Zwartkops Raceway Race Report

Last weekend saw the Pro Auto Rubber team braving the cold to take on Zwartkops raceway for the next round of the Superhatch championship. With both drivers placed well in the championship standings, good results were needed to ensure they stay in contention for the season’s honours.

Saturday’s proceedings were started with qualifying. Andre encountered a problem on the way to the pre-race area – a brake pipe burst while testing the brakes which ruled him out for the session. Shane had some issues with traffic in the session, but still managed to qualify the Kadett 2^nd in class. After qualifying was finished, the team from 4J’s Auto quickly fixed the issue on Andre’s Corsa, and both drivers were ready to race.

Race 1

Thanks to the grid reversal from the previous meeting, both the PAR cars were standing on pole in their respective classes for the first race of the day. Andre had an excellent getaway, and managed to hold 1^st position off the line. Shane stole the show with his launch – he had a brilliant getaway, leaving the class C field in his dust and even managed to get past some cars in classes A and B. Andre was still leading the field towards the end of lap 1, but upon entering the final corner the rear of his Corsa started sliding. He managed to correct the car on the entry of the main straight, but slipped back to 3^rd in class. On lap 2 the troublesome rear of the Corsa let go into turn 5, causing Andre to spin off track, and get demoted to 4^th in class. Shane managed to avoid issues during his race, and controlled the gap to his nearest class competitor. He secured the class win, whilst Andre finished 4^th in class A.

Race 2

For the second heat of the day, Andre started 2^nd in class, whilst Shane had to start 4^th in class. Both PAR drivers again executed perfect launches, and shot into the lead of their respective classes. Things were looking great for Andre as class A exited turn 4 – he was well clear of the chasing field, but history repeated itself as the Corsa once again swopped ends on the approach to turn 5. This saw him drop to the back of the entire field, and he now had a lot of work to do. Shane drove a flawless race, once gain controlling the race from the front of his class. He defended wisely when needed, and kept the charging competitors at bay to ensure a second win for the day. Andre managed to get himself back to 5^th in class, but an incident at the infamous turn 5 between the cars running in 3^rd and 4^th position allowed him to grab 3^rd position in class A.

The overall results for the day saw Shane as the winner in class C, whilst Andre took 3^rd in class A.

In terms of the championship, Shane has a healthy lead in class C, while Andre is 3^rd in class A. In the overall championship Shane is currently in 2^nd position, just 2 points behind the current series leader, with Andre currently 5^th in the overall standings.

The next event for the Superhatchers will be at Aldo Scribante Raceway on the 10^th of October. This will be a critical event in terms of the championship, as there will be lots of points up for grabs