PE Race Report - Andre Dannhauser

Race report – Extreme Festival at Aldo Scribante Raceway

The PAR racing team arrived safely in PE for the long awaited coastal race, and got everything set up for Friday’s practice sessions. Shane would only arrive later on Friday evening, so it was up to Andre to take both cars around the track to make sure all was in order. In the second session the exhaust broke on the Corsa, but thanks to some help from some local PAR supporters the broken pipe was welded up and the car was back to 100%. Andre managed to set very competitive times in both cars, and at the end of the day all that was left to do was to collect Shane from the airport.

Qualifying

Saturday’s qualifying was cut short due to a vehicle ending up on its roof in turn 2. Thankfully Mel got out of the car with only minor bumps and bruises, and was her regular self in no time. Shane was still busy getting a feel of the track when the session was cut short, but still managed to qualify in 2^nd position. Andre did manage to get a fairly decent lap in, and also qualified 2^nd in class. The broken exhaust issue showed its ugly face again, but this time it was on Shane’s Kadett. Yet again the local PAR supporters came to the rescue, and the car was ready well before the start of the races.

Race 1 - https://youtu.be/IbCGzQA1FBg

Starting from 2^nd on the grid, Andre had a fantastic start and took the lead in class A. With the Superhatch cars having to start behind the 111 field, there was a lot of traffic to negotiate, but Andre used this to his advantage and opened a gap on the chasing class A field. Shane also took the lead in opening lap, and immediately worked on extending his advantage. Andre was still in the lead by the end of lap 6, but now had Brett Garland right on his rear bumper, with Jono du Toit looking to find a way past. A small error by Andre in turn 6 saw Brett taking the lead, with Jono following Brett through into the final turn of lap 7. The 3 cars were now running close together, and it was clear the fight was far from over for the final lap. Jono passed Brett into turn 6, and upon seeing the smallest opening Andre tried to follow suit. Brett was having none of it and closed the door, but then ran deep into the final turn, which saw Andre slip the Corsa onto the inside line, and it was a mad dash for the line. The 2 cars crossed the line side-by-side, and when the results were published it showed Jono winning the race, with Brett in 2^nd position, 0.034s ahead of Andre. Shane had a trouble free run in his race, and took the class C win by a considerable margin.

Race 2 - https://youtu.be/kR_4ji39rYc

Starting from 2^nd on the grid again, Andre managed to grab the lead at the start, but this time Brett and Jono were right on his tail from the very first corner. Shane again managed to take the lead on the opening lap in class C, and was looking for repeat performance of race 1. In class A Brett took the lead from Andre through turns 5 and six, and now Jono was also looking for a way past the Corsa. The bright yellow Corsa was now the mustard in a Honda sandwich, but Andre managed a careful balance between trying to attack Brett whilst defending from Jono all through the race. Brett took the win, with Andre in 2^nd position and Jono in 3^rd, with only 0.4s separating the 3 cars. Shane managed to hold the lead in Class C without issue, and was having an excellent race with some cars from other classes. Though he was racing cars with more power than his, he kept his cool, made no mistakes and once again crossed the line as the winner in his class.

Race 3 - https://youtu.be/AeisUEHFZcI

Race 3’s grid had Lenard Archer on pole, Jono 2^nd, Andre 3^rd and Brett in 4^th position. Lenard was clearly up for the fight for this one, as Jono had to work really hard to take the lead from him. Shane kept with his habit of taking the lead on the opening lap in class C, and quickly built a gap and found a Porsche from the 111 category to do battle with. In class A, Andre could not get a way past Lenard yet, and also had Brett on his case. Brett and Andre traded positions a couple of times, and it was only by lap 5 that Brett managed to get past Lenard into 2^nd position. Andre made a brave overtake on Lenard heading into the feared Hangar bend on lap 6, and set about chasing Brett down. He managed to close the gap considerably, but ran out of laps and had to settle for 3^rd position. Shane finished his race with no issues, and made it a hat-trick of wins on the day.

A word of thanks to Arno Loock and Steven Mitchell for helping our guys out – you guys are the best!