But as the weather deteriorated on Saturday and storm clouds gathered over the historic grand prix circuit alongside the Indian Ocean, Nissan Motorsport’s fortunes flagged just as the SASOL-fuelled Nissan Dealer Team rose to the occasion to rescue Nissan’s pride.
Tschops Sipuka recorded his first pole position in the category with an excellent effort of 1 min 29,16 sec for the 3,921 km circuit during Friday’s qualifying. SASOL Nissan team-mate and former champion Leeroy Poulter was third fastest with a best lap of 1 min 29,29 sec.
Race one, over 10-laps, featured a standing start and again it was an Audi A4 quattro that spoilt the Nissan party, with Johan Fourie taking the maximum advantage of his Audi’s all-wheel drive and superior traction to jump into an immediate lead from alongside Sipuka on the grid. Sipuka, twice a Polo Cup champion, hung on to Fourie for a lap and a half before the two cars tried to occupy the same space going into the Esses on lap two.
They went off the circuit together and across the grass infield. Fourie was able to rejoin the race and go on to finish second, behind the similar Audi quattro of Michael Stephen and ahead of a third Audi driven by Melvill Priest. Sipuka was forced to limp back to the pits and retirement with damaged front suspension.
Poulter, meanwhile, struggled with a damaged clutch from the start and pulled off the circuit on lap 4.
The Nissan Dealer Team’s Marco da Cunha and Darren Lobb started fifth and ninth respectively, and finished fifth and seventh.
The Nissan Motorsport technicians fitted a new clutch to Poulter’s car and repaired the damage to Sipuka’s and the full field lined up for the rolling start of the 15-lap race two. Thanks to the inverted grid employed for the second race (the top eight finishers from race one line up in reverse order), Lobb and Da Cunha started first and third, while Poulter and Sipuka were ninth and 10th.
Lobb led for 14 of the 15 laps before he was passed on the approach to the last corner on the last lap by Stephen (Audi). Da Cunha was spun out of second place at the end of lap two as a result of an over-zealous overtaking manoeuvre by Fourie (Audi), but recovered to finish seventh and in the points.
Poulter had a recurrence of his clutch problems and soldiered through to finish eighth and pick up a consolation championship point. Sipuka went out on lap three when his car’s engine cut out.
Not a great day for the SASOL Nissan team, but a better one for the SASOL-fuelled Nissan Dealer Team. Kyalami and round six await on July 5.
