BMW Club Racing Gets Going

The first round of the 2017 Inland Championship saw the popular Bridgestone BMW Club Racing Series kick things off at the rustic Midvaal Raceway on Saturday 11 February with an impressive 25 cars qualifying for the event.

Qualifying

Julian Fameliaris (E36 328i Turbo) started the new season off the same way that he did in 2016 by taking pole position ahead of Desmond Bloem (E36 M3 Turbo). Stefano Martinelli (E36 328i Turbo) would line up on the second row of the grid with Riaan Woest (E46 M3 GTR) alongside him. Rick Loureiro (E30 3.2 CSL) and Manny Ribeiro (E46 328i Turbo) would round out the top six in what promised to be an exciting start to the first race of the season.

Race 1

Fameliaris made the most of his pole position as he took the lead through turn one with Martinelli, Ribeiro and Woest hot on his heels. The red flag came out before the end of the first lap however after Jimmy Tsimenoglou (E36 M3) suffered total suspension failure, leaving his car stranded in a dangerous position through turn one.

Fameliaris grabbed the hole shot at the restart with the rest of the pack in tow. Martinelli slotted into second place with Ribeiro and Woest behind him. An unlucky Woest ended his race with steering problems shortly thereafter. Loureiro picked up the position with Willie Erasmus (E36 M3) and Philip Smit (E46 M3) chasing after him.

The battle behind the leading pack was just as close with series newcomers Len-Henry Gobey (E36 M3), Tyrone Dawson (E36 M3) and Antonie Marx (E46 M3) all fighting it out for the lead in class C – ahead of much more experienced competition. Loureiro gave himself some work to do when he lost a few places on lap six after running wide coming onto the back straight. After running in the top six for most of the race Smit saw his chances come to a heart breaking end when he ran straight on at the end of the main straight with brake failure.

Fameliaris went on to take a comfortable Overall and class A victory ahead of Martinelli with Ribeiro holding on for third. Fourth placed Ribeiro took the class B honours with Gobey beating the rest of the pack to the line to claim the class C win. Mike Grobler (E36 328i) outgunned the rest of the pack to take the laurels in class D.

Race 2

The traditional reverse grid by class for the second race would certainly make for more exciting racing. The charge through the first corner saw Ribeiro grab the lead ahead of Martinelli with cousins Dino (E36 M3 Turbo) and Julian Fameliaris hot on their heels.

Dino had grabbed the lead by the end of the first lap with Ribeiro and the rest of the pack in tow. Martinelli slipped into second place down the back straight shortly thereafter while Julian relegated Ribeiro to fourth position by lap three as well. Dino’s gremlins from the 2016 season seemed to come back to haunt him as he slowed down the back straight on the same lap losing the lead in the process.

Martinelli grabbed the lead and set about trying to break away from the rest of the chasing pack. Julian was having none of it however as he hung on to the rear diffuser of the leaders car in an all-out battle for the lead. Ribeiro inherited third position but was been hauled in by Loureiro and Erasmus at a rate of knots. Woest was also on a charge after starting at the back of the field and had scythed his way through to sixth place by the fifth lap. Ribeiro appeared to slow with mechanical gremlins allowing Loureiro, Woest and Erasmus to get past him over the next two laps.

The battle for the lead was also far from over as Julian tried desperately to find a way past Martinelli. His moment came on the last lap of the race when he dived past the veteran driver through the last few corners to take a narrow victory ahead of the plucky Italian to claim his second Overall and class A victory of the day. Third placed Loureiro took the double in class B with Erasmus turning the tables on the rest of the brat pack to claim a solid class C win. A determined Jan Eversteyn (E36 328i) took the honours in class D.