The third spherical of the SA Endurance Championship delivered an exciting contest between race winners Xolile Letlaka and Stuart White in their Into Africa Lamborghini Huracan Evo GT3 and the Championship chief Charl Arangies and Arnold Neveling’s Stradale Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3. The cat-and-mouse chase noticed the lead change a number of occasions as race methods and pitstops got here into play.
The last lead change occurred with 50 minutes remaining and tensions ran excessive as each crews tried to outlast the opposite on gas technique.
With two rounds remaining and potential dropped scores coming into play, the championship is tied between the Into Africa and Stradale groups with BBR Racing snapping at their heels 5 factors adrift.
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James Sweetnam, Nick Adcock and Dawie Joubert introduced their Adjust4Sleep/Rico Barlow Racing Nova Proto house in third on the automotive’s debut whereas Karah Hill/Jurie Swart fought their technique to their maiden Class D victory.
CJ Blackman/Jean-Paul Briner received class E and the Index of Performance, additional strengthening their grip on the Index leaderboard.
SA Endurance Championship
Qualifying
The two-part qualifying noticed Andrew Rackstraw set a spectacularly quick 55.289 second lap across the 2.4km circuit with a median velocity of 159.52km/h to take pole place in his Ginetta G57-Chev which he shared with Craig Jarvis.
Stuart White blasted the Lambo to the entrance row with a time of 56.088 seconds, adopted by Neveling’s Mercedes-AMG an extra 0.52 seconds slower. Englishman Sweetnam accomplished the second row of the grid in the Nova, adopted by Mikaeel Pitamber in the Pilbeam-Nissan. Byron Mitchell put his Dolphin Racing Juno-Nissan on row three with Henk Lategan (BBR Porsche 992 GT3 Cup) and Marius Jackson’s MJR Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo rounding out the category A discipline.
Graeme Nathan bagged the Class D pole for Volkswagen Motorsport adopted by VW Polo Cup racer Charl Visser making his debut in a VW Polo SupaCup and Kalex pair Karah Hill/Jurie Swart.
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Andrew Horne took the category E pole in his Xena Chemicals Nash-VW adopted by the main Backdraft of Gavin Rooke. They had been adopted by the Morgenrood trio of Ben/Benjamin/Crisjan in their Ben Morgenrood Ford and Mazda Backdraft. Mark Harvey/Dean Wolson/Phillip Meyer adopted in the PPLE/Adapt Backdraft, CJ Blackman/JP Briner in their Tradecor Steel instance, Team Qhubani’s Bapi Rubuluza/Fikile Holomisa, the daddy and son Pesty Backdraft of Harm/Barend Pretorius and Trevor Graham/Tony Martin’s manufacturing facility Backdraft.
Race
As the lights turned inexperienced Rackstraw took a direct lead with White snapping at his heels as the primary laps had been handled. The first security automotive got here out simply three laps in after Izak Spies crashed his McLaren closely on the last nook, fortuitously with out hurt.
It was recreation on when the automobiles had been launched, with White hounding the main Ginetta whereas additional again, Carruthers spun his Pilbeam on the within of the Sweep however acquired going once more. Rackstraw was pumping in lap occasions in the 56 second bracket, with White doing 57s, however this was topic to visitors and backmarkers.
The monitor was a busy place because the leaders and SAGT automobiles threaded the needle choosing their means by means of the slower visitors. After 25 laps, White took the lead with Arangies closing on the ailing Ginetta.
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All was not nicely with Rackstraw’s automotive, as from lap two, he felt a lack of energy and as soon as he’d slipped to sixth, he pitted to try to repair the issue.
With the solar slipping over the horizon, Aldo Scribante turned a blaze of lights because the one hour mark noticed the tip of the SAGT and 1-Hour Dash. Traffic eased considerably because the GT automobiles peeled into the pits.
