GTC, Formula 1600 to star at Kyalami
Kyalami’s Festival of Motoring presented by WesBank has rapidly grown to become among Gauteng’s favourite expos of all and now in its third year, the Festival will include a limited race program among its Kyalami on-track activities for the first time in 2018 and what better than two of SA’s finest and closest-fought categories to wow a car-mad crowd as the Sasol GTC championship and Investchem Formula 1600s taking to the track over the 31 August to 2 September weekend?
The premier 2018 SA Sasol GTC championship could not be closer fought, with arch rivals Michael Stephen (Engen Audi) and Gennaro Bonafede (Sasol BMW) involved in a title spat of note, while Simon Moss’ second Audi is keeping both of them on their toes. Stephen and Bonafede shared out the wins and seconds in a spectacular show last time out and there’s almost nothing to split them, while Moss, Robert Wolk in the other Sasol BMW, Volkswagen Motorsport duo Daniel Rowe and Mathew Hodges and BMW privateers Johan Fourie and Micheal van Rooyen have it all to do.
It’s been an interesting season for GTC, which started dramatically after Michael Stephen took the opening race win at Kyalami’s season opener. The grid quite literally fell apart though, leaving Simon Moss as the only top class car to make it to the finish of the second race to following a red flag and retirement strewn afternoon notable for a sizeable accident between Fourie and Stephen.
All was forgiven as Sasol GTC moved on to Cape Town, where Simon Moss obliterated the Killarney lap record to make it two wins in a row over teammate Stephen in race 1, before Daniel Rowe powered to an impressive maiden GTC victory in the second, reverse grid race over Robert Wolk’s BMW.
Stephen and Rowe then shared the wins at Zwartkops’ third round, before the GTC circus moved down to East London for round 4, where Bonafede held Stephen off to win a close opening race, before Johan Fourie and his BMW made the best of the reverse grid second race to beat Wolk, Stephen and Bonafede.
Stephen then stormed to a lights to flag home win over teammate Moss at a drenched Aldo Scribante in Port Elizabeth, before another home town hero and clearly a reverse race expert Rowe, delivered his third second race win of the season. Back to Zwartkops, it proved a championship stalemate as Bonafede and Stephen shared the wins and seconds out to see Stephen arriving at the Festival in an 8-point title lead over Bonafede with Moss a close third.
It’s a different story in the Sasol GTC2 class, where VW Motorsport GTI lad Keagan Masters has the rest of the field where he needs it, following a dramatic double-win last race. That leaves Mini teammates Brad Liebenberg and Devin Robertson, VW Golf GTI trio Charl Smalberger, Adrian Wood and Trevor Bland looking to celebrate defeating Masters at the Kyalami Festival and never rule Dayne Angel’s Honda Civic Type R or the Golfs of Johan Pretorius and Paul Hill out of that GTC2 equation either.
The season started well for Sasol GTC2, which delivered one of the races of the day at Kyalami’s season opener as Bradley Liebenberg and Keagan Masters shared the wins. Moving on to Cape Town, Masters beat Devin Robertson’s Mini in the first race and Trevor Bland’s Golf GTI to the second race to score a Killarney double, before Liebenberg and Masters swapped the wins at Zwartkops.
Devin Robertson then overcame Masters to claim his maiden GTC2 win in East London’s opening race from Bland, before Masters kept his win-a-meeting record intact in the second race. The Minis bounced back in Port Elizabeth, where Robertson and Liebenberg shared out the wins, before Keagan Masters hit back at Zwartkops to deliver a masterful Sasol GTC2 double to see him coming back to Kyalami in a handy title lead over Mini men Liebenberg and Robertson.
Sasol GTC’s Kyalami Festival of Motoring program gets going with practice sessions through Friday, before qualifying for GTC1 and GTC2 first thing Saturday and races 11h55 Saturday and 12h15 Sunday.
South Africa’s premier single seater race series, Investchem Formula 1600 sees its 2018 champion winning the chance to compete in the US Road to Indy shootout in December and the fight for that honour has delivered the hardest-fought SA national championship to date, as young gun Stuart White (Fantastic Racing Mygale) and seasoned campaigner Nicholas van Weely (Magnificent Paints & Hardware van Diemen) will arrive at the Festival of Motoring races split by just a single championship point.
White and van Weely have shared out most of the race wins so far this season, with White winning all four races at both Kyalami’s season opener and Killarney in Cape Town’s second round, before van Weely took control of the next four rounds at Zwartkops and East London.
The duo then shared the race wins and second places at a sodden Aldo Scribante Racetrack in Port Elizabeth before the battle moved on to Zwartkops last time out, where another seasoned campaigner Scott Temple (Road to Race Mygale played interference to win both races. White and van Weely were second and third in race 1 as White came home second in race 2 too, but van Weely slipped to sixth.
So Stuart White brings a solitary point’s lead to Kyalami over Nicholas van Weely, with Scott Temple up to fourth, just behind Alex Gillespie (ERP Trucking Components) and ahead of Cameron O’Connor (Universal HealthCare Mygale) in the championship race.
There are however several other drivers ready to upset the applecart, including Andrew Schofield (Investchem Mygale) and a hot group of young guns including Tiago Rebello (TRMS), Andrew Rackstraw (Investchem/RDSA), Siyabonga Mankonkwana (Cervinia/Max Q) and PE rookie Chassen Bright (Fantastic Racing).
There’s also keen competition in Class B among drivers the likes of Ian Schofield (Investchem Mygale), David Jermy (Fantastic Mygale), Allen Meyer (van Diemen) and Garth de Villiers (Durrant Mygale), while Gerald Wright (Fantastic), Gerard Geldenhuys (Abacus Divisions) and Brendan Tracey (Investchem) will all be looking for a step up at Kyalami.
The Investchem Formula 1600 weekend starts with practice sessions, Thursday before qualifying 09h40 and the first race 12h35, Friday. Race 2 happens 15h05 Saturday. There will be a wealth of other activity on track over and above the racing too, with everything from demonstrations to shows and competitions.
The racing adds to an already most popular Festival of Motoring recipe tailored to thrill the petrol head in an automotive sensory overload that covers everything from the chance to experience the very latest performance cars and all the new models to even a 4×4 village; vintage and classic cars and a host of lifestyle activities, plus the chance to interact with carmakers and motorsport legends alike. There will be a wealth of other activity on track over and above the racing too, with everything from demonstrations to shows and competitions.
Besides the racing, other track action starts with Professional Performance, Family and Supercar Drive Sessions where show-goers can experience a flip around the track, starting Friday morning and continuing through the weekend and alternating with other on-track activities a few times a day through to Sunday. Track activities ramp up Saturday and Sunday with the Pablo Clark Ferrari Challenge, Historic Racing, GT Race Car and Tata Race Truck Demonstrations, as well as Puma Flying Lions Air Displays and dices between a Nitro Air helicopter and a car on both days, while Sunday adds parades for Single Seater Race Cars and Mercedes-AMG owners.