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Autumn Races

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Author: Patrick Vermaak

Publishing date: 04.05.2006 03:36

John Surnam - doing it his way!

Though the sixteen event program sported healthy entries on the program one felt somewhat cheated by the end of the day as many of the favourites failed to make the startline. Even the weather did not play fair when virtually perfect conditions became icy cold by the time the final race were completed. The annual visit by the Formula Vee brigade added national status to the Autumn meeting.

Formula V "Brad" Pack

Paarl Motors Classic Cars 2x8 Laps
Eight cars in class A sounded too good to be true, sadly it was! Fast becoming the biggest crowd pleasers at regional level the withdrawal of the Derek van Blerk Mustang (vibration) and Dave Kopke R100 (oil leak) was met with serious disappointment. The good news being that others now stood a chance to excel.

Trevor Momberg immediately grabbed the opportunity to place the well prepared Smith & Santos / All Scale Ford Capri Interceptor on pole with the brutish Chev Can Am V8 of Anton Rollino alongside. Row two saw the entertaining white Porsche 911 Carrera RS of Clive Spolander and the fast improving Mazda Capella Rotary of Alan Dike provide a completely different sound.

Carolin - Mazda Capella

Chris Carolin placed the wicked black Mazda Capella Rotary on row three with the “Chicken Plucker” Martins Auto Repairs Datsun 1600 SSS of Martin Richards ready to take on the big guns. Next up was Francis Cusens in his Porsche 911 Carrera RS with the rapid Brat Racing VW Scirocco of Speedy Webb alongside. Visual, sound and performance variety makes this a series worth watching. Thirty three cars eventually making the starting grid.

Heat one was hardly underway when Alan Dike tested the retaining wall on the outside of Hoals Hoek. Sporting a modified right side the Mazda joined in for the restart. Charging off the line it was the Can Am of Anton Rollino who cried enough before reaching Hoals and then Clive Spolander risked having his Porsche modified by spinning in front of the pack as he entered Engen corner. Martin Richards actually nudged the rotating Porsche but somehow nobody sustained serious damage. This left Trevor Momberg way ahead of the pack, only to lose out on lap five when the Capri cried enough. Ninth on the grid suddenly became a popular maiden win for Fred Phillips in his mean and nasty “Little Chev” V8. Martin Richards kept his nose clean to bring the Datsun SSS home second with Speedy Webb in third with the very quick Executive Decisions Scirocco. Chris Carolin and Alan Dike next in their screaming Capella Rotary’s. Francis Cusens next up in his Porsche 911 with recovering Clive Spolander seventh. Eric Bell losing two places due to a 30 second jump start penalty in his Alfa Romeo Sprint.

Bell / Richards

Trevor Momberg made amends by winning heat two as he pleased with Fred Phillips second, Clive Spolander third and Speedy Webb fourth. The Scirocco dragging its exhaust around just to prove it has adequate power. Herman Scholtz changed from rotary power to the more refined Bellevue Farm Porsche 911 of Fred Phillips. Failing to finish heat one he was happy to take fifth in heat two with Francis Cusens sixth and Alan Dike seventh. Chris Carolin took up mountaineering in the black Capella when he got out of shape into Shell sweep. Just to give the crowd a decent close-up he parked the the flame spitting Mazda on top of the tire wall. The Richards SSS also calling it day after three laps.

Overall the class A positions were Fred Phillips ahead of Clive Spolander, Trevor Momberg, Herman Scholtz, Martin Richards and Anton Rollino. Speedy Webb took class B head of the mighty Alan Dike Rotary with the 2.7 Porsche 911 of Francis Cusens third and the Rotary of Chris Carolin fourth. In class C Eric Bell impressed with pace in his www.Volkspares.co.za series Alfa Romeo Bertone Sprint 2.0 with Garth Gaenssler second in a milder Four Seasons version of the same model Alfa and Greg Sinden third in his Ford Capri. Ashley Ellis jumped ship from the Renault brigade to win class D in his neat Ford Escort with Michael Gerhardi second in his Transcape Steel Ford Escort and Lytton Coomer third in his rapid Renault R8 Gordini. Ezra de Beer took class E in his Assure/Net Porsche 924 with Keith Andrews second in his NGK Alfa Romeo Berlina and Mark Uytenbogaardt third in his peace sign Ford Cortina. Reinette van Rensburg placed the Suburban Engineering Fiat 124 Sport fourth with Richard

Schimmer fifth in his Ford Escort.