Shortly after, the #42 Backdraft of Trevor Graham crashed closely after operating huge on the ‘marbles’ and switch one, bringing out the protection automotive as soon as once more. Graham was unharmed, however the automotive suffered important injury.
Teams used the sluggish race tempo to pit, leaving Adcock in the lead from Letlaka, Arangies and Lategan. Nathan led Hill in Class D with Horne main Pretorius in the Class E battle on the 62 lap mark.
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White was proud of the group’s efficiency because the prolonged security automotive intervals performed into their arms in phrases of gas consumption and tyre put on.
The main groups pitted, White taking on from the massively improved Letlaka following some abroad races, and Neveling taking on from Arangies. The total outcomes noticed the Stradale Mercedes in the lead from the White Lamborghini, Sweetnam’s Nova Proto and Henk Lategan in the BBR Porsche.
Jurie Swart held a one lap lead over the Rowe Polo SupaCup whereas Gavin Rooke led class E from Buys’ Nash.
With simply over an hour remaining, the Ginetta emerged from the pits, having had the engine opened up because the group battled to revive the automotive to full energy.
Yet one other security automotive was known as into motion as Buys’ Nash floor to a halt in the Sweep, the automotive struggling a damaged hub which broken the driveshaft. The Pretorius’ Team Pesty Backdraft misplaced time in the pits changing a damaged driveshaft whereas the Rooke Backdraft pitted with steam pouring out of the engine bay.
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With an hour to go, Lategan pitted and ominously, the automotive was wheeled into the pit field to restore a leaking brake fluid pipe prompted when Hein had a high-speed spin after he was clipped by the Morgenrood Backdraft. The Porsche father and son duo dropped to fifth total because of the time loss.
50 minutes remained on the clock. White was proper on the glowing exhaust of the Mercedes and underneath braking by means of the final nook, dived contained in the Merc and pulled into the lead happening the primary straight. Over the following few laps, White’s breathtaking driving type was put to full use, constructing a lead of 11 seconds and counting, whereas simply behind, Henk Lategan took fourth place again.
37 minutes to go: White had 23.3 seconds in hand which rapidly turned one lap.
12 minutes to go: the Into Africa Lambo peeled into the pits for a splash and sprint gas cease. The lead was all the way down to 18 seconds as he rocketed out of the pits nevertheless it was sufficient…
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Sweetnam held on to 3rd giving the Nova Proto a debut podium, whereas Henk Lategan introduced his Porsche house in fourth, forward of Byron Mitchell’s Juno-Nissan.
Karah Hill reeled of the ultimate laps to say Class D honours forward of the Rowe manufacturing facility VW who was adopted house by Pitamber in the Pilbeam, and rookies CJ Blackman/Jean Paul Briner in their Wright Motorsport Backdraft, claiming the category honours.
Harvey adopted in second forward of Rooke, Holomisa, Pretorius and Morgenrood.
The fourth spherical of the SA Endurance National Championship takes place on 21 October at Zwartkops Raceway
SAGT
Qualifying
Michael Stephen picked up the place he left off final day out, setting a benchmark 56.74 second pole lap on his first flyer in qualifying. The Ultimate Outlaws Audi R8 LMS GT3 was a full 1:347 forward of Silvio Scribante’s Cemza Cement Lamborghini Huracan GT3 to finish the entrance row.
Aldo Scribante (Scribante Concrete Lamborghini Huracan GT3) accomplished a Gqeberha lockout on the entrance of the grid with a time of 59.57 seconds. Andrew Culbert (Bigfoot Express Mercedes-AMG GT3) was delighted to get underneath the one-minute barrier to take fourth.
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Paul Hill (Kalex Aston Martin Vantage GT3) lined up in fifth forward of the primary of the Ultimate Outlaws McLaren MP4-12Cs pushed by Roelf du Plessis. Du Plessis was later penalized for lacking parc ferme after qualifying and was despatched to the again of the grid for each SAGT Races.
Izak Spies took seventh on the grid in the sister Ultimate Outlaws McLaren with Sun Moodley’s Bigfoot Express taking eighth.
