This weekend’s round of the SA Production Car championship will host the first outings of the new E90 BMW 330i and Audi A4 3,2-litre V6 quattro racing cars at Kyalami.
This weekend’s round of the SA Production Car championship will host the first outings of the new E90 BMW 330i and Audi A4 3,2-litre V6 quattro racing cars at Kyalami.
BMW Van Der Linde Racing has built three left hand drive cars at the BMW SA Motorsport facility, adjacent to the Rosslyn Plant. The left hand configuration is said to allow for optimal weight distribution and exhaust development.
New base weight restrictions have been put in place and the E90 will have to carry an additional 40 kg in order to compensate for the additional power that the new car has over its predecessor. The front wheel drive Alfa weighs in 50 kg lighter than the BMW, while the more powerful Nissan comes in 30 kg heavier. The four-wheel drive Audi entrants, making their debut at Kyalami, will weigh in 10 kg heavier than the BMW.
Piloting the new cars will be defending Class A champion Anthony Taylor, supported by Hennie Groenewald and Etienne Van Der Linde who returns to the racetrack after a year’s absence.
Long-time BMW racer Richard Sorenson and his team are currently building an E90 for Jimmy Auby. Another big name in South African motor racing, DAW, are joining the BMW line-up with two E90’s to be piloted by Briton Steve Morris and Marco Da Cunha.
Anthony Taylor currently leads the championship in his Van Der Linde Racing BMW, followed by team-mate Hennie Groenewald, Nissan 350Z pilot Gary Formato and Reghard Roets in his Alfa 147 GTA. However, the battle for supremacy in Class A will heat up on Saturday when three Engen-backed 3,2-litre V6 A4s, driven by Michael Stephen, Tschops Sipuka and Melvill Priest joins the fray.
