SAM Racing’s Leeroy Poulter (Tubular/mobicars Nissan 350Z) and Marco da Cunha (Tubular/Exa Motor Group Nissan 350Z) had to work really hard in the third round of the Bridgestone Production Car Championship at Port Elizabeth’s Aldo Scribante circuit on Saturday.
A third overall for the day for former champion Poulter came from fifth and second in the two sprint races and fourth in the feature race, while Da Cunha was sixth overall after sixth places in the first and the last race and a non-finish in the second sprint.
Outgunned by the turbo-charged BMWs and the all-wheel drive Audis and Subaru, the two Nissan drivers were stretched to the limit. After qualifying fifth (Poulter) and seventh (Da Cunha), the pair was happy to finish fifth and sixth in the first sprint and conserve their tyres for the next races. Anthony Taylor (BMW 335i) won from pole position ahead of Hennie Groenewald (Subaru WRX) and reigning champion Johan Fourie (Audi A4 quattro).
With a reverse grid for the second race, Da Cunha started from pole position ahead of his team-mate, but the idler pulley seized on the run to the first corner and caused the fan belt to break and affected the power steering. While Da Cunha manhandled the Nissan through the corner, Poulter took the lead and Da Cunha did his best to hold up the rest of the field for a lap before retiring.
Michael Stephen (Audi A4 quattro) sailed past Poulter on lap three and went on to win from the Nissan driver and Fourie’s Audi.
Poulter held third place in the feature race for the first nine laps, which saw an eight-car train headed by first Taylor and then Groenewald keep the crowd on their feet. He dropped to fourth behind Stephen on lap 10 and was credited with the fastest lap of the race on lap three.
Da Cunha, who had saved his tyres after his interrupted second race, drove one of his best races for some time (the drive of the day according to SA Racer’s Steve Wicks), fighting with Tschops Sipuka (Audi) for seventh place before getting the better of the Audi driver and going on to finish sixth and right on the tail of the Audi of Melvill Priest.
Poulter moves up to third in the class A championship with 67 points, behind Taylor (91) and Stephen 73). Da Cunha is sixth with 43 points.
“We have to push really hard to stay with the others,” said Poulter. “We looked after our tyres in the sprint races so that we could give it our best shot in the double-point feature race, but we’re just not in the same ball park. We’re faster than we were last year, but the gap to the others has grown.”
Da Cunha agreed with his team-mate. “It’s very frustrating. We have to drive at 11/10ths just to keep up and this doesn’t leave much room for error. I enjoyed the feature race and the dice with Tschops.”
Team principal Lee Philips observed that it was perhaps time to change to a forced induction car. “If you can’t beat them, you must join them. The Nissan 350Z is at a real disadvantage against the forced induction cars. This is also the situation in class T.”
The weekend ended on a sad note for the team, with the death on Saturday evening of team sponsor Tubular Group’s founder and chairman Tony Bonifacio. “We extend our deepest sympathy to the Bonifacio family,” said Philips. “Tony was not only a very successful businessman, but he was also a generous benefactor of motor sport, having sponsored the Da Cunha family since the 1980s when Marco’s father, Nuno, was a successful rally driver.”
The next round of the series is at Khayalami in Gauteng on 05 June.
STORY BY PETER BURROUGHES COMMUNICATIONS
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