After the opening brace of races at Kyalami in February, South Africa’s only sports car championship heads to Killarney in the Western Cape.

Leading the championship is former title holder Neil Lobb (DK Woodcraft). The former motorcycle racer won both races, the second after starting from the back of the grid.

Rui Campos was the surprise at Kyalami. Driving the Boltt entry, he was a competitive third in race one and then led the second heat until Lobb got through three laps from the end.

Pretoria’s fastest student, Ruan Pretorius (John Abbot Motorsport) also had a strong outing at Kyalami. He was runner up to Lobb in the first heat and followed it up with a third place. Also in the hunt were seasoned campaigners Francois Gerber (Autohaus) and Donovan Roscoe (Protea Playing Cards).

Reigning 250 Superkart champion Veron Pappas showed good form at Kyalami, but was caught out by the wet track and spun out of the lead on the opening lead of race two. Peter Bailey (Fuchs) had an encouraging start to his first season of national championship racing. “Forget about having to learn how to drive the car, there is so much to learn about the car itself,” he remarked.

Other drivers to watch are Alan Eve (Odes Autobody) and Colin Frost (Strocam), but they will be under pressure from the two Darrens!

Darryn Lobb showed potential in the few races he did towards the end of last season and Darren Nathan is a former Classic Saloons champion. Nathan battled to sort out the car at Kyalami, but should be on pace at Killarney.

The likes of Franz Pretorius, Gary Green, Harry Roscoe and Daan Nortje ensure that the close racing extends throughout the field.

With all cars powered by Nissan’s silky smooth 3.5 litre V6 and stuck to the road with fat Goodyear gumballs, the Vodacom Shelby Can-Am series is for drivers.