The eighth round of the 2015 Liqui Moly Legends Championship saw this ever popular series set out to the Midvaal Raceway in Meyerton on Saturday 12 September for three more heats of action packed racing. An impressive twenty one car field ensured that the racing was nothing less than spectacular!
The traditional ball draw for grid positions would shake things up as usual. Anro Stadler (Semi-Pro) drew pole position with series newcomer Neville Loosemoore (Master) drawing second.
Jason Loosemoore (Semi-Pro) would start from third position while seasoned campaigner Franco Di Matteo (Master) had another good draw to start alongside the youngster on the second row. Divan Myburgh (Semi-Pro) and Devin Robertson (Pro) locked out row three for the top six positions.
Race 1
The start of the first race saw a frantic charge through the first few corners. Loosemoore Junior emerged onto the back straight in the lead with his father and the rest of the field in tow. Myburgh slotted into third position with Justin Robertson (Master), Stadler and Di Matteo in hot pursuit. Defending champion Robertson Junior (Pro) had to pit early with a left front puncture, dropping him a lap back on the rest of the pack.
Myburgh grabbed the lead by the end of the first lap after barging his way past Loosemoore Junior, who eventually retired with steering issues, while Loosemoore Senior held on to second place ahead of Stadler. Robertson Senior (Master) was catching them quickly however, bringing Llewellyn Myburgh (Pro) and Seef Fourie (Pro) along for the ride. Robertson Senior fought through to second with Llewellyn relegating Loosemoore Senior to fourth. It didn’t take long for Fourie to get past him either as he set about chasing the leading pack. Fourie grabbed second place a lap later with Llewellyn getting past Robertson Senior as well.
Keagan Wessels (Semi-Pro) fought his way up to sixth position with Di Matteo and Shaun Nel (Pro) following his example. The Young Lion competitors were scything their way through from the back of the field as well, with Clinton Bezuidenhout and Lonika Maartens slotting in to ninth and tenth positions by lap three. In a strange twist of fate Willie Erasmus (Pro) suffered the same problem as his team mate when a puncture put him out of the running on lap four. Llewellyn’s string of bad luck continued as well when engine problems saw him retire to the pits in a cloud of white smoke.
The battle for the lead would go down to the wire with Fourie making a last gasp effort to gain the position through turn five at the end of the back straight. He was chased all the way to the line but held on for the narrowest of victories ahead of Divan – 0.184 the gap across the line. Di Matteo used all his experience to keep Robertson Senior and Nel at bay to claim the last step on the podium as well as the Masters win. Sixth placed Stadler took the Semi-Pro honours, while eighth placed Maartens took the laurels in the Young Lions class.
Race 1 Results
1. Seef Fourie – Best lap: 1:16.002
2. Divan Myburgh – Best lap: 1:16.735
3. Franco Di Matteo – Best lap: 1:16.640
4. Justin Robertson – Best lap: 1:17.038
5. Shaun Nel – Best lap: 1:17.135
6. Anro Stadler – Best lap: 1:17.237
Race 2
An inverted grid for race two based on the ball draw for the first race would shake things up once again. The race got off to a chaotic start however when Wessels launched himself up the back end of Steve Nel’s car after the brake pads in his car fell out under braking for the first turn. The marshal’s did a great job of getting the stricken vehicles cleared before the end of the opening lap so that the race was able to continue without the safety car having to come out.
When the dust had settled it was Shaun Nel who had grabbed the lead ahead of Fred Els (Master) and Johann van de Venter (Master). As usual the faster competitors in the field were scything their way through the pack at a rapid rate of knots. Nel Junior still held on to the lead but the action behind him was far from over. Myburgh had slotted into second place with van der Venter holding onto third. Devin Robertson was driving like a man possessed and was soon up to fourth position. Fourie latched onto his coat tails as the pair chased down the leading trio.
Robertson made his move on lap three to take the lead. Myburgh grabbed second place shortly thereafter with Fourie getting past Nel to move into the top three as well. Willie Erasmus followed his team mate’s example as he too closed in on the leading trio. He took fourth position from Nel on lap six.
