Round 7 - Kyalami – 02 August
It’s often said that once a driver scores a win, more follow quite easily. Jennifer Murray confirmed the theory when she backed up her win in East London by winning the opening Execuline Shelby Can-Am race at Kyalami on Saturday. Not only did she win, but she also started from pole and went on to take the overall prize for the day.
Driving the Execuline supported car she lined up on the grid with Rui Campos (Hugo Boss) sharing the front row with her. Alan Eve in the other Hugo Boss entry was third ahead of South Africa’s A1GP Team Rookie driver in the Execuline backed car normally driven by Craig Shorter. Completing the top six qualifiers were Guy Botterill (Fragram Tools) and Chris Hart (Hi-Q Plettenberg Bay).
As at the last round, Murray judged the start to perfection and was never headed until the chequered flag was waved. Campos followed, but was over four seconds adrift and had nothing but praise for her driving. “I was waiting for one little mistake, but she drove perfectly. I tried hard, but eventually decided not to risk anything and settle for the second place points. I still extended my championship lead so I’m happy,” he said.
Sean Greve (Vulcania Reinforcing) has put in some fine performances of late and he backed them up by passing Hart for third a lap from the end after the pair had squabbled over track space for most of the race. Orr was lying fourth in the early stages but a gearbox problem forced him out after two laps. Then Eve lost fourth with a last lap incident which gave Botterill fifth as Dave Beatie (Dura) completed the top six after a good tussle with Bryant van der Merwe (Chemspec) and Thomas Reib (Intertrans).
As is the norm at the longer circuits, race two was combined with the Altech Unlimited field so spectators were treated to the treat of Can-Am cars mixing it with Porsches of all shapes and sizes including a genuine Le Mans racer and a horde of Ferraris and other exotica in the 43 car field. With the grid based on a reverse order of fastest laps in the first race it had all the makings of a thrilling race.
As Toby Venter and Franz Pretorius had things their own way at the front, Eve won the Execuline Shelby Can-Am race from Murray with a superb third place. Eve got the advantage in the opening laps when Murray was held up behind the indecently fast Lotus Exige turbo of Charl Joubert. Once past she set about hunting down Eve, but he’s been around for a long time and wasn’t about to let this win slip from his grasp. “I made every corner and every lap count, it’s been a long time since I won.”
Lap three saw a nasty accident at the fast turn two between Botterill and Greve with both cars out on the spot but neither driver hurt. Murray closed up a bit as they threaded their way between the slower cars, but in the end she was just over three seconds behind Eve. It was enough to give her the overall win for the day.
Another sensible drive from Campos saw him claim third with Hart in his turbulence. Reib put in his best performance yet as he claimed fifth ahead of the flu ridden Brian Algar (Firedart). Next home were Bryant van der Merwe and Bertil Hofmann (IOU Music).
Campos extended his narrow championship lead over Hart and with only three rounds remaining, the 2008 Execuline Shelby Can-Am is set for a thrilling end.
Execuline Shelby Can-Am Racing is supported by:
Execuline Motor Underwriting, Hollard, Spanjaard Ltd, Carrera eye wear, British International and Goodyear.
Round 6 - East London - 12 July14.07.2008
Sponsor’s dream as Murray wins her first
Jennifer Murray became the darling of South African motorsport when she won the second Execuline Shelby Can-Am race of the day at East London’s famous former Grand Prix circuit.
Driving the Execuline sponsored car, the former karting star qualified second fastest after holding pole position until the dying moments of qualifying when Rui Campos (Hugo Boss) pipped her by less than a 10th of a second on his final lap.
Alan Eve (Hugo Boss) was right on the pace and headed row two with Chris Hart (Hi-Q Plettenberg Bay) while the top six was completed by Brian Algar (Firedart) and Sean Greve (Vulcania Reinforcing).
