RACE REPORT: POWER SERIES 9 CARS – 6 NOVEMBER 2021

RACE REPORT: POWER SERIES 9 CARS – 6 NOVEMBER 2021

POWER SERIES RACERS GO FLAT OUT AT SERIES FINALE

The ninth and final round of the 2021 Power Series presented by Wingfield Motors at Killarney Saturday 6 November delivered a record number of spectacular crashes, spins and near-misses as all the competitors put foot flat and threw caution to the winds.

Clint Rennard (G&A Promotions/Speed Precision Golf Non T) and top qualifier Ederees Achmat (EA Performance BMW M3 E36 ) led the 36-car field off the line for the first Mikes Place Clubmans Saloons race, but the race lasted less than a lap before Nieyaaz Modack, winner last time out in the MIM Carriers/NSI Racing BMW E46 M3 but out this time in Shaun Ludwig’s Honda Civic Type R, collided with another competitor going into Car Care Clinic Sweep for the first time, resulting in a sliced oil cooler hose, oil all over the place and red flags galore.

Achmat set the pace from the re-start, with Rennard and Alex Johnson (Executive Decisions A4) all over him like a rash. Sadly, Rennard’s giant-killing Golf went sick on lap four and he retired a lap later, just as Johnson pushed past Achmat to grab the lead – only to flip the Audi onto its roof in Fastron corner!

Meanwhile, Cody Alberts (JVG Roofing/Stylesy/GT Graphics BMW E46 330i) put in a superb late charge to close to within less than two seconds of Achmat by the flag. Veteran Jess Huggett (RB Racing/Philwest VW Jetta) finished third behind Achmat and Alberts, with ‘Baby Jakes’ Jacobs (Executive Decisions M5) heading Class B in fourth overall.

Noel Stander’s VW Polo was the top Class C finisher in an impressive sixth overall, Denver Benjamin topped Class D in ninth overall, Ryan Large (Akwasol Golf Mk1) took Class E in 15th overall and Darrell van Niekerk (Volkswagen Golf 1) won Class F in 18th overall.

Rennard led off the line in Race 2 with Class B hotshot Daanyaal Coetzee (A&M Plumbing BMW M3), Achmat and Wayne Wilson (DTM Helderberg Nissan Maxima) in hot pursuit. Rennard’s Golf let him down again in lap six, while Coetzee’s challenge faded in the closing stages as he dropped back to finish fourth behind Achmat, Wilson and Huggett.

Andre Johnson in the Executive Decisions Polo 6 was the leading Class C driver in seventh overall, Juan Verwey (Volkswagen Golf Mk1) led Class D in 11th overall and Darrell van Niekerk brought his Class F Golf home ahead of Class E winner Peter Kannemeyer, in 16th and 20th overall respectively.

Franco Donadio walked away with both combined SDC Classic Cars and Bejo Trustees Fine Cars races in his Ford Escort Mk1, but behind him things were a lot less clear-cut, as Eric van der Merwe (Lynx Porsche 944 T) and Trevor Momberg (Ford Capri) battled it out for second spot in each race, with Van der Merwe getting the best of it in both outings as Momberg’s early challenge faded.

Arnold Lambert’s Volkswagen Jetta ruled the Fine Cars category, taking the class win from Robert Toscano (Technoparts MX5) and Theo Claassen in the Yesterday’s Heroes Skyline GTX in Race 1, and from Classen and Toscano in Race 2 after a splendid drive from the Skyline pilot.

Reigning V8 Masters champion Fabio Tafani had an unusually bad day at the office as Mark Ridgway and Sean Moore fought it out for the win in Race 1, finishing in that order just 0.387sec apart, with Rui Campos third, seven seconds adrift. Tafani was 12th at the end of lap one but fought his way up to sixth by the end.

Not surprisingly, Tafani came out for Race 2 like a man on a mission, fifth at the end of lap one and second, just 3.317 seconds behind Moore, at the flag. Early leader Campos wound up disputing third with Ridgway, losing out on the final podium spot by little more than a second at the line.

Meanwhile, Nian du Toit, Glen Phillips and Andrew Moffit led the Makita Formula Supercars category, in that order, in both races, albeit not without some spirited exchanges between Phillips and Moffitt.

Byron Mitchell in the Dolphin Engineering Reynard posted some astonishing lap times (his best was a 1 min10.254!) on his way to an emphatic double win in the Formula Libre races, with only Dee-Jay Booysen’s Dico Racing/Burner Factory Reynard within sight as he took the flag.

But, as always, the cut-and-thrust action was in the midfield where Class C hotshots Elroy Vice (Dolphin Engineering Forza), Zane Amundsen (Repsol Lantis), Cyril Somerville (Dolphin Engineering Sting 1.4L), Grahams Knight (Eloff Transformers Formula Ford Ray), Donovan Ramsey (Dolphin Engineering Rhema), Ryno Pentz (Dico 4×4 Accessories Omega) and Kelly Fletcher (Dolphin Engineering Forza) finished in that order in Race 1, covered by less than six seconds.

The midfield mayhem was even closer in Race 2 as Pentz, Haydn Ellwood (Formula Swift), Amundsen, Knight, Ramsay and Fletcher came home within 3.2 seconds after a superb battle.

Steve Humble and the Harp Motorsport Pilbeam MP91 won both Laude Sports & GT Races going away, despite the best efforts of Nick Adcock (Aidcall 247/RB Racing Ligier-Honda JS 53 EVO 2), Gary Kieswetter in the Advanced Packaging Technology Porsche GT3 Cup and Dr Mike Verrier’s RB Racing/Aidcall 247 Nissan Shelby Canam, who trailed the Pilbeam home in that order.

Adcock did not come out for Race 2, leaving Kieswetter, Verrier, and Martin Pugh in the Applebery Farm Nissan Shelby Canam as the only finishers on the same lap as the leader.

Louis de Jager suffered a broken half-shaft in Race 1 on his Lola T212 – his first DNF in many years – but was able to replace it in time to continue his dominance of Class C in the second stint, while Emile Botha led Class D in both races in his Nissan 350Z.

Nian du Toit (NDT Racing/Powerflow Salt River BMW 328i) lived up to the hype with a convincing win over Mansoor Parker and the Armien Levy Motorsport BMW M3, while a few seconds later, Daanyaal Coetzee (A&M Plumbing M3) just got the better of Ederees Achmat’s EA Performance M3 for the final podium after a race-long duel.