by
Roger McCleery

Three times WesBank V8 Champion, Hennie Groenewald (Team Timken Jaguar) has a huge mountain to climb this Saturday (28^th March) at Kyalami when a big field of WesBank V8 Supercars takes to the track for Round 2 of the season. 

Groenewald lies 6^th on the points table after Round 1 in PE following a puncture caused by a collision in Race 2 and his need to set up an unfamiliar Jaguar to his liking.  

Port Elizabeth belonged to the Auby family – father Deon and two of his three brilliant racing sons, Marc and 16-year-old Brandon.   A pair of hard fought wins for Marc put 30 points in the bag and control of the Championship.   Brandon got a 3^rd and 2^nd place to make it a 1-2 in the championship for the Auby family.   The entire family drives ELT International racing cars.  Marc and Brandon race Jaguars and Deon a Lumina. 

The battle between the Auby’s and Groenewald is going to be something to see. 

Coming on strong after his come-back in East London, Darron Gudmanz (Crazy J ‘s Corvette) in a car prepared by veteran Willy Hepburn took 3^rd overall for the day after leading the inverted starting grid Race 2 for just about all 12 laps. 

Franco di Matteo (Varta Batteries Jaguar) has made a good start as well in a V8 that suits his style of racing.   Richard Pinard (Team Timken Jaguar) also started well, mixing it with the leading pack before spinning off. 

Danie Correia (LiquiMoly Corvette) has taken over his elder brother Jaco’s car he raced last year.   Jaco has a brand new Corvette and these two Free Staters in these big American muscle cars, mix it with the best despite some heavy crashes and action over the last two years. 

East London youngster, Wade van Zummeren (Border Towing Mustang) is another goer and can handle 450 kW of V8 power at 300 kmh. 

Now that she is well into WesBank V8 racing, Clare Vale (RAM / Gatorback Mustang) is starting to pile on the points as she has now got the hang of racing a car that is different to any other type of racer.   It is not your average shopping car that has been tuned up to go racing.   Try the power, the 4-speed Jerico gearbox, the Detroit locker diff and the heat and lack of comfort, and you will get an idea what a hostile environment these drivers live in. 

Terry Wilford (Fuchs Titan Mustang) is another winner who has a car at the moment with a mind of his own.   It has a habit of bringing the tail around without warning.   He hopes to have this sorted for Kyalami. 

Ramano Sartori from smaller engine capacity car and motorcycle racing, is getting the hang of the massive power of the ex-Gordon Connolly Jaguar and is enjoying the experience.   Des Gutzeit in the Dezzi/Trysome Mustang is a master at handling big capacity cars of all makes as is Steve Smith (Cool Catz Jaguar) who has made a comeback to racing after an 18 month break.   Steve Herbst in the Prei Instrumentation Corvette is another driver who enjoys big engine racing. 

Kyalami is totally suited to WesBank  V8 Racing Cars with its fast sweeps and high speeds.    There will be lots to enjoy as the field of 20 cars, including Johnny Eekhout (Johnspeed Cobra) and Roelf du Plessis (RJ Panel Beaters Lumina) take to the track on Saturday.