There was a fair amount of confusion at the start of the opening race and Murray found herself down in fourth place and adamant that some drivers had jumped the rolling start. There was drama at the fast Potters Pass as Thomas Reib (Intertrans), Dave Beatie (Dura) and Trevor Frost (Strocam) went off in a huge cloud of dust with all three retiring.
Campos emerged from the chaos in the lead with Eve hot on his heels and the pair played a cat-and-mouse game until Eve spun with two laps remaining. Hart thus moved up to second and kept everything together as ended as runner-up.
That left Sean Greve to take a deserved third after a storming race. Murray was little more than a car length behind with Guy Botterill (Fragram Tools) breathing down her neck as Algar rounded off the top six with Eve a distant seventh.
The official result saw Botterill classified sixth after being penalised 10-seconds for passing under yellow flags.
Race two featured a partially reversed grid, the top eight first heat finishers starting in order of their lap times, and Murray led from beginning to end after taking full advantage of the somewhat vague rules governing rolling starts. She drove with inch perfect precision and set the fastest lap as she kept her cool to win with almost two seconds to spare over Campos.
Hart was third having kept Eve at bay during the final few laps. The
ever consistent Algar was ahead of Eve for the first half of the race
and was eventually placed fifth as Greve was sixth after the luckless
Botterill retired on the opening lap. Execuline Shelby Can-Am Round 4 - Killarney, Cape Town10 May 2008
Despite a cold track and gloomy skies, round four of the Execuline Shelby Can-Am championship produced racing of the highest order.
Qualifying on Friday resulted in a four-way fight for pole position and eventually it went to Rui Campos (Hugo Boss) ahead of Jennifer Murray (Execuline) whose engine had been rebuilt after a dyno test showed it didn’t have all its horses. Guy Botterill (Fragram Tools) and Alan Eve (Hugo Boss) owned row two with Chris Hart (Hi-Q Plettenberg Bay) and Sean Greve (Vulcania Reinforcing) completing the first six.
The opening race was a thriller as Campos, Murray and Botterill fought from beginning to end. The lap charts show Campos as having led most of the laps, but they don’t show how often Murray got alongside in the long braking zone at the end of the back straight. On the last lap the trio were side by side but Botterill’s youth saw him wait longest before nailing the middle pedal and he held on to win by .039 sec from Campos as Murray was half a second adrift.
Hart had an eventful race and an opening lap fight for track space saw Eve retire with suspension damage. Hart held on for fourth as Thomas Reib (XXX) claimed his best finish as he took fifth ahead of Bryant van der Merwe in the Chemspec car and Cape Town based Dutchman Bertil Hoffman (IOU Music).
Sean Greve scored maximum points for a spectacular pirouette through the fastest corner when his left rear suspension broke halfway through the tricky double apex Malmsbury Sweep. “Our exit speed at that corner is just over 180 km/h …it was quite lively,” he said afterwards.
As usual, the second race was combined with the Altech Porsche Challenge to produce a huge 34 car field. The spectacle of Shelby Can-Am sportscars sharing the track with a trio of Maranello Challenge Ferrari F360s, Toby Venter’s indecently fast Porsche GT3 and a brace of surprisingly rapid and nimble Lotus Elise variants made the race a spectator’s favourite.
Venter claimed the overall win with Campos taking third overall and winning the Execuline Shelby Can-Am class narrowly ahead of Hart.
Murray’s race turned out to be brief. She was bundled off the track at turn one then a driveshaft broke as she rejoined the track. Richard Wood also retired in the commotion and then Tomas Reib (InterTrans) spun and Hanno Pengilly retired at mid distance after his rear wing collapsed.
Overcoming his first race scare, Greve did a superb job to take third place from Eve while Brian Algar (Firedart) was fifth after missing most of Friday’s running including qualifying due to matric dance commitments (not his!). Colin Frost (Strocam) scored a well deserved and morale boosting sixth place after going through a rough patch.
