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The 2016 season proved to be one of the closest ever in the 27-year history of the Comsol VW Challenge. All four titles, the overall and three classes, were decided at Zwartkops on Saturday, 26 November. When the dust had settled and the points had been tallied the biggest winning margin was just two points. That was Luan Roos’ (Nathan’s Motorsport Polo) advantage over Graham Savage (Goldwagen JHB CBD and Wynberg Golf) in class C.  A single point was all that separated the winners from the runners up in the other championships. Rory Atkinson (Comsol Polo) retained the class A title while Nic Clarke (Central Technical Services Polo) scored a full house of points to take the class B and overall championships from Darren Nathan (Sextrader Polo). To have any chance of retaining his overall crown Clarke had to have the perfect day and take all 23 points on offer. He started the right way, taking pole position and the point that goes with it from Nathan. Jacques Smith (Hydra Arc Polo) was next up ahead of Adrian Wood (Laserfische Polo). Brad Hall (Hellermann Tyton Polo) and Quinton Needham (Tron Lubricants) rounded out the top six. When the lights went out at the start of the opening race it was Smith who got to the front, closely followed by Wood, Clarke and Nathan. Clarke knew what was required and soon made his way to the front. Once there, he slowly opened gap over the chasing pack and went on to a comfortable win. Behind him Smith and Wood had a race-long duel that ended with Smith taking the flag in second but a jump-start penalty dropped him down the order and promoted Wood to second. Nathan came home in third. Hall got the better of a three-ay fight for fourth, finishing ahead of Michael Harris (SA Lube / LTR Polo) and Deon Holliday Jnr (T& T Windscreens Polo). The initial stage of the second race was red-flagged early on to allow the marshals to clear the circuit after Hall and Holliday came together in the hairpin. At the restart, Clarke immediately grabbed the lead and was never challenged on his way to an emphatic win. The three-way fight for second place between Nathan, Wood and Smith became a four-way battle when Harris joined the fray. After 10 laps of intriguing racing Wood emerged in second ahead of Smith with Harris and Nathan in fourth and fifth respectively. Andy Gossman (Technicon Auto Spares Golf) ended in sixth. In class A the race for the championship was between Atkinson and Meintjes (LTR / Marty’s Body & Spray Polo), holding a slight advantage. Neither could get the point for pole position, that went to Stiaan Kriel (Polo) with Atkinson just 75 thousandths of a second behind. Wayne Masters (Performance Masters Polo) and Devon Piazza Musso (Allegiance Projects) filled the second row with Meintjes and Iain Stevenson in the second Comsol Polo in fifth and sixth respectively. The top two retained their positions throughout the opening race, Kriel managing to open a slight gap over Atkinson which he held until the flag. Meintjes was a fairly distant third ahead of Tasmin Pepper (Campos Transport / Alpine Motors Polo), who had to work her way through from the back of the grid after a mechanical failure on the opening lap of the session prevented her from setting a time during qualifying. James Hurley (The Starter Pack Company Polo) was another who experienced problems in qualifying. He managed to work his way through the field to fifth ahead of Piazza Musso in sixth. A wet circuit for the second race saw many drivers slide of the track but most of them regained the track without major incident. Kriel and Hurley led the way in the early stages with Atkinson close behind in third. Just after half distance Atkinson got past Hurley and a lap later moved into the lead which he held until the flag. Kriel followed him home with Hurley completing the podium. Meintjes had to settle for fourth ahead of Masters and Piazza Musso. Luan Roos (Nathan’s Motorsport Polo) came to Zwartkops with an advantage in the class C title chase that was going to be difficult for his closest rival to overcome. Savage needed to take all the points on offer and hope that Roos didn’t have a great day. Things didn’t go his way initially when Lyle Ramsay (Monroe Polo) grabbed pole position with Savage having to settle for second. Shaun Crous (Ancro Building Projects Polo) and Elke van Vledder (Golf) were third and fourth with Wouter and Luan Roos filling the third row. Ramsay took the lead from the start and was never challenged on his way to victory but it was taken from him when his car failed the post-race technical check. This gave Savage the win with Crous, who had been trying to find a way past all race, following him over the line. Luan Roos took the final podium position just ahead of van Vledder with Christiaan de Wet (Polo) and Duncan Marais (Technicon Auto Spares Golf) in fifth and sixth respectively. In race 2 it was again Savage and Crous at the front after 10 laps around a wet circuit where both of them had off-track excursions. Chris Dale (Dale Automation Polo) had his best race finish of his Comsol VW Challenge career, taking the final spot on the podium. His son, Sam, finished in fourth after running as high as second before the slippery track caught him out. Ramsay worked his way up to fifth after starting at the back of the grid with Simon Levin bringing his new Auto ECU Polo home in sixth. Seventh for Luan Roos was enough for him to take the 2106 class C title. |