The two favourite teams to win Saturday’s Aldo Scribante Five-Hour race should be the Adjust for Sleep Nova of Ryan Naicker, Charl Michael Visser and Jonathan Thomas, plus the Into Africa Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo of reigning South African champions Xolile Letlaka and Stuart White. Photograph: Dave Ledbitter.
The South African Endurance Series, connected by Vodacom 4U, will head for the Eastern Cape this weekend, with the Aldo Scribante Raceway in Gqeberha to host round two of the series.
The Five-Hours of Aldo Scribante will bring the awesome spectacle of night racing to the coastal fans, running deep into darkness.
Topping the entry list will be the Adjust for Sleep Nova of youngsters Ryan Naicker, Charl Visser and Jonathan Thomas, plus the Into Africa Lamborghini Huracan GT3 of reigning South African champions Xolile Letlaka and Stuart White.
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Able to interfere with their rivalry will be teams like Aldo/Silvio Scribante/Michael Stephen (Scribante Concrete Lamborghini Huracan GT3), Charl Arangies/Arnold Neveling (Stradale Porsche 911 GT3 R) and Mike McLoughlin/Steve Clark (Backdraft Slingshot),
Making its South African debut will be the Australian built Innovation Race Cars Ford Mustang of Julian Familiaris, Franco di Matteo and Romano Sartori.
Heading up Class B will be the Scuderia Rossi Alfa Romeo Giulia QV of Claudio/Mario Rossi/Werner Vonk/ Regard van Zyl, chased by the Sphere Toyota Altezza of Sergio Alvares, Marco da Cunha and Pieter van Heerden.
Class C should see a Volkswagen versus Honda battle between the Samlin Volkswagen Polo GTI of Nathan Hammond/Keegan Campos, the Honda Civic Type R of Paulo/ Ricardo Loureiro and the Korridas Volkswagen Golf GTI of Sandro Alves/Bruno Campos
Not far behind the exotic front runners will be a fleet of identical Backdraft Roadsters, contesting the V8 Roadster National Championship.
Current National Champions, Team Pesty’s Harm and Barend Pretorius, should be the team to beat.
Challenging them though will the teams of Pedro Garcia, Andre Bettencourt and Remi Guigue (G-Rasteirinho), Team 23/Adapt/Swiss Hotel School entry of Phillip Meyer, Mark Harvey and Dean Wolson, plus the Dutchman Browndeck Backdraft of Gavin Rooke and Richard van Heerde.
Others to watch must include lady racer Fabienne Lanz and American driver Dan Hirsch, the #11 of Toyota GR Cup champion Setshaba Mashigo/Xolela Njumbuxa/Fikile Holomisa, and the entry of Mario da Silva/Jan van der Merwe/Peter Blofield/Denver Branders.
The first hour of the five-hour race features nine cars fighting for the One-Hour National Challenge Championship.
Andrew Horne should be the pace setter in his Xena Chemicals Ligier JS 49, facing off against drivers like Antonie Marx (Shelby Can-Am), Roy Obery (Porsche 911 GT3), Marius Jackson (Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo) and Sun Moodley (Bigfoot Express Porsche 911 GT3 Cup).
Aldo Scribante has also entered the dash in his Scribante Concrete Lamborghini Huracan GT3 and will count the first hour of the five-hour as his stint.
Rounding out the category will be Damian Hammond (Liqui Moly Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo Evo), Tyler Robinson (Volkswagen SupaPolo) and Kyle Visser (Volkswagen Polo Cup).
Thursday and Friday morning will be dedicated to free practice sessions as teams prepare for the qualifying session at 15h55.
In addition, drivers face a mandatory one-hour night practice session at 19h00.
Saturday’s track action starts at 08h50 with a warm-up session before the headline five hours gets underway at 16h00..
Tickets cost R50 for Friday entry and R150 for a full day and night of high-octane racing action.
Southern African National Endurance Series connected by Vodacom 4U is supported by Africa Race Together, Dunlop Tyres, Proton and Foton, ATS Motorsport, SuperSport, plus Adapt Design and Sign.
For further information contact Wayne Riddell at wayne@saeseries.com.
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