The Global Touring Cars and GTC SupaCup field will be making its first coastal visit in 13 months this coming weekend (October 30-31) at the Volkswagen Race Day to be held at Aldo Scribante in Port Elizabeth.
Volkswagen vs Toyota in GTC
The previous round at Red Star Raceway saw the Volkswagen Motorsport pair of Keagan Masters and Daniel Rowe taking a win each, while Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa’s Michael van Rooyen recorded his second series-victory.
Rowe, residing in Port Elizabeth, and reigning champion Masters will have some extra motivation to do well on the weekend in their Volkswagen Golf 8 GTis. The capital city of the Eastern Cape province is also where Volkswagen South Africa is based and although spectators are still not allowed to attend sporting events under Level 1 of the Risk-Adjusted Strategy for the easing of the national lockdown, it will mean a lot to the team to be victorious at the manufacturer’s home circuit.
Rowe leads the championship heading into the weekend with 61 points beside his name while Masters is in fourth place with 47 points.
The Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa team showed strong pace at Red Star Raceway last month. While Van Rooyen took the win in his Toyota Corolla, GTC2 graduate Mandla Mdakane’s weekend was hampered by mechanical difficulties. Both drivers will be eager to show their pace early on this round. Van Rooyen trails Rowe by five points in second place on the points table while Mdakane is in fifth place with 34 points.
For these four, this will however not be their first outing in their respective cars at the circuit. In August, they participated in the second round of the South African Endurance Series and although neither of the teams finished the four-hour race, they’ve accumulated usable data from the event.
For the Chemical Logistics Toyota team, switching to the Toyota Corollas for the 2020 season will be a new adventure. Robbie Wolk is a previous winner at the circuit and will be eager to take the team’s first win for the season. This time around he’ll be joined by debutant Julian van der Watt in the second car. The former F1600 champion will be replacing Scott Temple for this round as per the team’s strategy to split the driving duties for the season. Wolk finds himself in third place in the championship with 49 points, while Temple accumulated 30 points at Red Star Raceway.
Liebenberg vs Kruger in GTC SupaCup
Brad Liebenberg (Nathan’s Motorsport) and Jeffrey Kruger (Universal Racing) are set to continue their battle in the all-Volkswagen GTC SupaCup class.
Liebenberg has 98 points to his name, while Kruger sits on 96. The race wins are in Liebenberg’s favour with three versus two, but it’s Kruger who’s has the upper hand with one more pole position. They are tied at two-all when it comes to fastest laps.
Johnathan Mogotsi (Volkswagen Squadra Corse) and Saul Hack (Team Perfect Circle) are tied on 73 points, but with the third position on the points table in Mogotsi’s favour. Mogotsi will be aiming to take his maiden victory at the circuit where he won his first Polo Cup race in 2017, but it is Hack who will be coming in with recent experience. Hack and his teammate Andre Bezuidenhout. who is in fith place with 62 points. also competed in the South African Endurance Series event earlier this season.
The SMD Exotics pair of Shaun Duminy and Manogh Maharaj have accumulated 59 and 49 points respectively. Jason Campos (Campos Racing) on 37 points and Johan de Bruyn (OdorCure) on 30 points will both compete in their second championship weekend.
Port Elizabeth will also see Paul Hill (Kalex Racing) making his first appearance for the 2020 season.
Event Programme
Friday will see four practice sessions with Saturday morning’s qualifying session scheduled for 09:00; split as a 15-minute session-per-class. This round will again see three races. The first two will be run over 10 laps at 11:00 and 13:30. The 12-lap third race will start at 16:00.
Due to spectators not being allowed at the venue, the Extreme Festival will again be streamed online. Further details regarding this will be supplied during the course of the week.
[ISSUED BY GTC]
