25/07/2022
๐๐จ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ง๐๐จ๐ง ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ฑ ๐๐ข๐ซ๐๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ
The Eastern Cape Historic Pre '80 and Pre '90 Coastal Challenge and Border Modified Saloon Car Championship drivers joined the action at the East London Grand Prix Circuit when the SA Endurance Series visited the track for the Winter Motorsport Festival on 23 July 2022. A second place in the opening heat followed up with a win in the second gave Mike Forsyth (Cobra) overall victory in the Historics, with Bevan Schwarz (Chev Corvette) doing the same in the Modifieds.
The Modifieds were first out for their qualifying session. As expected, Schwarz led the way, taking pole position from Blake Hurly (Caterham R400) with a trio of BMWs, led by Gareth Hewitt from Mornay Swanepoel and Paul Berry, not far behind. Bryce Choudree (VW Polo) just got the better of Shaun Vallance (BMW) to claim sixth place on the grid. Bevan Choudree (VW Polo) ended the session just over a hundredth of a second ahead of Darron Gudmanz, who had a disappointing session in his Nissan Skyline R32. Tenth went to another BMW, this one piloted by Zillen Harding with the Opel Kadettes of Milindre Marais and Craig Borges in eleventh and twelfth. JP Fuller (VW Polo) and Mark Els (Mazda MX5) filled the seventh row of the grid. Rudolf de Vos (Chev Can-Am) set his qualifying lap time in the Historics session. That was good enough for him to slot into second place, pushing everyone else back a position when they lined up for the opening heat.
At the start, de Vos grabbed the early lead, but it wasnโt long before Gudmanz made his way to the front after Schwarzโs spectacular spin dropped him down to third. Gudmanz then had an untroubled run to the victory while Schwarz, who got back past de Vos around half-distance, ran out of time to catch the leader and had to settle for second. Behind the leading trio, Hurly had an untroubled run to fourth, while Swanepoel got the better of Hewitt to take fifth. Bryce Choudree claimed sixth with Berry not far behind, while the three-way dice for ninth place eventually went to Vallance, who had Harding and Bevan Choudree in his wheel tracks. Borges spent the middle of the race in a skirmish with Cherne Marais (Harper) but was able to pull away in the final couple of laps to finish comfortably in twelfth. JP Fuller and Melindre Marais rounded out the top 15.
De Vos didnโt make it to the start of the second race, so it was left to Gudmanz and Schwarz to fight it out at the front. Gudmanz led the way in the early stages, but when his Skyline cried enough, Schwarz cruised to victory ahead of Hurly. Swanepoel couldnโt hold off Hewitt this time and had to settle for fourth. After the demise of Bryce Choudree and Vallance, Berry inherited fifth, with Cherne Marais having a much better outing to end in sixth. Harding and Bevan Chaudree crossed the line side-by-side, with Harding being awarded seventh by just a thousandth of a second. Els took ninth ahead of Borges and Fuller.
In the dayโs overall standings, Schwarz topped the podium from Hurly and Hewitt. Class A+ went to Schwarz from Gudmanz. Hurly took Class B with Hewitt and Doc Choudree in second and third. Class C went to Swanepoel ahead of Berry and Harding. Els took D while E went the way of Borges from Fuller and Melindre Marais.
In the Historics qualifying session, de Vos was comfortably quicker than Forsyth to take pole position. Graham Lessing just got the better of Johan van der Westhuizen to lead the Ford challenge and head the second row of the grid. Quentin Lessing was next up, marginally ahead of Carl Fantham, with Gary Schultz not far behind. Shane Fantham and Kyle Rose ended the session in eighth and ninth, respectively.
In the opening race, de Vos disappeared up the road and was never headed on his way to a comfortable win. Forsyth settled for second while Wayne Botha, who missed out on the qualifying session, worked his way up to third. Graham Lessing held on to his advantage in qualifying to lead van der Westhuizen over the line and take fourth. A late-race move by Shultz saw him sn**ch sixth from Carl Fantham, with Shane Fantham not far behind in eighth. Rose was the last classified finisher.
In de Vosโ absence, Forsyth was able to cruise to a comfortable win ahead of Botha. The five-way battle for third became a four-way battle with the demise of Graham Lessing with just a couple of laps left to run. This, however, didnโt diminish the intensity of the tussle, with Schultz getting past van der Westhuizen on the final tour to take third. The dice between the Fanthams went the way of Carl, with Shane having to settle for sixth with just over a second separating third to sixth. Rose was the last to cross the line.
Forsyth took the overall win for the day from Botha and van der Westhuizen. Forsyth also took Class A, with Botha taking the Class B silverware. Van der Westhuizen took C with Rose claiming Class D honours.
The next outing for the BMSC regional racers is on 27 August, when they make their way back to the East London Grand Prix Circuit for the fifth round of their 2022 championship.
