Hart takes championship lead
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The Execuline Shelby Can-Am championship is still
wide open after two action packed races at Zwartkops, although
Plettenberg Bay’s Chris Hart (Hi-Q Plettenberg Bay) has taken
over at the top of the championship table. Pole position means a lot at the tight Zwartkops circuit and it was Rui Campos (Hugo Boss) who got the advantage ahead of Jennifer Murray (Execuline) as Brian Algar (Firedart) and Alan Eve (Hugo Boss) shared row two with Hart and Sean Greve (Vulcania Reinforcing) rounding off the top six. Campos judged the start perfectly to lead all 12-laps but it wasn’t an easy win as he had a hungry pack snapping at his heels all the time. Veteran racer Alan Eve in the other Hugo Boss entry chased him all the way to the flag with Hart , Murray, Algar and Bryant van der Merwe (Chemspec) nose to tail behind him. “I knew I couldn’t afford to make a mistake, so I didn’t try anything stupid. The car was working well, but I never got a chance to have a good go at taking the lead,” commented Eve afterwards. His chances were hampered when the pace car was deployed for a lap following a clash between Thomas Reib (Intertrans) and Bertil Hoffman (IOU Music) that left Reib stranded at the top of the hill with broken rear suspension. The pair had been fighting for ninth place and Hoffman ended up at the back of the field. Race two, with a partially reversed grid was controversial. This time it was Dave Beattie (DURA) who blasted into the lead at the start and stayed there for four laps before Eve and Campos slipped ahead at the top of the circuit. Eve looked comfortable in the lead although he couldn’t open a gap on Campos. Sadly it all came to an end three laps from the end when Campos tapped him into the gravel at the top of the hill. In the confusion Hart coolly took the lead to win ahead of Campos and Murray. Then came the drama, Campos was handed a time penalty for the incident with Eve so Murray got second. It was a particularly satisfying win for Hart as he was only sixth at the end of the opening lap and had driven a fast calculated race. Beattie hung on to take third with Guy Botterill (Fragram Tools) hot on his heels as Greve was fifth ahead of Campos. A lap two incident saw Algar and vd Merwe have a coming together while fighting for second which dropped vd Merwe to the back and left Algar with a damaged nose and an overheating motor. Round six of the Execuline Shelby Can-Am takes place at East London’s famous Grand Prix circuit on 12 July. Execuline Shelby Can-Am Racing is supported by: Execuline Motor Underwriting, Hollard, Spanjaard Ltd, Carrera eye wear, British International and Goodyear. |