09 Nov RACE REPORT: POWER SERIES 9 gtI 1 HOUR – 6 NOVEMBER 2021
LAST-LAP DRAMA SPICES UP GTi CHALLENGE ENDURO

The end-of-season Cheaper Cars GTi Challenge one-hour ‘enduro’ at Round 9 of the Power Series presented by Wingfield Motors on Saturday 6 November delivered all the drama and excitement fans could have hoped for – and then some!
As expected Jurie ‘Umpie’ Swart and Andrew Goslett in the Alpine Autohaus Polo 6 set the early pace, with ultra-versatile Nian du Toit chasing him for all he was worth in the VW Polo 6 he was sharing with Dillon Joubert, followed by Jason Coetzee in the Mint Wrapworks Polo 6 he was sharing with… Nian du Toit!
Fourth in the early stages was the Colin Meder/Greig Edwards International Tube Technology Polo 6.
Twenty minutes in, with 14 laps completed at near sprint-racing pace, Du Toit suddenly slowed, dropping back to fifth before retiring the car on lap 19. This moved Coetzee up to second, which he held until a long pit stop on lap 20 dropped him back to seventh and moved the Meder/Edwards Polo into second.
With a little less than half an hour to go, however, Du Toit was at the wheel of the Mint Wrapworks Polo with a point to prove. By lap 23 he was second, pushing hard and closing on the leading Polo 6 of Swart and Goslett, setting up a cliff-hanger finish.
With four minutes and three laps to go, he made the decisive move, passing the Alpine Autohaus Polo 6 in traffic to take the lead for the first time, and holding on to take the race win by just 2.372 seconds after an hour and 40 laps of flat-out racing.
Third were Meder and Edwards, only half a minute adrift, with Kai van Zyl and Kosie Swanepoel fourth in the Unlimited Auto Angri Polo 6, still on the lead lap.
Fifth, only one lap down and leading Class B, was multiple series champion Eden Thompson, sharing the Mad Performance/Somerset Refrigeration Polo 6 with Shane du Toit, with brothers Kyle and Calvin Wiltshire (VW Golf Mk1 1.8L) leading home Chase Herholdt and Troy Dolinschek in the NDT Racing Golf Mk1 to take line honours in Class C, only two laps behind the leaders after completing an impressive 38 laps in the hour.
But even then the drama wasn’t over, as the Wiltshires were penalised one place for overly robust driving, handing the Class C win to Herholdt and Dolinschek.