Formula Volkswagen racers rise to Aldo Scribante challenge29th April 2008
Two races were scheduled for the day and the crowds were not disappointed by what they saw. A field of 14 cars took to the starting grid on Saturday morning and promptly set a quickest laptime of 58.935 seconds – by comparison the WesBank V8 Supercars were clocked at one minute and one second for their best lap.
To highlight the significance of the open-wheel racing advantage, these 220 bhp cars weigh in at 600 kg and produce an average speed at Scribante of 150 km/h, compared to the 140 km/h of the V8s. To take the comparison even further, CitiBike SA Superbike rider Clinton Seller posted a new track record at Scribante of 1:01.676 for the 1000cc Superbike class – compared to the 58.935 second time posted by overall Formula Volkswagen winner Christiano Morgado (7) and his Morgado Racing entry during race one.
These figures show just how quick, and competitive, the Formula Volkswagen series is – and just how much racing action spectators can look forward to as the series travels the country.
While the teams are still finding their feet, the series can be seen to grow with each passing event. Each time the Formula Volkswagen cars appear on track they sport more branding, better livery and, most importantly, more experienced drivers.
Part of the build-up to the Port Elizabeth event was a coaching clinic held for the Formula Volkswagen drivers. Here they had the chance to learn a bit more about their race cars, the race craft required to succeed and also had the opportunity to push their limits.
As each of the cars’ engine management systems are disabled after the race meetings, competitors cannot run them for practice sessions between events. This severely limits the chance that any one competitor can gain greater levels of experience and run away from the field after some secret training sessions.
The Aldo Scribante race meeting also proved a real surprise for racer Gavin Cronje (25). Up till now Cronje has commanded the lead at each event, leading the other racers round.
The PE race weekend saw everything suddenly fall into place for Morgado. Here he romped to victory in both races putting no foot wrong throughout the meeting. This makes a pleasant change from his usual track experiences in Formula Volkswagen to date.
It is also indicative of the progress being made in the series. As the teams’ knowledge improves, and both team and driver become more settled in the series, more race winning drivers will emerge.
For Morgado this weekend has worked out particularly well. Not only did he win both races, but also secured pole position on the grid for the races as well – a vital component for success at Aldo Scribante Raceway.
While Morgado claimed first place for both races, Cronje claimed second for both race one and two. Third for the first race was taken by David Perel (8) and his Tubular Tech Construction entry. Third place in race two went to Wesleigh Orr (36).
Overall standings for the race meeting predictably placed Morgado and Cronje in first and second with Orr taking third place – thanks to a fourth place finish in race one to go with third place in the second race.
Formula Volkswagen now moves its attention to the Zwartkops Raceway circuit in Pretoria for their next outing on Saturday, 24 May.
Execuline Shelby Can-Am Round 3 - Kyalami12 April 2008
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This season's Execuline Shelby Can-Am championship is turning out to be a thriller and a healthy entry at Kyalami kept fans on their toes.
With three events gone there's no clear favourite for the championship,
but at Kyalami on Saturday both Chris Hart and Rui Campos put themselves
firmly in contention for the title.
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A typical highveld afternoon downpour left the track half wet (or half dry!) and turned Friday's qualifying into a lottery. Surprisingly, it was the younger drivers who emerged at the top of the timesheets.
Driving the Hi-Q Plettenberg Bay entry Chris Hart emerged with pole position
with Guy Botterill (Fragram Tools) second fastest ahead of Jennifer Murray
(Execuline) and Marco da Cunha (SAM Racing/Tubular Tech) as Sean Greve
(Vulcania Reinforcing) and Thomas Reib (Intertrans) rounded off the top
six.
Under clear skies Hart judged the start of the opening race to perfection
and put in a faultless performance as he led from the start to finish
to win by more than a second from Campos (Hugo Boss) who closed the gap
quickly towards the end. It was a storming drive from Campos considering
he'd started from ninth. An inspired Alan Eve (Hugo Boss) started 11th
and matched Campos to take a hard fought third just ahead of Murray.
