Win gives Eve
the bronze medal |
|
Kyalami hosted the final round of the 2011 Shelby
Can-Am championship and as Rui Campos had already wrapped up the
title, eyes were on the battle for third place between outgoing
champion Darryn Lobb (Hollard) and veteran Alan Eve
(Matrix/Metal Used Spares). Qualifying saw Brian Algar (Etana) on form as he took pole position ahead of Eve, Thomas Reib (Jägermeister) and Lobb as less than a half a second covered all four drivers. Row three was the talking point of qualifying as Capetonian Ferdi van Niekerk (Motorola cordless phones) and Allister Brown (NAC) both impressed as they recorded their highest grid positions. Rui Campos and Gerald Chapman switched cars as Chapman has been battling all year to get his car going the way he’d like it. “It is a dog of a car,” exclaimed the fiery Campos when he got out of Chapman’s Campos Transport car. Chapman was pretty pleased with the overall feel of Campos’ Q8 Oils liveried car. The first race set the scene for the day. With track temperatures way over 40°C drivers knew conserving tyres and watching temperatures would be crucial. On the warm-up lap Algar’s car backfired and lapsed onto five cylinders and his race was effectively over before it even started. That left Reib out in front and he grabbed the opportunity with both hands to take a comfortable four-second win. A racy performance in the early stages enabled Van Niekerk to claim a hugely popular second place as he didn’t put a foot wrong throughout the race. Third went to Eve who said he couldn’t get the car to work on new tyres. “Yesterday on old tyres it was perfect,” he said while doing a set-up before race two. After missing most of the season due to budget constraints Bertil Hoffman (GP Energy Drink) was delighted to get fourth place. His task had been made easier when Lobb ground to a halt with fuel pump failure. A good scrap for fifth place saw Brown get the verdict ahead of Durban racer Andrew Strike (Strike1). Race two was a thirty minute affair combined with the Altech GT field and the Shelby Can-Am machinery was quicker than the entire field bar Toby Venter’s very trick GT2 Porsche. Alan Eve’s work in the pits paid off handsomely as he felt a difference straight away and went on to take a relatively untroubled win. It was an important win as it secured third place in the final championship standings. Lobb, his only rival for the position, had another disastrous race and retired on lap five. Having won the first race Reib’s joy was cut short as his car suffered a suspected clutch failure on the warm-up lap. Runner-up was a beaming Strike who has finally shaken off his wild and woolly reputation. Like Strike, Brown found the right balance between pace and making the car last as he came home third a few seconds behind his first heat sparring partner. Another driver in trouble was Hanno Pengilly (Azura Retreats) lost second gear early in the race while lying second and did well to nurse the car home to fourth place. Algar could only managed fifth place and was only three seconds clear of van Niekerk when the flag fell. Chapman enjoyed Campos’ car and claimed seventh as Italian visitor Antonio Carello (Carello Auto) was eighth with Capetonians Greg Walker (Indy Oil) and Doug Macdonald (Fantastic Racing) rounding off the top ten. The 2011 season was dominated by Campos, but the fact that new faces appeared in the series during the year proves that Shelby Can-Am is a cost effective ‘bang for your buck’ national championship series. |