Poulter stays in the championship hunt
Rain played a big role in the outcome of the eighth and penultimate round of the Bridgestone Production Car Championship at Killarney in Cape Town on Saturday.
A sixth in race one and a fourth in a safety car interrupted race two saw former champion Leeroy Poulter (Nissan Dealer Team/GP Windscreens Nissan 350Z) remain in contention for the class A title.
Team-mate Marco da Cunha (Nissan Dealer Team/Tubular Nissan 350Z) was less fortunate. After sportingly giving up his usual race car to Poulter after the former champion had struggled with his own car throughout practice and Saturday morning’s qualifying, Da Cunha finished ninth in race one after starting from ninth on the grid (although he and Poulter qualified eighth and sixth respectively, they were moved to the back of the grid as a result of the car changes).
He started race two from pole position thanks to the reverse grid policy, but was passed by Poulter, who had started from fourth place, on lap two. On lap four he was eliminated from the race after contact with one of the Audi A4 quattros.
“This was a really questionable incident caused by contact from behind in turn two with the Audi of Michael Stephen,” commented SAM Racing’s Lee Philips. “Although the race then proceeded normally, the safety car was very questionably deployed two laps later while Leeroy enjoyed a substantial lead over the rest of the field. The safety car remained on track for a further two laps, which delayed the running of the race long enough for the rain to arrive, playing into the hands of the all-wheel drive Audi quattros and spoiling what would have been a comfortable win for Leeroy,” added Philips.
Poulter had looked to be well on his way to his fourth win of the season and held on until lap eight, when he was caught and passed by the Audi quattros of Stephen, Johan Fourie and Shaun Watson-Smith.
Fourie went on to score the win and regain the championship lead, with Watson-Smith taking second from Stephen. Watson-Smith won race one from pole position, with Fourie second and Stephen third. Small consolation for Poulter was fastest lap of the race and a valuable bonus championship point.
“We really battled to find a good set-up for Leeroy’s regular car this weekend,” said SAM Racing’s Lee Philips. “It was badly damaged in the accident at Phakisa three weeks ago (when Poulter was unable to avoid a BMW that had spun in front of him in race two). Marco was very gracious about giving up his car to Leeroy to assist him and the team in their quest for the championship.”
As it stands with one round and two races remaining, at Kyalami on October 17, Poulter is fourth in the class A championship with 90 points, 19 behind defending champion and new championship leader Fourie, nine behind former champion Anthony Taylor (BMW 330i) and six behind Stephen. These points are subject to the outcome of enquiries in to some competitors’ driving standards..
With 10 points for a race win and a total of five bonus points for qualifying on pole and fastest race laps, all four drivers, plus Watson-Smith in fifth place on 86 points, have a mathematical chance of taking the title.
SAM Racing’s regular representative in the Formula Volkswagen Championship, Paulo da Cunha (Tubular Racing FVW), was joined by Andre Bezuidenhout in SAM Racing’s second FVW.
Da Cunha finished seventh and sixth in the two 10-lap races after recording a season’s best fourth place in Friday’s qualifying session, four tenths of a second off the pole time. Had qualifying ended 10 seconds earlier he would have been third on the grid.
The younger of the two racing Da Cunha brothers followed up this good effort with a strong performance in race one, where he ran a career-high second for five of the 10 laps before dropping back to seventh on lap eight.
Bezuidenhout, well known for racing Porsches and his Dallara Formula One car, finished 12th and 10th in his first appearance in the Formula Volkswagen series and expressed himself delighted with the experience.
SAM Racing acknowledges and thanks its other corporate partners for their continued support: Tubular Technical Construction, Exa Motor Group, Ferodo, GP Windscreens, Exa Platinum Rentals, Top Car Paint & Panel, Tri Dent Middelburg, Hi Tech Mag Repairs, Sax Shocks, Signs For You, Rob Green Motorsport, Serbco Distributors and mobicars.