Fred van der Vyver took class F in his peace sign Lambert Racing Ford Cortina but the dice on the track with the similar car of Uytenbogardt was one of the highlights of the race. Johnny Mansour second in class with his Alfa Romeo Bertone Sprint. Watch as this series gains momentum! Soon to join the fray are the genuinely original Meissner Ford Escort Y151 of the legendary Peter Gough. This car spent time as a works rally car in the hands of the Fekken family and was discovered by Louis Powell in Stellenbosch. Painstakingly restored with assistance by Meissner addict, Henry Korkie, this car is set to attract major attention. Then the very same Peter Gough will hopefully soon be returning in his immaculately prepared Alfa Romeo Bertone Sprint GTA.

Powerflow GTi Challenge 2x8 Laps
Brett Roach placed his Veva Polo Cup racer on pole with the similar Bosal Brospeed Polo of Greig Edwards alongside. Mario Ras third with his Barnetts Auto Spares Polo and Andries van Eeden fourth quickest in his Cattle Baron VW Golf Cti. Sporting a healthy 21 car field this series is also showing healthy progress under the leadership of Howard Daniels. Making quite an impressive debut was the Quinz Quality combination of Quinton Velder and Stephanie Aukett.

Gauteng based George Econimides made the first heat his own with the red Polo less than one second clear of Greig Edwards after eight entertaining laps.Brett Roach saw his advantage disappear with mechanical maladies. Mario Ras hung on to third spot with Richard Laughton coming through from the back of the grid to take fourth in his Sun Auto Body Parts Polo. Bessie Bester fifth in his Cape City VW Golf and Stephanie Aukett sixth on her return in the Quinz Quality Polo. Andries van Eeden attacked every mole hill possibly on the outside of turn 5, clearing a path for Bessie Bester. Unfortunately the moles won and he had to sit out the heat after discovering the suspension was not set up for rallying.

Brett Roach was never headed in heat two with Greig Edwards happy to accept second spot, just ahead of George Economides. Andries van Eeden top Golf with fourth spot and Richard Laughton fifth. The top six completed by Mario Ras. Sadly Stephanie Aukett spoiled her debut by losing an argument with the Shell retaining wall. Fortunately her visit to hospital proved to be precautionary and she will be back.

Overall Greig Edwards took class A, Peet van der Walt took class B and in class C it was John Kirsten. It would however seem that the GTi element could be replaced by Polo as the Golf fraternity seem to be struggling?

Superbikes 2x8 Laps
Danie Maritz,
Nel and Hilton Redelinghuys made it a Suzuki threesome at the front of the small 20 field pack and the three continued to dominate the first heat with Malcolm Rapson fourth on his Kawasaki ZX10, Quintin Ebden fifth aboard his Nashua Honda CBR1000. Marvan Hydraulics duo, DJ maritz and MJ Maritz sixth and seventh aboard their respective Kawa mounts.

Danie Maritz - Joubert Straight

Danie Maritz proved quite entertaining aboard the Seesa Suzuki, effectively repeating the first heat result down to sixth spot. Missing from the result was Quintin Ebden. Though the field might not have been large, watching these machines diving into corners from high speed remains impressive in any language, especially when factors such as a strong wind is taken into consideration. Lapping Killarney in 1min14 demands utmost concentration and skill.

