08 Jun RACE REVIEW – POWER SERIES #4 s> 4JUNE 2022
‘BIG G’ WINS ONS HUISIE 100 RACE OF ATTRITION.
The fifth running of the Ons Huisie 100 for the Spitfire Furniture Sports & GT category at Round 4 of the Power Series presented by Wingfield Motors art Killarney on Saturday 4 June turned out to be a race of attrition that saw only half the field still running at the end of the scheduled 31 laps.
But that doesn’t take anything away from Craig Jarvis in ‘Big G’, his thundering 6.7 litre Chevrolet-engined Ginetta G57, demonstrably the quickest circuit racing car in South Africa – it holds the ultimate lap record at every circuit where it has ever competed, including this one. Jarvis kept it real for 43 minutes, circulating at a steady 70 seconds a lap to take a well-deserved win.
The real battle, however, was the clash between Harp Motorsport Class A team-mates Steve Humble leaders Steve Humble (Opel Mallock Mk14B) and Francis Carruthers (Pilbeam MP84) who put up a superb duel for second until Carruthers’ unplanned early exit at Interceptor corner on lap 18 due to rear suspension failure.
The drama started early: The Honda engine of Nick Adcock’s Aidcall 247/Rico Barlow Racing Ligier JS 53 Evo 2 suffered a terminal mechanical infarction after qualifying, ruling him out before the race had even started, while Ray Farnham’s Opel Birkin 7 2L also didn’t make it to the line.
Jarvis took the lead from pole, with Humble and Carruthers chasing each other from the start. Humble held second from the more powerful but significantly heavier Judd-engined Pilbeam until lap seven, and even then stayed within striking distance, ready to pounce if Carruthers left the door even the slightest little bit open.
Gary Kieswetter in the Advance Packaging Technology Porsche GT3 Cup was holding a solid fourth, ahead of Mike Verrier (RBRacing/Aidcall 247 Shelby Canam) and Yanni Hatzi’s street-legal SX200/S14 (he drove it to Killarney on the morning of the race!)
After just five laps however, the Shelby lost its brakes at the end of the back straight and parked itself in the kitty litter – Game Over.
Colin Plit in the Aurolift Production/RB Racing Juno S53 moved up from a slow start to pass Hatzi for fifth on lap two – only to pick up a mechanical gremlin on lap 11 that forced him into the pits and out of the race. Four laps later Hatzi’s Nissan blew its head gasket big time and the Nissan wasn’t going to be driving home that evening.
When the Pilbeam’s left rear suspension cried enough on lap 18 the car beached itself half on and half off the circuit, and the safety car came out while the recovery crew wrestled the MP84 on to the flat-bed. The survivors circulated sedately for eight laps, leaving just a four-lap sprint to the flag when the green lights came back on.
Jarvis rumbled round, three second off his race pace, to take the flag a lap ahead of Humble, while Kieswetter put in a late charge to close to within five seconds of the Mallock at the line. Fourth – and first in Class C – was the indestructible Louis de Jager in his Lola T212, a lap ahead of Peter van der Spuy (Expel/Rico Barlow Racing Juno S53) and Eric Salomon (Elf S 06).
Picture: Patrick Vermaak