Orr in good form for SAM Racing at Aldo Scribante
Former Rotax Max world karting champion Wesleigh Orr made a promising start to the new season in the opening round of the Formula Volkswagen championship. After heading the timesheets in Friday’s practice sessions in his Global Consulting FVW, the 21-year-old qualified second and finished second in race two.
He and pole sitter Jayde Kruger contested the lead of the first 15-lap race with the pair just over half a second apart for the first 10 laps. Orr, not entirely happy with the set-up of his car, tried every trick in the book to get past Kruger and saw an opportunity as they headed for the Hairpin on lap 11. The two cars touched as Orr squeezed into the inside line for the right-hander. Orr spun on to the inside of the corner while Kruger emerged unscathed and went on to win.
“I was frustrated,” said Orr. “Qualifying was a big disappointment – we were at least a second off our best time from the previous visit to Aldo Scribante – and the car was very twitchy. I probably tried a move that was not on and it left me stranded on the edge of the circuit. I couldn’t get the engine to fire and had to wait for assistance from the track marshals. We lost three laps before I could get going again.”
Kruger and Orr were in a class of their own, lapping in the 59,8s bracket, with Kruger finishing nearly five seconds ahead of second-placed Simon Moss. Gordon Connelly was third, a further 2½ seconds back.
Team-mate Paulo da Cunha qualified sixth in his Tubular FVW before a frightening spin as he approached the Hairpin resulted in a heavy collision with a tyre-protected pole. The driver was shaken and the car badly damaged, with the hard-working SAM Racing pit crew facing an uphill battle to get the car ready for race one.
“The car was not right as we didn’t have any time to set it up after the team did a great job replacing all the broken parts,” said Da Cunha. “I was cautious approaching the Hairpin after my accident and decided to settle for a safe finish and get the car set-up right for race two.”
Kruger, on pole, and Or again occupied the front row of the grid for race two and the pattern of the first race was repeated, with Orr chasing his rival from start to finish. This time he came away with the quickest lap of the race – 1m 00,39s to Kruger’s 1m 00,77s – but had to be content with second place.
Da Cunha started sixth and finished seventh.
SAM Racing acknowledges and thanks its sponsors for their continued support: Tubular Technical Construction, Exa Motor Group, Ferodo, GP Windscreens, Global Consulting Solutions, Exa Platinum Rentals, Imperial Chauffeur Drive and Signs For You.