Round two of the Sasol GTC Africa championship takes place at Aldo Scribante Raceway on Saturday September 10. When the competitors take to the starting grid, it is with Volkswagen and Audi leading the Manufacturers’ championship.
Brian Joss – Round one was dominated by Michael Stephen and his Audi A3 GTC entry, winning both races and taking the early lead in the series. In the overall standings, Mathew Hodges has piloted his Volkswagen Jetta GTC to second spot in the championship stakes – with a second and a fourth place finish at the Zwartkops event.
Graeme Nathan and his Volkswagen Jetta GTC took fourth in race one and finished the day on a high, with second place in race two. For Simon Moss and his Audi A3 GTC, the first round saw him suffer teething problems at the start of the new series. This has him looking to round two – at Scribante – to change his fortunes and get amongst the top points scorers.
“We had good performances from both the Audi A3 GTC and Volkswagen Jetta GTC at Zwartkops Raceway,” says Mike Rowe, head of Volkswagen Motorsport. “Those race results from round one have the Audi at the top of the standings and put the Volkswagen entries amongst the best in the series. There’s great promise going forward.”
In the GTC Production category, Daniel Rowe made an impact on the series in his Volkswagen Golf GTI GTC with two podium results on the day. A second place finish in race one was followed by race victory in the second – for first place in the category.
Rowe’s teammate, Mandla Mdakane took third place in race one, ensuring that both Volkswagen Golf GTIs were on the podium at the first event, showing early on they have the pace to be serious competition for their rivals. For round two of the series, the Scribante outing takes place on the home circuit of Stephen, Rowe and Moss, potentially raising the stakes further still.
“The opening round of the Sasol GTC Africa series showed that we have great cars, good drivers and we are the driving force in this national championship,” says Rowe. “When it comes to racing at Scribante next Saturday, with the experience of that first round and the setup and practise time before the next event, we’re expecting a very exciting race day ahead.”
