Eight points were all that separated championship leader Neil Lobb and George Ferreira as they went into the penultimate round of the thrilling Vodacom Sports Prototype championship at Port Elizabeth's Aldo Scribante circuit. They left with Ferreira leading by five points.

A pre-race testing accident shortly before he was due to leave saw Lobb again borrow the car campaigned earlier in the year by Bernard Tilanus.

Ferreira, by contrast was relaxed as he qualified the PAK 2000 car second behind Melvill Priest (Revlon 24-Seven). Francois Gerber (Autohaus Paint and Panel) headed the second row while Alan Eve (Shell/Odes Autobody) was next despite a heavy shunt exiting the final corner on his quick lap in the dying moments of the 15-minute session.

Eve and Lobb disputed the same piece of tar as the field headed towards the first corner which resulted in Eve arriving at the corner with a puncture which caused him to run wide and trade paint with Lobb again. In the confusion, Lobb hit the back of Dave Beattie (Fed-Ex/Steiner Hygiene) and both were sent spinning into the sceney.

"Neil tried to sandwich me between Da Cunha," was Eve's version. "I went to pass him on the inside and he just cut across the track into me," said Lobb as Beattie explained that he was simply, "minding my own business."

Priest duly took the win after resisting pressure from Ferreira and Gerber held third throughout with da Cunha coming home fourth ahead of Colin Frost (Strocam Projects) and Harry Roscoe (Protea Playing Cards) with Lobb recovering to seventh.

Race two was almost entirely without incident and this time it was Ferreira who won from Priest after another close battle. Gerber retiring on lap three and Eve joining him on the sidelines two laps later, Lobb inherited third place ahead of Frost and Clive Kennerley (Standox) while Beattie took sixth.

The final round of the championship forming part of the Vodacom Power Tour takes place at AA Kyalami on 22 November.

Results

Heat 1 (10 laps):

1. Melvill Priest 10 min 38.450 sec; 2. George Ferreira 10:38.823; 3. Francois Gerber 10:41.066; 4. Marco da Cunha 10:48.783; 5. Colin Frost 10:59.170; 6. Harry Roscoe 11:03.149.

Heat 2 (15 laps):