Adrian Dalton piloted his Xtra Clothing & Shoes VW Golf to a comfortable win in the Car Care Clinic Phakisa 200 on Saturday, 10 September, after early leader Phillip Meyer (Pple Group Porsche 924 GTR) suffered turbo manifold problems. Dalton was followed over the line at the Free State circuit by Wouter Roos and Graeme Nathan, who shared Roos’ Car Care Clinic VW Golf, and Roland Hopkins (Bush n Buck VW Polo), who claimed Class B in the process.
Dalton and Meyer were quickest in Friday afternoon’s qualifying session, but both went quicker than the permitted breakout time, dropping them down the grid and leaving Piet Potgieter (Nathan’s Motorsport VW Golf) on pole position for the 8-lap sprint race, which would determine the starting grid for the main event. Harry Arangies (Stradale Motorsport Nissan 370Z) lined up alongside Potgieter with Johan van Heerden (JVH Performance VW Golf) and Hopkins on the second row. Johan van der Vyver (Devlaw Subaru WRX STI) was the leading contender in the Car Care Clinic GT Sports & Saloons category in fifth place, with the rest of the classes scattered through the 25-car grid that had the SuperHatch drivers as part of it.
In the sprint race, it wasn’t long before Meyer got past the pole-man and into the lead, which he held until the flag. Potgieter managed to hold off Dalton to take second, with Arangies in fourth ahead of van Heerden who ended the race in a somewhat lonely fifth place. Hopkins claimed class B, coming home in sixth ahead of GT winner van der Vyver. Roos nursed his ailing Golf to eighth just ahead of Andre Dannhauser, who was the first of the SuperHatch runners. Tenth place on the road gave Maritz le Roux (111 Plumbers BMW E30) class C honours with Michael Grobler (Pest Control VW Polo) taking Class E.
The fight at the head of the field in the early stages of the endurance race was between Dalton and Meyer, with the pair swapping the lead regularly in the first 10 laps before Meyer was able to eke out an advantage that lasted until shortly after half-distance. It was at this stage that his turbo manifold developed a problem that saw him lose power, and the Porsche dropped down the field, eventually crossing the line in fifth place. With Meyer out of the way, Dalton was able to control things from the front and took the win by over two minutes from the Roos/Nathan combination, who had to fight a misfire in their Golf. Hopkins was unchallenged in Class B, coming home third ahead of GT winner van der Vyver. Andre de Lange (Roofsure VW Golf) and Lenard Archer (ACD Welkom Hyundai Getz) both did double duty, competing in both the GT Sports & Saloons and SuperHatch categories. They took second and third in the GT class with le Roux, in 17th place, the last classified finisher claiming Class C despite a lengthy pit stop for running repairs in the middle of the race. Gavin and Dean Ross (Norbrake VW Polo) had a relatively untroubled run to the Class D win, finishing 15th overall.
In the Index of Performance ranking, Hopkins came out on top ahead of le Roux and Dalton. The GT category went to van der Vyver.
The penultimate rounds of the 2022 Car Care Clinic GT/111 Sports and Saloons championships take place at Red Star Raceway on Saturday, 8 October 2022. With just five points separating Dalton and Hopkins at the head of the overall championship log, the action should be fierce.