Alberton racers fire up the engines
Alberton racers recently braved the cold at Red Star Raceway for round three of the Inland Historic Tour.
While the temperature might have been on the chilly side, the action on the Red Star Raceway track on June 15 was red hot.
Saturday’s early morning qualifying was a slippery affair with all competitors battling to warm their tyres up to generate grip and avoid sliding off the track.
According to Brackenhurst’s Bruce van Niekerk, not all of the competitors made it through qualifying and they have some repair work to do before the next race.
“Rob van Aarle of Meyersdal, competing in the Evapco Pursuit series in his Ace Auto Salvage 1969 Ford Escort, made it safely through qualifying and put in some really fast laps in his first heat. Rob was a bit too quick, and he managed to break out of his class time, which saw him promoted to the HM class for the second race,” he explained.
He said Van Aarle even managed a quick spin while chasing the leaders and a mechanical breakdown by Hedley Whitehead allowed Van Aarle through to take victory in the second heat.
“This result gave Rob second in class overall for the day. The car ran faultlessly and there are no problems to fix or repairs required before the next round at Zwartkops on August 24,” Van Niekerk said.
Van Niekerk competed in the Formula Libre class in his ALS Omega ’91. He also made it safely through qualifying, but an electrical issue put him out of the first heat.
“The team sorted out Omega in time for the second heat, but I had to start from the back of the grid. A demon start saw me up to 10th place by the first corner, the position that I held for the remainder of the race,” he said.
This result was good enough to net first place in class E for the day for Van Niekerk.
Without the track marshals, medics and race organisers, Van Niekerk said they would not be able to have organised race meetings.
“Donna Kloppers, who is part of our team, was having a chat with Angelo of Brackengate SUPERSPAR and explaining how the marshals are out manning their posts in all types of weather. Angelo kindly donated water for us to distribute to the marshals, which they greatly appreciated. Thanks very much, Angelo. Also, a big shout out to the race organisers for arranging an awesome event,” Van Niekerk said.
He reiterated that motorsport is a fun family activity, and Team Omega had three new team members helping during the day.
“A big welcome to Gabby, Tatum and Mia. It was great having you with us and we are looking forward to having you join us at Zwartkops on August 24,” he said.