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Da Cunha looked set for second place until just after half distance when his motor lost its edge and he dropped off the pace. He did well to limit the damage and hang onto fifth just ahead of Greve.
An early casualty was Thomas Reib who slithered into the gravel at Wesbank
corner on the first lap and the safety car was deployed while his car
was removed. Then contact at the bowl on lap six between Colin Frost (Strocam)
and Craig Shorter (Execuline/Bravo Holdings) resulted in Frost taking
no further part in the day's activities.
As is the norm, the Execuline Shelby Can-Am field was combined with the Altech Porsche Challenge for a thrilling second race.
Although the Nissan powered Shelby Can-Am cars are no match for ex Le
Mans Porsches there were only three Porsches ahead of the first Shelby
Can Am.
With the race two grid based on lap times of top eight finishers in the
first race being reversed, Campos started from 11th place. After another
superb drive he took the lead on lap five to win the 12-lap race by 2.4
seconds from Hart, the pair being well clear of the rest.
Brian Algar did well to bring the Firedart entry home to third at the
head of a train comprising of Botterill and Dave Beattie (Dura) while
Murray completed the top six ahead of newcomer Bertil Hoffman (IOU Music).
Poor da Cunha saw his hopes of a good result disappear on lap four when
a brake problem saw him in the gravel at Wesbank and Bryant van der Merwe
(Chemspec) retired after an off road excursion two laps later while Eve
disappeared from the lap charts three laps from the end.
Round four of the Execuline Shelby Can-Am championship takes place in
Cape Town on 10 May.
Formula Volkswagen hits high note at Killarney with single-seater action
7 April 2008
The fledgling Formula Volkswagen series took to Killarney for their second
race meeting on Saturday 5 April. This new series is a single-seater formula
promising – and delivering on – all the thrills associated
with open-wheel racing.
Two races were scheduled for the Killarney race meeting where Formula Volkswagen sported a grid of 11 competitors on the start line. It was again racer Gavin Cronje (25) and his Jonah Capital that again showed the skill to lead the field at this meeting.
The first outing for the Formula Volkswagen series took place at Kyalami in Johannesburg in March. This event saw the field subjected to a nightmare first race characterised by heavy rains. Despite this the first race meeting proved highly successful and the Formula Volkswagen series got off to a solid start.
These single-seater race cars soon proved formidable on the race track, giving a hint of what the rest of the series will be like. Since there has not, until now, been a premier single-seat formula amongst the WesBank Super Series, racers have been required to adapt on the fly to the demands of open wheel racing.
Racer Cronje has been amongst the quickest of the competitors to make this transition, showing excellent form early on to claim victory after victory.
The first race at Killarney saw Cronje fly across the finish line five-and-a-half seconds ahead of the rest of the field. This performance was repeated in race two, just this time Cronje ensured a 9.7 second margin of victory.
In race one Jayde Kruger (40) and his Wap/Alto-sponsored entry crossed the line for second place with Lee Thompson (0) and his Southern Sun car claiming third in that race. For race two Thompson jumped a position on the podium for second spot with Christiano Morgado (7) and his Morgado Racing car in third place.
This put the overall standings for the second national race meeting for Formula Volkswagen with Cronje at the top of the podium with Thompson in second spot and Kruger in third place.
Racer Michael Stephen (2) does not appear on the final classification of this race meeting until 11th position. This does, however, belie his achievements at the event. Stephen proved to be amongst the fastest of competitors during the practise and qualifying sessions and claimed pole position for race one and two.
The start of the first race saw Stephen and Cronje challenging through the first corner side-by-side. Unfortunately for Stephen his car spun in this corner and a collision between himself and chasing driver David Perel (8) in the Tubular Tech Construction car was unavoidable. This accident caused the race to be stopped and it was restarted without Stephen or Perel.
Repairs could not be effected to Stephen’s car and he was sidelined from Formula Volkswagen racing for the rest of the day. Despite this Stephen has definitely shown he is a driver to be reckoned with in this series.
