Third overall for Darren Lobb
Tschops Sipuka and Leeroy Poulter qualified their Sasol Nissan 350Zs in first and third places respectively for the start of the first race at East London’s historic former grand prix circuit on Saturday. It was a result that Nissan Motorsport had worked hard for and it gave the team hope for a good race result on the fastest circuit hosting a round of the Bridgestone SA Production Car Championship.
However, motor sport is a hard school that dispenses good and bad luck with no bias or favour. At the end of a dry but windy winter’s day that threatened rain, Sipuka’s spoils were restricted to just the three points he scored for pole position after he failed to finish either of the two races. Poulter didn’t fare much better, scoring one point for his third place on the grid and another for eighth place in race two. He also scored a DNF in race one.
Nissan pride was preserved by the Nissan Dealer Team 350Zs of Darren Lobb and Marco da Cunha, who were third and sixth overall for the day. Lobb, seventh (and last class A finisher) in race one, was on pole for race two (the top eight start in reverse order) and took full advantage to lead the 10-car field for 14 of the 15 laps. He was under pressure from Michael Stephen (Audi A4 quattro), winner of race one, from around lap 11 and finally gave up his lead to Stephen in the last corner of the 15th and last lap.
Da Cunha, fifth in race one, was spun out of second place behind his team-mate as he was about to start lap three and dropped back to finish seventh.
Race 1 - 10 laps (39,21 km)
Sipuka: qualified 1st, DNF
Poulter: qualified 3rd, DNF
Da Cunha: qualified 5th, finished 5th
Lobb: qualified 9th, finished 7th
The standing start race didn’t last long for either of the Sasol Nissan 350Zs. Poulter’s clutch failed as he changed from first to second, while Johan Fourie (second on the grid alongside Sipuka in the Audi A4 quattro) took full advantage of the superior traction of his all-wheel drive and jumped the Nissan on the line to lead the field into the famed Potter’s Pass. At the end of lap one it was Fourie from Sipuka and the Audi quattros of Michael Stephen, Melvill Priest and current champion Shaun Watson-Smith.
Sipuka made a move on the inside of Fourie as the two braked for the right-hander entering the Esses on lap two. The two cars collided and went straight on and across the grassed infield. “He didn’t leave me any room,” said an aggrieved Sipuka. “Maybe he didn’t see me.”
Fourie managed to regain the track in third place behind Stephen and Priest and ahead of Watson-Smith, while Sipuka limped back to the pits and retirement with front suspension damage.
Poulter, struggling without a clutch, pulled off the circuit on lap four.
Provisional result:
1 Michael Stephen (Audi) 15m 8,46s;
2 Johan Fourie (Audi) +1,11s;
3 Melvill Priest (Audi) +6,40s;
4 Etienne van der Linde (BMW) +9,50s;
5 Marco da Cunha (Nissan) +10,18s;
6 Anthony Taylor (BMW) +12,67s;
7 Darren Lobb (Nissan) +13,12s.
DNF Shaun Watson-Smith (Audi) 4 laps,
Leeroy Poulter (Nissan) 3 laps,
Tschops Sipuka (Nissan) 1 lap.
Fastest lap: Fourie, 1m 29,59s.
Race 2 - 15 laps (58,82 km)
(reverse grid)
Poulter: started 9th, finished 8th
Sipuka: started 10th, DNF
Lobb: started 1st, finished 2nd
Da Cunha: started 3rd, finished 7th
Despite the best efforts of the Nissan Motorsport technicians between races, Poulter again suffered clutch problems in the rolling start second race and did well to complete the 15 laps in eighth place to pick up the last championship point on offer.
Sipuka only managed to complete two laps before his Sasol Nissan’s 3,5-litre V6 engine cut out and he was forced to abandon it out on the circuit.
Glyn Hall, general manager of Nissan Motorsport: “We came to East London with realistic expectations and again we did well in qualifying. Well done to Tschops on his first pole position for Nissan. We’re involved in a very competitive and close-fought championship. The team did its best and we came up short in terms of results and championship points. We’re obviously concerned about Leeroy’s clutch problems and we’ll be looking into this carefully and taking the necessary steps to ensure we’re in good shape for the next round at Kyalami. Congratulations to the Nissan Dealer Team on their performance today.”
Provisional result:
1 Michael Stephen (Audi) 22m 48,44s;
2 Darryn Lobb (Nissan) +0,57s;
3 Shaun Watson-Smith (Audi) +0,84s;
4 Melvill Priest (Audi) +1,45s;
5 Anthony Taylor (BMW) +1,51s;
6 Etienne van der Linde (BMW) +4,60s;
7 Marco da Cunha (Nissan) +8,08;
8 Leeroy Poulter (Nissan) +14,48s.
DNF Johan Fourie (Audi) 2 laps,
Tschops Sipuka (Nissan) 2 laps.
Fastest lap: Priest, 1m 29,91s.
Nissan Acknowledges Its Sponsors and Specialist Official Supplier and Technical Partners:
Nissan Motorsport enjoys a mutually beneficial relationship with Atlas Copco (pneumatic tools), Bosch Automotive, Champion (spark plugs), Donaldson (air filters), Eibach (springs), Ferodo (brake pads), LUK (clutches), Mastercraft (tools), First Car Rental (formerly National Alamo Car Rental), Pro Engineering, Sasol Oil (fuels and lubricants) and SKF (bearings).
More information on Nissan Motorsport is available at www.nissan.co.za