SAM RACING LOOKING TO BUILD ON PHAKISA PODIUM AT ZWARTKOPS
author: Andries van der Walt
|
A picture by Motorpics.co.za
Marco da Cunha - 2010 Nissan 350Z Class A Production Racing Car
|
The new-look SAM Racing team, with former circuit racing champion and current South African land speed record holder, Grant van Schalkwyk, at the helm, travels to Zwartkops Raceway west of Pretoria this weekend (September 10 and 11) for round six of the Bridgestone Production Car Championship.
They will be aiming to build on the excellent pace shown by Marco da Cunha and the Tubular/Exa Motor Group Nissan 350Z in the recent round at Phakisa Freeway in the Free State, where the well-drilled team enjoyed a fourth place in the opening sprint race and a fine third in the longer feature race, sandwiching a DNF in the second sprint race after the engine oil temperature soared.
“I enjoyed my first weekend in charge and had forgotten just how hectic things can become, especially when the first two sprint races are back to back,” said Van Schalkwyk. “No chance to fix anything that breaks in the first race, so strategy is important and the main objective is to be on the grid for the double-points feature race at the end of the day.”
“To be honest, while we showed some pace at Phakisa and came away with two decent results from the three races (fourth in race one and third in race three with a DNF as a result of an overheating engine in between), we’re not expecting great things at Zwartkops. The Nissan is somewhat outclassed on this particular layout and right now we’re a bit on the back foot.
“We’re doing our best to remain competitive and give Marco the right equipment to show off the talent we all know he has, but the truth is we’re looking forward to the arrival of the new 370Z and getting into the same game as the current front runners. This is our main focus for the rest of this season and we’re putting in long hours to complete this exciting project.”
“I’m really looking forward to the arrival of the new car, but right now we have a job of work to do,” said Da Cunha. “We’re currently lying sixth in the class A championship with 69 points to (leader) Anthony Taylor’s 146, so there’s a big gap to be made up.
“The car felt good at Phakisa and I’m confident we can continue improving our overall performance and handle the Zwartkops layout better than we normally do.”
|
|
