Phillip Meyer (Pple Group Porsche 924 GTR) decided to step up to the Car Care Clinic GT Sports & Saloons category after flirting with the breakout times in Class A of the 111 category. He proved it was the correct move when he left Red Star Raceway after the penultimate round of the 2022 championship on Saturday, 8 October, with the overall victory. With Meyer no longer in the fight, Adrian Dalton (Xtra Clothing & Shoes VW Golf) was able to claim both 111 heats relatively easily.
In the morning qualifying session, George Economides (Wealth Avenue VW Golf) was the quickest of the GT brigade, just over three-tenths of a second faster than Meyer around the 4km circuit. Kobus Brits (Pragma VW Polo), who also moved up to the GT category from 111s, was next up ahead of Lenard Archer (ACD Welkom Honda Civic), Johan van der Vyver (Devlaw Subaru WRX STI) and Louis Scholtz, who was out in his Car Care Clinic Honda Civic after the VW Golf he usually pilots in the GT series dropped a valve in the Friday morning practice session.
In the 111 category, Piet Potgieter (Nathan’s Motorsport VW Golf) led the way in the qualifying session in Class A from Dalton, and Johan van Heerden (JVH Performance VW Golf), after Wouter Roos (Car Care Clinic VW Polo) was penalised for breaking out of permitted lap time. Roland Hopkins (Bush n Buck VW Polo) got the better of Wayne Lebotschy (Shield VW Golf) in Class B, while Maritz le Roux (111 Plumbers BMW E30) led the way in Class C. Yorick Smith (Mazda MX5) was the quickest of the Class D contenders, ahead of Didi Matjila (Genelec VW Polo) and Michael Grobler (Pest Control VW Polo), while Dhiren Ganasen (Honda Civic) took Class E after Rob Clark’s Container Force Honda Balade cried enough.
In the opening heat, Economides and Meyer traded positions at the head of the field a couple of times in the opening laps, but Economides was able to open a gap which he slowly built, taking the win after eight laps of hard racing by just over two seconds. Brits brought his Polo home in third to join Meyer on the podium in their first GT category outings. Championship leader van der Vyver had a steady drive to fourth.
At the front of the 111 category, Dalton led almost the entire race after a first-lap incident dropped pole-sitter Potgieter to the back of the field on the opening lap. Dalton was chased hard by van Heerden but always had enough in hand to stay in front of the Class A pack. Potgieter recovered to finish third ahead of Roos, who nursed his ailing car over the line. Hopkins had an easy run to the Class B victory after Lebotschy was sidelined shortly after half-distance, while le Roux took Class C. Smith’s MX5 let him down after he had led the first half of the race, leaving victory to Grobler with Matjila in second. Class E went to Ganasen.
A puncture on the opening lap destroyed Economides’ chance of a decent result in the second heat, leaving Meyer to claim the GT category win from a distant Roos. Van der Vyver ended in third ahead of Economides, who had to settle for fourth.
In 111s, van Heerden ended as a spectator after his Golf came to a halt shortly before the end of the fourth lap while running in third place behind Dalton. This left Potgieter to challenge Dalton. While the gap between the pair was pretty small, Potgieter couldn’t get close enough to mount a serious challenge, and Dalton went on to take his second win of the day. Potgieter was second ahead of Roos. Lebotschy managed to effect repairs to his car between races and took the Class B lead in the early stages of the race, going on to victory with Hopkins in second. Le Roux claimed the Class C spoils, while Grobler again got the better of Matjila to take Class D.
In the overall standings, Meyer took the GT category from Brits, with van der Vyver in third. Class A in 111s went to Dalton from Potgieter and Roos. B went to Hopkins with le Roux taking C. Grobler ended ahead in Class D from Matjila, while Ganasen claimed the Class E silverware.
The Car Care Clinic GT and 111 Sports & Saloons drivers next head for Zwartkops Raceway, where the final rounds of their 2022 championships take place on 11 and 12 November.