Former class A and overall champion Leeroy Poulter (Sasol Nissan 350Z) was unable to convert a second place in qualifying into better than two fourth places in the afternoon’s races, while team-mate Tschops Sipuka made up for the disappointment of retiring from race one with a diff oil leak by leading race two for the first six laps and eventually finishing second.
Poulter, who was unlucky not to secure pole position in Friday’s qualifying (his first timed lap in qualifying was compromised by a car spinning in front of him), is fourth in class A and seventh overall with 16 points after round one, 10 points behind early championship leader Anthony Taylor (BMW 330i).
Sipuka, who equalled his best-ever production car result (his other second place was also at Kyalami, in race one of the final round of the championship last year), is sixth in class and 11th overall with 13 points.
“After being fastest in Friday’s practice and just missing out on pole position for race one, we were disappointed not to have enjoyed a better race pace at Kyalami,” said Glyn Hall, general manager of Nissan Motorsport. “We weren’t that far off – Tschops led race two for the first six laps – but we’ve made a slight change in our set-up for Killarney which we hope will make a difference. We have to close the gap between our practice and qualifying pace and our performance in the races.”
The Sasol Toyota RunX team in class B will feature a change in drivers and a considerable logistical challenge to Race Prep, who manage the team and prepare the two cars. This is because the motor sport authorities have inexplicably scheduled two different national championship events on the same weekend, both in the Western Cape. Clashing with the production cars at Killarney is the second round of the Sasol SA Rally Championship in the Caledon area.
Dave Compton, who is contesting both class B of production cars and class A5 in the rally championship (in a Sasol Toyota Yaris), is forced to make a choice and will be doing duty in the rally car this weekend. Clint Weston, who drove a factory BMW 330i last season, will stand in for him in the second Sasol Toyota RunX at Killarney.
Riyad Jaffer, who missed out on winning last year’s class B championship on debut by a single point, is third in class and 11 points behind early leader and reigning champion Ben Morgenrood (Mazda RX-8) after the Kyalami round. He was third in qualifying at Kyalami and finished fourth and third in the two races.
Compton, twice a class B champion with Sasol Toyota (in 2005 and 2006), is fourth in class after the opening round, three points behind his team-mate. He qualified fourth and finished third and fifth in the races.
“On the day we were lacking pace, relative to the Mazda and the Ford (of twice race winner Morgenrood and twice runner-up Danie van Niekerk respectively), and also suffered from overheating,” said Race Prep’s Rod Hering. “We’re not that unhappy, though, as we have made good progress power-wise since last season. It’s just that our main rivals seem to have improved even more. With two races already under our belts, we’ll be in a stronger position this weekend.”
