The Engen Volkswagen Cup series crowned its 2013 champion at Killarney in Cape Town on Saturday. Championship leader Kosie Weyers (5) put in two good performances to finish first overall for the day – and claim his first national circuit title in the process.
Victory in race one followed a fourth place start that saw Weyers make up two positions within the first lap, taking the lead from Dewald Brummer (22) soon after and then claiming the chequered flag. Race two saw the new champion start from fourth again – but finish in second, this time behind Brummer – after a tough battle with Mathew Hodges (12), his closest rival in the series.
Hodges started race two in pole, but Brummer had the better start to claim the lead, with Hodges left to fight it out with Weyers for second place. These results were enough to ensure that Weyers cannot be matched in points this year and his final round at Kyalami in November will be a no-pressure affair.
The same cannot be said of the fight between Brummer and Hodges as there is little breathing room between the pair – just six points – and their fight for second place will go down to the wire.
The fight for control of the Masters category will also be decided at the Kyalami final. Here Eddie Rodrigues (M7) has been leading the points table, but was overtaken this weekend by Ettiene du Toit (M4). Du Toit now heads to the final round with four more points than Rodrigues and the battle is sure to rage between them.
Killarney proved itself a day of tough competition with even the Driver of the Day award being a tough choice for officials. It was eventually decided that Jano van der Westhuizen (16) would get it rather than Bryan Morgan (41). Both put in strong driving performances but Van der Westhuizen’s 12th to fourth in race one and 12th to sixth in race two would take the award.
If such a thing as a bad luck award existed it would surely have been given to Shaun la Reserveé (14) who was the fastest man out on track in qualifying. This put him right at the sharp end of the field – but the top six draw relegated him to a sixth place start for both races.
The final round showdown is scheduled to take place on Saturday, 2 November, in Johannesburg.
