Leyton Fourie finds himself on the verge of a Global Touring Cars (GTC) SupaCup title in his debut season following this past weekend’s (16-17 September) sixth round at Killarney International Raceway.
The Express Hire / Universal Motorsport Polo SupaCup driver also became the first driver on the 2022 grid to record at least one race victory at each of the circuits that make up the tour.
On Saturday morning, Leyton took the Dunlop Pole Position, but a first-corner mishap in Race 1 saw him and championship rival Jeffrey Kruger drop back, with Kruger most affected. However, an incident later necessitated the deployment of a safety car, which again bunched up the field. From the restart, Leyton jostled with local driver Danie van Niekerk for the final podium placing, making the decisive move on the last lap to finish in third place.
In Race 2, Leyton took an early lead and built a slight advantage over Race 1 winner Keegan Campos. However, an incident behind the pair saw the race subsequently red-flagged, and the race halted. With three laps recorded, the race restarted in the finishing order of Lap 3, with the result an aggregate of the two portions of the race. While Keegan went on to take the lead of the race, he would need to triumph over Leyton by more than 0.766 of a second to negate Leyton’s advantage from the initial three laps recorded. However, Leyton kept himself in close contention, and when Keegan crossed the line in first place, he was 0.391 of a second behind, giving the win to the Team Red Racing driver. Leyton also recorded the race’s fastest lap and continued his record of winning at every circuit on the calendar. The win also saw him extend his lead in the overall championship standings.
“It was certainly another tense affair with Jeff and I going head-to-head,” said Leyton. “But as I said at the start of the season, it will likely go down to the final race weekend at Zwartkops. We might have a slender lead, but the championship is all but over, and I expect Jeff and some others to come back swinging at Zwartkops. Thank you to the Universal Motorsport team who made this weekend possible.”
The GTC SupaCup season finale will take place at Zwartkops Raceway on 14-15 October.
Issued by Motorsport Fanatix on behalf of Leyton Fourie
