GT National and Endurance series’ a treat at Aldo Scribante

Sports car racing returned to the Eastern Cape Aldo Scribante circuit in front of a huge crowd this past Saturday, when the venue hosted rounds three and four of the 2022 South African GT National Championship.

Charl Arangies and Arnold Neveling dominated the opening one-hour race in their Stradale Audi R8 LMS GT3.

Their superiority started in qualifying when Neveling set a blistering lap time, half a second quicker than the chasing pack.

He took the lead at the start, handed over to Arangies by the halfway mark and the pairing went on to win.

Behind the Audi, a five car train jostled for position, eventually led across the finish line by Silvio Scribante (Cemza Cement Lamborghini Huracan GT3), Dayne Angel (Angel Autohaus Ferrari 488 GT3) and Michael Stephen/Aldo Scribante (Ultimate Outlaws McLaren MP4-12).

Marcel Angel (Angel Autohaus Ferrari 458 GT3) ended fifth, followed by Daniel Rowe/Celso Scribante (Scribante Concrete Lamborghini Huracan GT3).

Race two saw Neveling blast into the lead, but this time, Dayne Angel’s Ferrari was absolutely on pace, and he took the lead when he handed the Audi over to Arangies.

Angel hung on to the lead to win from Arangies, with Silvio Scribante’s Lamborghini third, followed by Michael Stephen who drove solo in the McLaren this time. Marcel Angel brought his Ferrari home in fifth, followed by Celso Scribante.

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Supporting the GT Races was round two of the year’s South African Endurance championship.

Veteran racer and rallyist, Hein Lategan, and Verissimo Tavares (BBR Porsche 911 Cup) took the overall victory after starting last, due to a broken sideshaft during the qualifying session.

Second overall was the Cobra of Mike McLoughlin/Steve Clark and old-timer Tony Martin after extra fuel stops which cost the team a shot at victory.

Kwanda Mokoena/Mo Mia (MegaFibre Audi R8 GT4) claimed an unexpected pole position and raced cleanly to take third place, ahead of Class E winners Colin Ellison/Chris Radloff Titan (Historic F1 Backdraft).

Philip Meyer/Dean Wolson/Mark Harvey brought their Pple Backdraft home in fifth – winning the Index of performance – ahead of the father-and son Backdraft pairing of Harm/Barend Pretorius.

Race favourites Riaan Botma/Jeffrey Kruger (Auto Investments Ligier-Honda) also started from the back of the grid after an engine seized in qualifying.

The team arranged a spare engine which left their workshop in Pretoria at 6pm on Friday, arriving trackside at 7am on race day. The engine was installed by 8.40am and the car was race-ready shortly after.

With Botma taking the first stint, the Ligier was into the lead by lap four, and raced into the distance only for a wishbone bolt to shear, dropping the pair out of contention.