Kwanda Mokoena and Hein Lategan are nonetheless locked in a titanic combat for the SA Endurance Championship following rounds 5 and six held at Aldo Scribante Raceway in Gqeberha this weekend. Two factors separate the 2 title rivals after six hours of laborious racing set to the colourful beat of Jesse Clegg, GoodLuck and DJ Zain SA who shaped a part of the SAES Spring Motorsport Festival. Michael Stephen and Paul Hill made a welcome return to racing of their Kalex Aston Martin Vantage GT3 and dominated spherical 5, whereas Nick Adcock, Michael Jensen and Mikaeel Pitamber powered their AidCall Ligier-Honda JS 53 to victory in spherical six which was run in full darkness.
Practice and Qualifying: Ligier-Honda pole
Riaan Botma set the tempo in qualifying, planting his Auto Investments Ligier-Honda JS-53 on pole with a lap time of 57.73 seconds, 0.27 seconds faster than the AidCall 247/RicoBarlowRacing Ligier-Honda JS53 Evo of Nick Adcock, Michael Jensen and Mikaeel Pitamber.
Michael Stephen/Paul Hill took third of their Kalex Aston Martin Vantage GT3 with a time of 58.4 seconds, 0.68 seconds away from Mike McLoughlin/Steve Clark of their new Backdraft Slingshot.
The third row noticed Charl Arangies/Arnold Neveling (Pagid/Stradale Lamborghini Gallardo GT3) head off Hein Lategan/Verissimo Tavares (BBR Porsche 992 GT3 Cup).
The championship chief Kwanda Mokoena partnered as soon as once more together with his uncle Tschops Sipuka, lined up seventh of their Amandla Coal/MJR Motorsport Audi R8 GT4 with Roelf du Plessis (Ultimate Outlaws Chev Lumina) for firm.
The V8 monster was a part of a Southern African Endurance Series experiment to check the feasibility of introducing a brand new SAE V8 class subsequent season.
David/Roberto Franco and Danie van Niekerk headed class D of their Graphix Supply World Volkswagen Polo with Mohamed Dangor/Kishoor Pitamber, entered in a model new Creative Ink Volkswagen Golf GTi, alongside them.
The Class E Backdraft championship-within-a-championship was led by Team Pesty’s Harm/Barend Pretorius adopted by a number of Mobil V8 champion Mackie Adlem/Rudi Barnard. Benjamin and Ben Morgenrood (Morgenrood Motors Group), Collin Ellison/Andrew Horne (Titan Historic F1), Anand Pather/Mario de Sousa, Craig Czank/Les Marshall and Team Qhuabani’s Fikile Holomisa/Baphumze Rubuluza rounded out the grid.
During the apply periods, the Creative Ink Golf required new engine mountings and an engine swap whereas Team Qhubani’s Backdraft required a brand new driveshaft. Team Pesty was pressured to interchange their gearbox.
Round 5
Botma led the sector through the opening ten minutes, intently adopted by Pitamber, the pair of Ligiers shortly opening a spot to the Aston Martin. Pitamber slipped previous Botma for the lead however was pressured to retire after 12 laps with no gas stress.
Shortly after, Botma pitted his Ligier with {an electrical} downside which in the end pressured their retirement after 69 laps.
Hill took the lead which he and Stephen constructed up at a frenetic tempo, crossing the road 4 laps forward of Lategan and Tavares, who as soon as once more had an enormous combat with Mokoena and Sipuka and Arangies’ Lamborghini.
The new Backdraft Slingshot was additionally within the thick of the motion till the model new automotive retired with an engine administration situation. With 45 minutes remaining, Arangies suffered a blown engine which induced a prolonged security automotive interval because the oil was mopped up and leaving Mokoena/Sipuka to cruise to 3rd place general.
Team Pesty headed the Backdraft fleet for 45 minutes till the automotive obtained caught in fifth gear however the pair soldiered on, adapting their driving model to go well with their new  circumstances and have been rewarded with a shocking fourth general and Class E honours, forward of the Roberto brothers’/Van Niekerk Polo.
The Morgenrood father and son crew (Crisjan was absent as he was writing exams) ended sixth, forward of Adlem/Barnard who suffered {an electrical} situation which induced a number of pitstops. Holomisa/Rubuluza ended eighth general forward of De Sousa/Pather’s roadster.
The Creative Ink Golf – with a late call-up for Polo Cup racer Clinton Bezuidenhout to affix the squad – retired with a down on energy engine.
Ellison/Horne suffered a damaged tie-rod finish which noticed Horne arrive on the hairpin – backwards. The following drivers simply managed to squeeze previous the stricken Backdraft with Team Pesty taking to the gravel in avoidance.
Czank/Marshall had a failed clutch after a spring labored free and jammed it, inflicting one other retirement in a race of attrition.
Mokoena/Sipuka took the Index of Performance honours forward of Lategan and Tavares.
Round 6
The six-hour race was cut up in half on the competitor’s request, so the grid lined up as that they had crossed the road on the three-hour mark.
Paul Hill was nursing a sore shoulder and elected to not begin whereas the Rico Barlow crew was nonetheless frantically ending the restore job on the Ligier, which was traced to a chafed wire resulting in the gas pump which induced a lifeless brief. The crew needed to hint the issue, then take away the petrol tank, take away the gas pump, construct a brand new wiring harness, put all of it again collectively and re-calibrate the sensors.
The job was completed two laps after the beginning of the race however after 35 minutes of scintillating driving, Pitamber had the Ligier within the lead, which Adcock and Jensen held to the tip. They completed one lap forward of the Mokoena/Sipuka Audi, which had a tyre blowout 10 minutes into the race.
As the race unfolded, Tavares – racing for the primary time at nighttime – began making errors and got here in for a driver change and full service together with new tyres and a full tank of gas. Moments later, the repaired Botma/Kruger Ligier blew its motor so the security automotive was deployed whereas the marshals mopped up the oil; Sipuka pitted for a fast splash and sprint which gave the Audi duo a transparent two lap lead over the Lategan/Tavares Porsche by flag fall.
The never-say-die angle of the Backdraft crew noticed the return of the previous Backdraft Slingshot for Mike McLoughlin/Steve Clark. The automotive by no means ran all weekend and wasn’t arrange however the duo drove the machine laborious and fourth place was their reward.
Class E noticed an enormous combat between the Backdrafts of Adlem/Barnard, the Pretorius father and son Pesty pair and the daddy and son Morgenrood crew.
The Pretorius’ requested to start out from the again of the grid for security causes because the automotive was nonetheless caught in fifth gear and they have been frightened that with sluggish acceleration they may very well be rammed from behind whereas everybody was accelerating off the grid.
Adlem prevailed regardless of a puncture, whereas the combat for second at school boiled all the way down to a 5 second hole with the Pretorius pair hanging on to second from the Morgenroods.
David and Roberto Franco survived their first ever night time race and with Danie van Niekerk introduced their Polo dwelling in a stable eighth and class D win. Pather and De Sousa initially held second place at school E however have been pressured to nurse the automotive dwelling with a failing clutch, ending ninth general and fourth at school.
Ellison/Horne and Czank/Marshall, who made up 13 of their 18 misplaced laps ended 10th and 11th respectively.
Holomisa/Rubuluza confronted their first retirement since they began racing after the oil stress dropped whereas Dangor/Pitamber Sr retired with a blown engine.
Harm and Barend Pretorius gained the Index of efficiency from McLaughlin and Clark.
The ultimate spherical of the SA Endurance Championship is the blue-riband Killarney 9-Hour on 9 and 10 December.
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Posted by MotorPress
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