Sean Moore stars in another LiquiMoly Inex Legends classic at Zwartkops

The Historic Tour visited the Big Z on Saturday 29 September and the LiquiMoly Inex Legends were the guests, on their first round at Zwartkops in 2018, and they did not overstay their welcome. 3 pulsating heats underlined the Legends’ status as one of the most competitive and entertaining series in local motorsport.

As is tradition, because of their 3 race format at each event, heat 1 was the curtain raiser of the day’s programme, and a high bar was set after 8 laps of cut and thrust racing which left everyone salivating. Sean Moore had the bit between the teeth all day and served notice of intent by winning an epic race, after starting from mid pack. Willie Erasmus was a close second, just fending off Richard Upton in third. Gerhard Roux was a brilliant fourth, Justin Robertson fifth after struggling with straight line speed.

Chris Hoy rounded off the top 6. Behind them, Dane van Heerde, Jason Loosemore and Richard van Heerde had a terrific scrap of their own, Loosemore clawing his way back into the midfield after contact with Giles Moore on lap one had dropped him down the order.

After all the excitement of heat 1, heat 2 was to prove just as exciting albeit for the wrong reasons. Charl Roux’s car developed an oil leak on lap 1 which was later traced to a loose oil feeder pipe, and luckily not a blown engine. The unlucky Master was out of the race and the resultant spill caused mayhem behind him, which brought out the red flag after a few spinners got stranded in dangerous places.

After the re-start, Willie Erasmus muscled his way to the front and got away from everyone, winning from Justin Robertson and Richard Upton, the defending champion having another good first outing in the spare Ziegler Logistics chassis of the Moore siblings. Gerhard Roux was fourth again, with Richard van Heerde fifth and Loosemore sixth.  Young Lion Jagger Robertson was seventh, adding another string to an impressive bow in his rookie season. Heat 1 winner Sean Moore had to pit with a damaged exhaust, and rejoined out of the reckoning.

Heat 3 started in the late afternoon, but it was well worth the wait for those who chose to watch despite the rugby international in PE. Giles Moore and Charl Roux led the inverted grid, with the form men Robertson, Upton and Easmus at the back, always a good recipe for a thriller to follow. As the lights went green the top guys were unleashed and Willie Erasmus in particular was driving like a man possessed, in his haste to get to the front, which proved costly when he went off roading out of turn 6 early on and fell back down the order.

Sean Moore took the lead from Roux, with Loosemore in tow. Behind them the action was frenetic, with the mid field engaged in ferocious combat. Robertson and Upton were soon challenging the leaders and before long there was a 5 car train contesting the lead of the race after Willie Erasmus had incredibly worked his way to the front as well. After 8 breathless laps in which at times they were four abreast, Sean Moore won from Richard Upton, with Justin Robertson third, Jason Loosemore fourth and Erasmus fifth.  Gerhard Roux capped a good day with fifth place, and Richard van Heerde was sixth.

Zwartkops will host 3 meetings in as many weekends between pay cheques in September/October, which inevitably places a strain on disposable income, but for spectators looking for maximum  entertainment for their hard earned money,  The LiquiMoly Inex Legends and EV Dynamics Inland Championship by extension are hard to beat. Both return to the Big Z on October 13. “