Marius Jackson (MJR Motorsport Audi R8 LMS Evo2 GT3) and Henk Lategan (BBR Motorsport Porsche 911 Cup) crammed out the final row.
Round 5
As the automobiles peeled out of the pits, Aldo Scribante peeled off the monitor and parked his Lamborghini on the grass verge because of a caught jack. The group despatched a technician and a hammer to repair the issue and he duly made his grid slot simply in time earlier than the flag fell.
As the lights turned to inexperienced, Stephen bolted away into the space whereas additional again, Hill powered previous Culbert as did Spies. Lategan was glued to the tail of the second McLaren whereas up entrance, Stephen had opened up a 2.2 second lead over the yellow Lambo, the main pair placing chunks of daylight over the remainder of the sphere.
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It all acquired a bit frantic when Stephen caught Lategan, Du Plessis and Spies. Going into the hairpin, Du Plessis handed Spies underneath braking, boxing in the main Audi. Scribante misplaced a bit of floor choosing his means by means of the tail of the sphere, opening an even bigger hole to Silvio Scribante.
There was a tense second in the pits when Aldo Scribante made his pitstop however the jacks labored completely and no time was misplaced.
Izak Spies retired his McLaren on lap 43 becoming a member of Marius Jackson and Henk Lategan already in the pits.
With quarter-hour remaining, Culbert made a monster dive on Du Plessis on the last nook and out-dragged the McLaren down the primary straight. Under braking for flip one, the McLaren simply edged again forward of the Mercedes.
With minutes remaining on the clock, Silvio was 2.2 seconds behind Stephen when he dropped a wheel on the filth and spun in the very quick Sweep, protecting it out of the wall, however his problem was over.
Paul Hill took ProfessionalAm honours forward of Roelf du Plessis with Sun Moodley taking the Am win.
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Round 6
The second SAGT race of the day befell as the primary hour of the SAE Endurance race, a brand new and widespread idea trailed on the earlier spherical.
Michael Stephen lined his Audi up in fourth on the grid adopted by Silvio and Aldo Scribante in sixth and ninth respectively. Culbert was tenth on the packed grid, adopted by Hill in 12th, Spies in 14th and Du Plessis on the again once more, following his penalty.
Stephen slotted in behind the main endurance runners, leaving his rivals to choose their technique to the entrance. Izak Spies had a large accident in the ultimate nook on lap three burying the Ultimate Outlaws McLaren in the tyre wall. Spies was shaken, however unharmed.
A variety of groups used the protection automotive interval to make their obligatory pitstops. Paul Hill briefly held the lead with Stephen nonetheless forward of Silvio Scribante whereas brother Aldo was closing down Andrew Culbert.
Marius Jackson and Aldo Scribante got here collectively on the Hairpin, the Audi retiring with broken proper rear suspension after the Audi broke traction. Aldo was left with nowhere to go and jinked left, simply clipping the Audi’s nook, the affect bending the Lamborghini’s oil cooler “like a banana”. Luckily the cooler temperatures performed into Aldo’s arms and he accomplished the race with out additional incident.
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After the primary hour of the SA Endurance race, the SAGT and 1-Hour Dash rivals pulled into the pits.
Michael Stephen retains his stranglehold on the SAGT Championship with one other win, adopted by Silvio and Aldo Scribante, Roelf du Plessis and the 2 Bigfoot Mercedes of Culbert and Moodley.
Stephen has a 25 level lead in the championship standings over Aldo Scribante, Andrew Culbert and Roelf du Plessis.
The 1-Hour sprint noticed Stephen take line hours forward of Roelf du Plessis and Sun Moodley. Charl Visser, the present VW Polo Cup championship chief got here house fourth adopted by Oliver Hintenaus’ BMW.
The subsequent spherical of the SAGT Championship takes place on 20 and 21 October at Zwartkops Raceway.
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Published by Motorpress
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