With Robertson off into the distance the real battle to watch was the one for second. Fourie slip streamed his way past Myburgh down the back straight to take second position. Myburgh regained the position on the same lap however. Fourie tried the same move on the penultimate lap of the race a lap later. Things went wrong when the pair locked bumpers down the back straight, sending Myburgh off onto the grass. Realising his mistake Fourie backed out of the move to let Myburgh regain his position at the end of the straight. With a bit of “red mist” still lurking, the pair locked horns through the next corner once again, sending them both off the circuit and out of contention.
Robertson made up for his earlier disappointment to claim his first victory of the day. Team mate Erasmus managed to steal second place away from Nel in the dying stages of the race as well. A late charge by the ever talented Maartens saw her claim the Young Lions honours with an impressive fourth place overall. Van de Venter kept Di Matteo at bay to take a well deserved Masters win. Eleventh placed Jason Loosemoore took the Semi-Pro laurels.
Race 2 Results
1. Devin Robertson – Best lap: 1:15.428
2. Willie Erasmus – Best lap: 1:16.602
3. Shaun Nel – Best lap: 1:17.204
4. Lonika Maartens – Best lap: 1:16.832
5. Johann van de Venter – Best lap: 1:17.151
6. Franco Di Matteo – Best lap: 1:16.791
Race 3
The final race of the day would see a full reverse grid, apart from the Young Lions competitors who would start from the back of the grid as usual. The charge down to the first corner was less eventful than the previous race and it was Loosemoore Junior who emerged onto the back straight in the lead. A repaired Wessels slotted into second place with Erasmus and Robertson Junior hot on his heels. Fourie was not too far behind the leading pack with Morne Stoltz (Pro) and Robertson Senior in tow.
As expected it didn’t take Robertson Junior too long to get to the front. He took the lead down the back straight on lap two with Erasmus and Fourie following his example to secure themselves a top three position as well. Loosemoore Junior dropped back to fourth with an eager Wessels trying to find a way past him. Fourie then took second place with Robertson Senior slip streaming his way past Stoltz as well.
The back straight soon became slip stream city as the movers and shakers in the field fought for position. Divan Myburgh was one of those men as he made up a fist full of positions to slot into fourth position ahead of Wessels before the end of the lap.
With the top four now starting to break away out in front the battle for fifth position couldn’t have been closer. Wessels was being hounded by Robertson Senior, with Loosemoore Junior, Maartens, Nel and Di Matteo snaking their way around the circuit behind him. Maartens used the slip stream effect to claim seventh position from Loosemoore Junior, while Di Matteo did the same to Nel.
The next few laps saw the mid pack battle continue to jockey for position through almost every corner. Slip streaming down the back straight was the name of the game and it was Di Matteo who outwitted the rest of them to slot into fifth position on lap six. Robertson Senior was glued to his rear bumper however with Wessels, Maartens and Loosemoore Junior in tow.
Myburgh had closed the gap to the leading trio with two laps to go. He dived up the inside of Erasmus through turn one to grab third position and quickly set about trying to close down on the leaders. The pace at the sharp end of the field was frenetic – with all three contenders running in the 1 minute 15 second bracket – the first time that this had happened all day.
With time running out it was Robertson Junior who held on to claim his second victory of the day. A valiant effort by Fourie saw him hold onto second place ahead of a hard charging Myburgh. Di Matteo crossed the line in fifth to take his second Masters win of the day. Sixth placed Wessels claimed his first Semi-Pro win of the day while eighth placed Maartens made it three out of three in the Young Lions class.
Race 3 Results
1. Devin Robertson – Best lap: 1:15.451
2. Seef Fourie – Best lap: 1:15.662
3. Divan Myburgh – Best lap: 1:15.849
4. Willie Erasmus – Best lap: 1:16.377
5. Franco Di Matteo – Best lap: 1:16.479
6. Keagan Wessels – Best lap: 1:17.129
The ninth round of the championship will see the series return to the Zwartkops Raceway on Saturday 17 October for the third time this season.