The WesBank V8 Supercars will visit the
Phakisa Freeway on Saturday, 4th of June for Round 4 of this year's
WesBank Super Series and a competitive field should give the Free
State faithfull an entertaining day's racing.
In the Super GT Class, the Q8 Oils/SKF/Cummins Ford Falcons of
Brandon and Jimmy Auby will likely
head the grid after qualifying, but as was the case at Aldo
Scribante in Round 3, they will not necessarily have things all
their own way. Franco di Matteo in the Varta
Batteries Jaguar took an excellent win in Port Elizabeth in Heat 1,
his first in 2011, after withstanding enormous pressure from Brandon
throughout the 10 laps. Deon Auby in the Q8 Oils/SKF
Chev Lumina will also fancy a good result at Phakisa, after winning
Heat 2 at Scribante. The patriarch of the Auby clan usually tailors
his performance in Heat 1 with an eye on Heat 2's reverse grid,
hence his excellent result at the coast. The evergreen Ben
Morgenrood in the BM Auto Ford Falcon is still capable of
surprising anyone, and since Phakisa is arguably the closest he will
get to a home race, he should also be fired up. His name still
resonates with many fans in this part of the world. Terry
Wilford in the Fuchs Titan Ford Falcon will be hoping to
score some good points too, and his speed at the super fast Freeway
should stand him in good stead. Carel Pienaar, in an SP
Racing Jaguar returns to the fold. Championship contenders, Jaco
and Danie Correia of the Free State Cheetah's team will not
be competing in Welkom, but hope to be back in the field in the
second half of the season, once much needed sponsorship has been
finalised.
New look machinery in the GT Class should divert some attention from
the faster Super GT's. Larry Wilford in the second
Fuchs Titan Ford Falcon reminded everyone of his aggression and
competitive spirit with a spectacular win in Heat 2 at Scribante, an
ailing car notwithstanding, and should again be at the front of the
pack on the 4th of June. Patrick Seddon in the
beautiful Twizza Chev Lumina won Heat 1 in Nelson Mandela Bay and
another win at Phakisa is well within his grasp. Des Gutzeit
in the Dezzi/Cummins Mustang will have a new look racer to debut,
but since the change to his car is mostly cosmetic, he should also
be at the sharp end of the field. Darron Gudmanz
gave his new-look Country Range Corvette a promising debut at
Scribante and his second race in the car could quite possibly see
the East Londoner on the top step of the podium. Early championship
leader Roelf du Plessis in the RJ Panelbeaters
Mustang missed Round 3, but the Randfontein icon is back to make up
for lost ground in the title chase. Steve Herbst
in the Prei Instruments Corvette and Romano Sartori
in the AMC Jaguar are two other names who have added much to the
class this year, while Ray Wilford in the Fuchs
Titan Corvette returns to round off a competitve field. |
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