Other racers who can lay claim to a less than stellar day of competition was Morgado who hit the wall in race one and Jennifer Murray who experienced clutch problems that prevented her from completing the qualifying session. Kruger made the unfortunate choice of second gear on the starting grid for race two. This quickly relegated him down the order from this third place pull away to a finishing position of seventh.
The Killarney race meeting has again proved that Formula Volkswagen demands a high level of dedication and skill of competitors. There is also a degree of luck required to achieve and spectators can look forward to a great deal more racing action as the season progresses.
The next outing for the Formula Volkswagen competitors will be at Aldo Scribante Raceway in Port Elizabeth on Saturday 26 April.
Dramatic start to Formula Volkswagen racing series
18 March 2008
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The first outing of the Formula Volkswagen series on 15 March proved daunting for teams involved in this new single-seater series. While everyone expected a challenge, none were prepared what Mother Nature had in mind.
Formula Volkswagen’s first race ever was declared a “wet race” by clerk of the course Roger Stephen. This allowed teams to use wet weather tyres instead of slicks, some opted for the change, others not. By the end of the first sighting lap it was clear that only wet weather tyres would do – and the entire field were forced to change to wets on the starting grid.
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While the drivers sat on the starting grid getting progressively more soaked, their support crews tackled the task of changing from slick to wet weather tyres. For one competitor the change just refused to happen. A stuck wheel nut on Christiano Morgado’s (7) Morgado Racing entry sidelined the driver as the tyres could not be changed.
The 13-strong field were led to the finish line for the first race by Gavin Cronje (25) and his Jonah Capital entry. This first finish came after a race that saw a safety car at the front of the pack for much of the race. For Cronje though, this didn’t matter – the win did.
Springing from the first race meeting were a number of comments from competitors regarding the new series. The overriding statement was that the new formula is exciting, the cars are good to drive and that there is a very real future in this single-seater formula.
“This first race meeting is proof that Formula Volkswagen not only delivers on its promises, but in fact delivers more than promised,” says Mike Barnard, Volkswagen motorsport manager. “In this formula there is much more to come, teams have a great deal to learn and the level of engineering of these cars shows just how much work lies ahead for them.
“The teams with the right people can do well, its no easy task to successfully race a car capable of hitting 200 km/h at least three times on a circuit like Kyalami.”
Barnard also pointed out that the standard of racing shown at Kyalami was very high, especially for a single-seater formula where the level of knowledge amongst the teams was still low. With a growth in the knowledgebase of this series, he expects the racing to become ever-more exciting and demanding.
With clear weather for the second race of the day, the drivers wasted no time ensuring they got their cars up to speed on the track. While the practise sessions had seen these Formula Volkswagen cars reach speeds just one second slower than the formidable WesBank V8s, it was during this second race they turned the tables, pushing lap times to a full second faster than their V8 counterparts.
It was fully expected that the Formula Volkswagen competitors would exceed the lap times of the much larger capacity race cars, it was generally believed however that this would take at least another two race meetings to happen. In the second race it was again Cronje who led the field around for a second first-place finish, claiming the overall first place of the day.
The best laptime of this highlight race was one minute 44.386 seconds with Cronje achieving a top speed of 147.020 km/h.
In race one it was Michael Stephen (2) and his Southern Sun entry who claimed second place with Jennifer Murray (16) crossing the line for third place. The second race saw Bretty Mayberry (3) and his Southern Sun entry in second place while Lee Thompson (0) and his Southern Sun car in third place.
This put the overall standings with Cronje and his Jonah Capital car at the top of the list with Thompson and his Southern Sun entry in second. Jayde Kruger in the Wap Alto/First Freight entry claimed third place overall for the day with an eighth place finish in race one and a fourth place in the second race.
In just three weeks time the Formula Volkswagen competitors will storm into Killarney race track in Cape Town to contest their second round. This takes place on Saturday 5 April where motorsport supporters in the Western Cape will get their first taste of this growing formula.
