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Historic/Marque Car Racing, 14th April 2007
Fourteen cars, three more than the last meeting, entered. An
outstanding effort considering a few drivers that participated
in the last event were absent for various reasons.
A special thanks to France Boshoff (Escort Mk1), Neil Hagemann
(Alfa GT), Rob Krantz (Alfa GT) and Kerry Paterson (Ford Anglia)
for travelling all the way from East London to compete. Also
Carl Boshoff, Sandy Paterson and Bobby Jones, who came down to
assist, but forgot to bring their cars! Come on chaps, nice to
see you, but we want to see those cars with you at the next
event.
The nicely prepared Renault Gordini of Lytton Coomer drew much
attention from spectators and competitors alike. Well done,
Lytton, for eventually bringing it down from Cape Town to
compete in the Eastern Cape for the season.
A warm welcome to two new competitors, Roger Howard (3.8 litre
Opel) and Martin Kruger (Subaru). Come Martin, bring the
Ferrari, not the Subaru — the key word is “Historic”.
Unfortunately, qualifying saw the retirement of Kerry Paterson
and Graham Twiss, due to mechanical failures. In the first race,
which was a six lap handicapper, good driving once again by
Alwyn Kretsmann (Lotus 7) saw him win from old experienced
circuit racer, Harold Webster in his Mini Cooper. Steven Murphy
(Alfa Giulia) again finished in the top three with a solid
performance. Lytton Coomer finished fourth with his Renault
Gordini in its first race on the Scribante Circuit. Martin
Kruger had a big off, but luckily the Subaru’s AWD capabilities
came in handy in the off-road excursion. Anton Ehlers in his hot
Escort clocked an incredible 1:16.219 seconds, which was 3
seconds faster than in the first race meeting of 2007.
In the second six lap handicap event, Harold Webster in his Mini
drove superbly to win from the consistent driving of Alwyn
Kretsmann. France Boshoff, with flying Escort Mk1, finished
third, with Lytton Coomer in his Renault in fourth place again.
The final race, a six lap scratch race, was thrilling to say the
least. France Boshoff posted a 1:15.980 to push Anton Ehlers to
the limit. The young driver finally succumbed to Anton’s greater
experience, but only lost by a margin of .084 seconds. From a
spectator’s point of view, great racing with a close finish.
Third in the scratch race was Peter Sale in his Nissan and
fourth for the third time in the meeting, was Lytton Coomer in
his Renault.
The overall for the day was calculated using all three race time
was hotly contested. France Boshoff was victorious over Anton
Ehlers and Alwyn Kretsmann gained a creditable third place. A
special mention must be made of Johan Barnard and Leon Ferreira,
who are the only legal marquee cars currently conforming to
national regulations in respect of age and specification. These
two marquee cars finished 7th (Johan) and 9th (Leon) overall,
which is a great achievement considering the strength of the
field.
An important note on safety which must be considered by all
drivers is the eventual wearing of a safety suit. Please make
enquiries from Graham Twiss regarding costs and options for
these. This is in your own interest!
In the final analysis, a great meeting for historic/marque cars
with a bigger field than the regionals. A special thanks to
Graham Twiss, whose efforts resulted in the Luk sponsorship,
which assisted in paying for travel costs and entry fees for the
drivers.
Last, but not least, thanks to our officials, Patrick Furby,
Barry Kapelus and the Volvo pace car of Tubby Bennett for
contributing to the success of the day.
Rev Limiter |
