Botterill closes the gap
- 18 April 2010
 

South Africa’s national championship sports car series thrilled a sizeable crowd at Cape Town’s Killarney circuit on Saturday (17 Apr) and in the process the championship fight was opened up. 

Joining the Shelby Can-Am field was the Cape based V8 Masters class which added variety and spice to the races. The series was founded by the late Owen Ashley and the neatly turned out sleek coupe bodied cars fitted in well with the Can-Am field to provide two distinctive races within a race. 

Driving the NJOY backed car, Shelby Can-Am championship leader Darryn Lobb was the fastest qualifier with a lap averaging a touch over 160 km/h, the only driver to break the magical 100mph barrier. 2008 champion Rui Campos (Hugo Boss) shared the front row as Durban’s Guy Botterill (Yato Tools/Bigfoot Express) and Brian Algar (Etana) occupied row two. Alan Eve (Phakisa) and Sean Greve (Vulcania reinforcing) rounded off the top six. 

The opening race saw Lobb lead from start to finish but Botterill lost time at the start and was then caught up behind Campos and it took him half the race to get past. Once clear he steadily reigned in Lobb, but a last lap challenge didn’t quite come off and he was a mere .102 sec behind as they crossed the line with Campos a lonely third having elected to race on old tyres. Competitors are only allowed a certain number of tyres per season and among those who joined Campos on old tyres was Greve. 

A good tussle for fourth saw Eve get the verdict ahead of local driver Bertil Hofmann in the GP Energy Drink version. As Hanno Pengilly (Azura Retreats) rounded off the top six. 

Former 250 Superkart champions Marcel Angel and Fabio Tafani came out on top in the V8 Masters class with Richard Weggelaar taking third from former Shelby Can-Am champion Neil Lobb.  

Race two was another thriller. As is the norm, the top eight start in a reverse order of their fastest laps in the first race and this set the scene for a fascinating race.  

Lobb’s hopes were dashed on the opening lap went he hit Reib under braking and slid off at Cape Town corner to retire with broken suspension while Reib shed a lot of bodywork. All this left Botterill to take full advantage of his rival’s misfortune and he didn’t put a foot wrong as he drove intelligently to claim a dominant three second win. A fired up Eve was the runner-up as Campos beat Algar in a close fight for third. Hoffman was a steady fifth with Greve getting sixth, well clear of Reib.  

Thanks to Tafani indulging in a time consuming spin, Angel took an easy win in V8 Masters as Weggelaar was second with Charles Arton completing the podium. 

The next round of the Shelby Can-Am championship takes place at Phakisa, Welkom on May 22^nd and the fact that Lobb had a retirement and Botterill won in Cape Town means the two have a lot to fight for.