VSP kill 2
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Round two of the Vodacom Sports Prototype championship provided a brace of closely fought races and kept a huge crowd on its feet at the picturesque Killarney circuit in Cape Town.
Having finally traced a mysterious power loss, reigning champion Neil Lobb planted the DK Woodcraft car on pole position a mere two thousandths of a second faster than Donovan Roscoe in the Protea Playing Cards version.
Row two had Dave Beattie marginally quicker than Alan Eve (Powerseal Gaskets/Shell) while Garth Waberski (Dache Imports) and Francois Gerber (Autohaus) made up the tird row. Ruan Pretorius did well to set the seventh fastest time in his Nusol/John Abbot version just ahead of Colin Frost (Strocam)
Lobb held his advantage from the start of the first race and led the early laps narrowly from Roscoe, Beattie, Waberski and Eve. Waberski then spun away his chances and dropped down the order.
Roscoe started putting pressure on Lobb, but on lap eight he got off line at Damps Dip and spun heavily into the unforgiving wall. Beattie had a moment further round the lap and lost two places. When the dust settled Lobb crossed the line two and a half seconds ahead of Eve who was chased across the line by Gerber while Beattie was a distant fourth. Waberski suffered with an ill handling car and was fifth just ahead of Alan Green (DK Office), Frost and Terry Voller (Boltt).
Roscoe worked frantically repairing the damage between races but with no spare rear wing he was unable to start race two.
Lobb made it a double by winning again, but it was close as Beattie, who led the early stages, was only a car length behind. Eve ignored constant pressure from Gerber to claim third. Waberski was in the bunch, but dropped with an off course excursion at Engen Corner and was a distant fifth.
An entertaining battle for sixth between Pretorius and Frost was eventually resolved in Frost’s favour, but it was an impressive drive from the youngster in only his third VSP outing.
Further back there was another entertaining tussle Voller and Green, but the latter had a wild spin near the end and was eighth. |