Team Ford Racing enjoyed an eventful outing at this weekend’s Bridgestone Production Car Championship held at Khayalami Grand Prix Circuit in Midrand. Saturday morning’s qualifying demonstrated how close the class T battle for supremacy has become with the top four contenders separated by less than four tenths of a second.
Graeme Nathan took pole position from the charging Nandos Ford Focus ST trio of Gary Formato, Shaun Duminy and Michael van Rooyen.
Graeme Nathan took pole position from the charging Nandos Ford Focus ST trio of Gary Formato, Shaun Duminy and Michael van Rooyen.
The opening heat proved to be a heated battle with Nathan and Duminy challenging for the lead. The pair touched mid-corner with Nathan crashing into the barriers. “It was an unfortunate incident, there was little I could do to avoid the contact by that point,” commented Duminy.
Van Rooyen took hold of the race following a safety car period to clear the scene and went on to secure his maiden Bridgestone Production Car victory in his Ford Focus ST. Duminy finished second with Kieren Quarmby and Formato following suit.
“I’m really excited,” commented Michael van Rooyen after his maiden victory. “We’ve been making steady progress throughout the season and this is just a dream result.”
The second sprint race started shortly thereafter. Formato took the victory ahead of Gennaro Bonafede with Quarmby third and Duminy fourth. Van Rooyen crossed the line in eighth.
The final race once again saw Formato taking victory, leading the race from lights to flag. Quarmby was second with van Rooyen taking the final podium slot ahead of Bonafede and Duminy.
“This was an important weekend for us. We secured a strong points haul. The cars have proved to be quick but the challenge for us is maintaining this pace over the full race distance. We have a long break now with the next race only taking place in August so our focus will be on sustaining our performance over a long distance,” concluded Gary Formato.
STORY BY FORD
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