Volkswagen Scirocco team-mates Stuart Konig and Jannie van Rooyen fought long and hard in both of Saturday's races for Pre-1980 Historic Saloon Cars. Picture: Reynard Gelderblom.
Car racing spectacle returned to the Red Star Raceway near Delmas on Saturday, with six separate competition disciplines taking to the demanding four-kilometre circuit.
Heading up events were two races for Pre-1980 Historic Saloon Cars, with 24 competitors lining up for the opening heat. Stuart Konig (Northern Bolt & Tool VW Scirocco) took a narrow victory ahead of Jannie van Rooyen (Volkswagen Scirocco), Marius Verwey (Mazda R100 Rotary), Alan Green (Ford Escort Mk 1) and Devin Robertson (Big Boss Auto Datsun 160 SSS).
The top four finished in the same order in race two, but this time the fifth place went to Andre’ ten Napel (TNMC Volkswagen Scirocco). Running ahead of the Saloon cars, Willie Hepburn (Amtek Opel Rekord V8) easily took both the races for Pre-1990 Sports cars ahead of Richard de Roos (RDR Porsche 911 RSR).
Mackie Adlem (Adlem Auto Birkin) and Rudi Barnard (Barneys’ Property Birkin), finished the day’s second Lotus Challenge race separated by 12 thousandths of a second over the finish line. Picture: Reynard Gelderblom.
The first Bridgestone BMW Car Club race went to Andreas Meier (Trained Amateur BMW E36 STC), followed by Rick Loureiro (Combined Racing BMW 325iS), Jan Evertsteyn (African Surprise BMW M3), Ox Biagioni (Bio Pool BMW M3), and Ian Kotwai (Retoria Motors BMW M235i).
Race two, started from an inverted grid, saw Loureiro slot into an early lead that he was not to lose. He led home Meier, Evertsteyn, Reiner Smith (Beldiepolisie BMW M3) and Varish Ganpath (Bridgestone BMW 325Ci).
Mackie Adlem (Adlem Auto Birkin) won the opening Lotus Challenge race, narrowly ahead of Rudi Barnard (Barneys’ Property Birkin), with Andre’ Human (Adlem Auto Birkin), Sean Hewitt (Birkin S3) and David Coetzee (ELKSA Birkin) rounding out the top five places.
Barnard and Adlem fought tooth and nail for the second race victory, blasting through corners side by side on various occasions. Both drivers went off in the last corner of the race, rejoined the tarmac side by side and charged the finish line. Barnard broke the beam first – 12 thousandths of a second ahead of Adlem. Human finished third, leading home Hewitt and Jeffrey Kruger (Universal Health Birkin).
Rick Loureiro (Combined Racing BMW E30 325iS) took the second Bridgestone BMW Challenge race victory. Picture: Tony Alves.
The opening Charlies’ Superspar Pursuit handicap race went to Riaan Roux (Addfin VW Scirocco), ahead of Kola de Klerk (Nissan 300ZX), Clive Winterstein (Porsche 356A), Frans Venter (Nissan 280ZX) and Gary Stacey (Ford Cortina Interceptor). Wynand du Plessis (dtm Architects Porsche 944) won race two, followed by Sean Hepburn (HiW Midrand Datsun 1200), Werner Hartzenberg (Aircooled Wonders Porsche 916), Venter and Robert Clark (Containerforce Citroen GS).
The day ended with a 60-minute Endurance Series race, which included a compulsory two-minute pit stop. It was won by Gerald Wright (Sports 2000), ahead of Sean Hewitt (Birkin S3), Rudi Barnard (Barneys’ Birkin), Dean Wolson (Sports 2000) and Pieter van Aardt (Vibro Eco Rocam).
The next event at Red Star Raceway will be a National Extreme Festival round next Saturday, 25 September.
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