Overall Danie Maritz – Seesa Suzuki claimed class A from Marius Nel - Suzuki, Hilton Redelinghuys – Competition Bikes Suzuki , Malcolm Rapson – ZX10, DJ Maritz and MJ Maritz. Jean-Paul Friederich won class B from Stretch Henrick – Eurobike RSV Mille, Mike Wilhelmi – TESA Suzuki, John Oliver – Auto Atlantic BMW R1100, Aran van Niekerk – Suzuki GSXR650 and Gavin Yeoman – Suzuki South GSXR650. Emile van der Merwe – Suzuki

GSXR650 taking class C from Sharief Reynolds – Honda CBR600.

Sports and GT Cars 2x8 Laps
Very little can keep up with the Little 7 and as expected it was the Poolside Services FvH 7 Rotary of Peter Little on pole with the improving FvH 7 of Mike Coram alongside. Row two saw Alan Dike – Tiga Rotary share space with the Lola Toyota T212 of Louis de Jager. Third row shared by the megamouth PPM Lotus 7 Rotary of Eric Muller and the Sea-Jay GT3 996 Porsche of Cyril Ginsburg. A persistent misfire saw the Jaguar V12 powered P4 Roadster of Dave Hawkins alongside the Gulf coloured Tiga Rotary of Rick Davis.

Coram / Little

Making a race of it saw Peter Little spin the flame spitting FvH in Engen corner but though Mike Coram found a 30 sec jump start penalty even more frustrating as his win became eighth place. Peter Little forced to really race recovered to win from Dave Hawkins and Louis de Jager with Alan Dike fourth, Rick Davis fifth and Ray Farnham sixth in his Norton Abrasives Birkin 7. What was more encouraging was the fact that the horde of Lotus 7 variants have been joined by a selection of sports cars, adding much needed variety to the nineteen car field. Three Tiga’s and two Porsche entries encouraging.

Tiga - Tiga - Porsche

Peter Little made it two in a row with Mike Coram second and Dave Hawkins third. Louis de Jager fourth, Ray Farnham fifth and Rick Davis sixth. Class A is currently owned by Peter Little, class B went to Dave Hawkins with Louis de Jager second, Mike Coram third and Alan Dike fourth. Class C was won by Rick Davis with Ray Farnham second and Arno Church third. Cyril Ginsburg won class D with Roelof Brink second in his Opel powered Lotus 7 and Dave Alexander third in his neat Lotus 23. Francis Cusens took class E in the hard working Porsche 911 Carrera RS with Abert Cook second in the P3 Hawkins Roadster.

Formula Vee 2x12 Laps National
Thirteen teams simply does not convince as a national championship category, especially when six of those teams are Cape based. A pity as this series does provide great wheel to wheel racing. Another concerning factor is the fact that year after year the same faces return to Killarney. This is the single seater category that sets newcomers up to the challenges of serious motorsport, yet there seems to be little signs of new blood.

Jaco Schrik - Rhema

On pole it was Alan Holm with Symm Grobler and Jaco Schriks on the same second, Peter Hills, Chris Danks and Jody Robertson close. The Laser Sprint Rhema 2 of Alan Holm was never headed in heat one, winning much as he pleased. Symm Grobler taking second spot with Jaco Schriks third and Peter Hills fourth. Jody Robertson and Chris Danks fifth and sixth respectively. Heat two saw Trevor Bland slotting into sixth place.

Overall the order was Alan Holm, Symm Grobler, Jaco Schriks, Peter Hills, Jody Robertson and Chris Danks.

NAD Fine Cars 2x6 Laps

Di Dugmore

Not intended to be flatout racing the interesting variety of classic cars taking to the circuit as more than makes amends for the door banging of serious racing. With twenty seven cars registered it was disappointing to only see sixteen take to the circuit. Handicapping provides interesting results in the sense that in theory everyone should arrive at the chequered flag at exactly the same second, thus the racing becomes closer as the race nears its end.

Marius la Grange

Heat one saw Di Dugmore hang on for first in her Austin Healey Sprite with the Datsun 240Z of Marius la Grange second and the MGA 1622 of Derek Hulse third. Peter Ratcliff placed his very neat Ford Anglia fourth with George Sickler fifth in his Datsun SSS and William Carter sixth in his ultra modern BMW M5.

