Ja, well no fine! The old East London Grand Prix Circuit, the true spiritual home of SA motorsport, didn't just serve up a few curveballs this Saturday for the Coca-Cola Extreme Festival – it dished out a proper, weather-beaten skrik!
Forget plain sailing; fans on the Border got their money's worth with fraught, edge-of-your-seat action across the board. While the big guns – SA Touring Cars, SupaCup, Investchem MSA4, Astron Energy Polo Cup, and Toyota Gazoo Racing Cup – danced with danger on the slick track, the SunBet ZX10 Motorcycles were wisely parked. That weather? Simply too much risk for the bikers.
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In the no-holds-barred SA Touring Cars battle, championship leader Michael van Rooyen showed true boer maak 'n plan spirit. After a hectic first heat left him dusting himself off, he grabbed the reverse-grid second heat win, putting one hand firmly on the title trophy. But kudos also to Julian van der Watt! He nailed his first win of the season from pole in the opener, leading a Volkswagen Golf GTI 1-2 punch with teammate Jagger Robertson. They left Nathi Msimanga's Toyota, Andy Schofield's Beemer, and the recovering van Rooyen in their wake, especially after Keegan Campos' BMW cried eina! at the final turn.
Van Rooyen shot ahead early in Race 2 thanks to slick Toyota teamwork, but van der Watt wasn't having any of it. He put in a stirring charge, hunting Michael down hard and jumping to second in the title chase. Schofield, chuffed to bits, grabbed a career-best third after a Variawa scrap, capitalising when Msimanga and Robertson got tangled up like boerewors in the Complex.
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Talk about pre-race drama! The SATC SupaCup title fight got a massive spanner in the works when MSA excluded Jonathan Mogotsi and Jason Loosemore from the Zwartkops results over a fuel foul. Mogotsi parked the disappointment and bossed both heats from Tate Bishop. Bishop played it smart, coolly tailing his main rival home for two second places. He had to deal with Loosemore in Race 2, while Zimbabwean young gun Dylan Pragji impressed, beating Loosemore to third overall after bagging a podium in the opener.
The Investchem MSA4 single-seaters weren't fazed by the dof conditions either, shining bright on only their second outing at East London's hallowed single-seater ground. Mikel Bezuidenhout even smashed Jim Clark's 1964 pole time – lekker! But KC Ensor-Smith played the overtaking game perfectly to steal the Race 1 win from him. Squabbling Shrien Naidoo took third from Karabo Malemela. Ensor-Smith then fought back from fourth in a restarted Race 2 (after yet another startline mengmeng) to win again, leading Naidoo, Bezuidenhout, and Malemela. Rick Morris scooped the Formula Ford Kent honours.
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Now here's a turn-up for the books! Former champ Bradly Liebenberg made a winning comeback to the Astron Energy Polo Cup, taking the only race run on the day. Points leader Mo Karodia kept his advantage solid with second, while VW Rookie Judd Bertholdt showed serious vasbyt to bounce back to third. How? After a shunt with brother Bjorn left him needing extraction from a rainwater dam! He still managed to steal third from title rival Rory Atkinson. Masters champ Wayne Masters also edged closer to a second title with another class win. Sadly, the second race was canned as darkness fell.
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GR86 rookie Jason Coetzee grabbed the sole Gazoo Toyota Racing Cup win, while Nabil Abdool topped the GR Yaris media race and dealer driver Devon Scott was the first GR Corolla home. Race 2 got the chop, which was still one better than the SunBet ZX10 Masters bikes – those okes opted out of the tricky track altogether.
The national Coca-Cola Extreme Festival now hopes for perfect Cape Town spring weather for its penultimate showdown at Killarney on Saturday, September 13. But keep your eyes peeled earlier – the Investchem MSA4s will be giving it horns again at Kyalami's WesBank Festival of Speed end August.
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Colin Windell for Colin-on-Cars in association with
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