Motoring

National Endurance Series gears-up for assault on Zwartkops

National Endurance Series heads to Zwartkops

The Zwartkops Raceway near Pretoria will host round two of the South African Endurance Championship this weekend, with 25 cars taking to the tarmac in the four-hour event.

In the running

Heading up the entry list will be the Audi R8 of Paul Hill and Bradley Liebenberg, the Nova Proto NP02 of Nick Adcock/Michael Jensen/Charl Visser, the Chevrolet V8 engine Backdraft Roadster of Mike McLoughlin/Steve Clark and the Audi R8 GT3 of Marius Jackson.

ALSO READ: National Endurance Series fails to disappoint at Red Star

Not to be discounted will be the pairing of Xolile Letlaka and Stuart White in their Lamborghini Huracan.

*_{The Nova Proto NP02 of Nick Adcock/ Michael Jensen could also take overall victory. Picture: Dave Ledbitter.}*

The event’s one-hour dash should be disputed by Andrew Horne in his Ligier, White this time in an Aston Martin Vantage and Mike Verrier in his Shelby CanAm.

Class B of the main race should see the Backdraft of Fabienne Lanz/Lonka Maartens/Lerato Sekudu facing off against the similar car of Kishoor Pitamber/Gavin Cronje, plus the pair of Lamborghini Huracans driven by Damian Hammond/Farhaan Basha and Sam Hammond/Wayne Roach.

*_{The Class C favourites should be Kara Hill/Jurie Swart (Volkswagen Polo). Picture: Dave Ledbitter.}*

Another duel worthy of note should be the Class C fight between Kara Hill/Jurie Swart (Volkswagen Polo), Kashen Naicker/Anthony Pretorius in an Alfa Romeo, and Kris Budnik/Kent Schwartz and Niko Zafiris in a BMW.

In Class D the battle will be between Volkswagen Polos and the father and son pairing of Roberto and David Franco, plus the Korridas team of Bruno Campos/Marcos Rodrigues and Joao Martins.

*_{Leading the Backdraft title chase will be Philip Meyer/Dean Wolson/Mark Harvey. Picture: Dave Ledbitter.}*

Class E, which is now the standalone Backdraft Roadster National Championship is packed full of potential race winners.

Leading the chase will be Philip Meyer/Dean Wolson/Mark Harvey, chased by Fikile Holomisa and Baphumze Rubuluza, the KwaZulu-Natal entry of Trevor Graham and Dan Hirsch, plus Harm and Barend Pretorius.

*^{The Chevrolet V8 powered Backdraft of Mike McLoughlin/Steve Clark could end up on the podium. Picture: Dave Ledbitter.}*

The main race will be supported by two heats of the Liqui Moly Super Vee single seaters series.

Time and cost

The Zwartkops gates will open at 06h00 and cars will take to the circuit from 07h00 for practice and qualifying.

Food and drink will be on sale or you may take your own, with braai’s, cooler boxes, deck chairs and gazebos welcome.

Admission will cost R200 per car with children under the age of 12 enjoying free entry to the venue. Everybody is welcome to visit the pits on foot at any time.

The feature race will be broadcast live on SuperSport from 11h00.

NOW READ: Wet and wild weather fails to dilute Kyalami 9-Hour spectacle