 12th in the third Sasol Nissan after an altercation with Anthony Taylor (BMW 330i) on lap 2. Sipuka did well to qualify sixth and second among the 2wd cars, just 0,93 sec behind Poulter.
He was sixth behind Poulter at the end of lap 1, but lost the place to Taylor at the end of the pit straight. He successfully challenged the BMW at the hairpin, only to be spun off the circuit by Taylor as the pair turned into the left-hand sweep that follows the hairpin. Sipuka rejoined the race at the back of the field and eventually finished 12th after catching and passing the Subaru Imprezas of Danie Olivier and Peter Lindenberg.
“I made what I thought was a clean pass on Anthony in the hairpin and was in front of him as we approached the sweep,” explained Sipuka. “He attempted to pass me on the inside and made contact with my left rear wheel and bodywork, causing me to spin off the circuit. It was an unnecessary move and cost me a possible fifth place behind Leeroy.”
Poulter was philosophical about the disadvantage the two wheel drive cars found themselves. “We knew the Audis would enjoy an advantage here today. The track surface is very abrasive and tyre wear is a problem. After qualifying fifth behind four Audis, a fourth is not a bad result.”
Cronje enjoyed his return to national championship production car racing after a six-year gap, during which he has concentrated on karting and single seater racing internationally. The former Rotax Max kart world champion said: “This was a big change from what I’ve been driving lately. We made good progress through Friday’s practice sessions and I was a littler disappointed not to have done better in qualifying. I just wanted to keep out of trouble in the race and scoring a championship point was good for the team.”
Marco da Cunha finished ninth, 1,1 sec behind Cronje in the Nissan Dealer Team’s Tubular Technical Construction 350Z. Deon Joubert, making a welcome return to production car racing in the Dealer Team’s Carfind/Bosal 350Z, was out of luck when his gearbox broke on lap 8..
Provisional results:
1 Michael Stephen (Audi) 13m 53,35s; 2 Johan Fourie (Audi) +1,78s; 3 Shaun Watson-Smith (Audi) +1,99s; 4 Leeroy Poulter (Nissan) +6,08s; 5 Etienne van der Linde (BMW) +7,57s; 6 Melvill Priest (Audi) +11,22s; 7 Anthony Taylor (BMW) +14,89s; 8 Gavin Cronje (Nissan) +17,20s; 9 Marco da Cunha (Nissan) +18,31s; 10 Clint Weston (BMW) +21,48s; 11 Seef Fourie (Subaru) +21,52s; 12 Tschops Sipuka (Nissan) +25,35s; DNF Deon Joubert (Nissan) 7 laps. Fastest lap: (new lap record) Watson-Smith (Audi), 1m 08,27s on lap 2.
Race 2, 12 laps (29,76 km)
A reverse grid saw the top eight finishers from race one head an inverted starting order, with the field getting away to a rolling start. Taylor (BMW) led Cronje (Nissan), Johan Fourie (Audi), Van der Linde (BMW), Seef Fourie (Subaru) and Sipuka (Nissan) at the end of an eventful lap 1.
Poulter (Nissan), Watson-Smith and Stephen (Audis) all limped into the pits and retirement after a multiple collision between the hairpin and the sweep. Priest (Audi) was also affected and retired on lap 3.
Cronje, making the most of his front row start, led the field at the end of lap 2, followed by Fourie, Taylor and Van der Linde. The former reserve driver for A1 Team South Africa kept Fourie at bay for another lap before the Audi driver forced his way past on lap 4.
Cronje slid off the circuit in the sweep on lap 5 after hitting oil dropped by one of the cars involved in the lap 1 incident, dropping back to fifth place.
Fourie went on to take an untroubled win and extend his lead in the championship, followed home by Taylor, Van der Linde, Seef Fourie, Cronje and Sasol Nissan team-mate Sipuka.
Sipuka made a great start and was sixth at the end of lap 1 from 12th on the grid.
“I really enjoyed myself,” said the former double VW Polo Cup champion. “I could have done even better if I hadn’t lost third and fourth gears.”
Poulter emerged from a testing ‘day at the office’ with just seven points (five for fourth place in race one plus two bonus points for a top five finish). “This hasn’t done our championship aspirations much good,” he said. “The pressure is on now to get good results in the last two rounds of the championship (in East London and at Kyalami).”
Poulter now lies third in the championship with 118 points, 10 behind Watson-Smith and 22 behind Fourie.
Cronje: “I like the idea of the reverse grid,” he grinned. “We didn’t quite have the legs to hold off the Audis today, but I enjoyed leading the race for a couple of laps. Unfortunately I got caught out on the oil in the sweep, otherwise we probably would have been on the podium at the finish.
The Nissan Dealer Team’s Da Cunha brought his 350Z home seventh, while team-mate Joubert retired on lap 2 after sliding off the circuit on the oil in the sweep.
Provisional results:
1 Johan Fourie (Audi ) 14 min 06,87 sec; 2 Taylor (BMW) +3,02 sec; 3 Van der Linde (BMW) +4,44 sec; 4 Seef Fourie (Subaru) +4,76 sec; 5 Cronje (Nissan) +6,01 sec; 6 Sipuka (Nissan) +6,01 sec; 7 Da Cunha (Nissan) +18,18 sec; 8 Peter Lindenberg (Subaru) +18,46 sec; 9 Weston (BMW) +25,06 sec. DNF Joubert (Nissan) 1 lap; Poulter (Nissan) 0 laps. Fastest lap: Johan Fourie (BMW), 1 min 09,60 sec on lap 2.
Next round: East London, October 20.