Heat two saw Peter Forbes win in his BMW 2002 with Philippa Chesler second in her yellow Mini and Peter Ratcliff third in his Ford Anglia. George Sickler fourth, Francis Cusens fifth in the Porsche 911 Carrera RS and Shawn Bester sixth in his very neat Mini Cooper. Overall honours going to Peter Forbes with Philippa Chesler second and Peter Ratcliff third.

Derek Hulse - MGA

Classic Motorcycles / D / Powersport 2x8 Laps
The superbikes impress with raw power, speed and braking but these bikes impress by the fact that they do not seem to brake at all! Ebrahim Levy put his R6 Yamaha on pole with the little Honda VFR400 of Trevor Westman and the equally impressive Honda RS125 of Paul Medell alongside. The later two really a pleasure to watch as they kick butt amongst the much more powerful opposition. Once again a series that combines old and new to provide an interesting field of varied performance.

As expected it was Trevor Westman heading the field with Paul Medell second and Wesley Jones third aboard his Honda VFR NC30 400. David Bolding fourth on his very neat classic Suzuki Katana 1100. The modern Auto Atlantic BMW RS1100 of Stephen Owen fifth and Paul Cooper sixth aboard his Honda VFR NC30 400.

Overall it was Westman from Medell, Bolding, Jones, Owen and Cooper. Westman winning the powersport category, Bolding the vintage category, Owen won class D and as usual it was John Surnam ahead in the classic category with his Triumph Bonnevale Special.

Barnett Auto Spares Clubman Cars 2x8 Laps
Another category to suffer from the no-show illness the racing could have been better. Of all the spelling errors in the program the worst must be naming this series the Barbett Auto Spare Clubman Cars. Paul Beachy-Head put the Sirius Jetta on pole with Phillip Booysen second in the ex-Wesbank Bosch VW Golf. Third on the grid going to Niyaaz Modack in the Wally Dolinschek Makita BMW 333i with Brad Wadeley impressive in fourth spot with the bulky Opel Rekord. Opel duo, Jason Thornton and Grant Geyer showing a fine turn of speed. Sad to see the John Craig Sentra eliminated and the absence of the Kosie Swanepoel and Shaun Sale BMW,s spoiling the fun at the front of the field.

Want to succeed at racing? Start of with a well prepared car. Niyaaz Modack winning as he pleased in the BMW with the equally well prepared Sirius Jetta second. Grant Geyer taking a fine third in his Sheldon Properties Opel with Brad Wadeley fourth in his Quinz Quality Opel Rekord and Jason Thornton fifth in his Mechanical Cooling Opel. Gavin Cerff sixth in his MRD VW Golf. Modack, Beachy-Head and Geyer repeated their positions in heat two but this time Thornton also snuck past the heavier Opel record of Wadeley with Cerff in sixth.

David Walker entertained by spinning his Golf in Hoals during the warm-up lap when the cold conditions caught him. Then he repeated the exercise during the race on warm tires. Phillip Booysen showed a good turn of speed in the red Bosch Golf but lasted only six laps of heat one. Baby Jacobs planted his BMW in the Hoals tire wall in heat one but made it home in the second.

Paul Beachy-Head took class A. Grant Geyer, Jason Thornton and Brad Wadeley made class B worthwhile watching with Gavin Cerff getting closer. Ewald Weiland fifth in his Alfetta GTV 3.0 and Peter van der Poel sixth in his ASA Opel Kadett. Clifford George won class C in his VW Polo with Wayne Webb second in his VW Golf and Dean Fenn third in his Toyota Conquest. Jeremy Smith fourth in his VW Polo, Francis Murray fifth and Michael Venlet sixth.

Shane van Woerden won class D in his VW Golf with the Jrie Fick Spur Golf second and the VW Polo of Mike Hope third. Trevor van der Merwe won class F in his Daihatsu Charade.

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