Kieren Quarmby (Interfile/Tyres in Transit Volkswagen Golf GTi) powered back into contention in the class T Bridgestone South African Production Car Championship at Khayalami Grand Prix Circuit on Saturday. The 20-year-old entrepreneur from Bryanston in Gauteng was overall winner in his class at the end of a full and eventful day in the fourth round of the championship, scoring two thirds and a second in the three races and moving from sixth to fourth in the championship.
After qualifying behind team-mate and championship leader Graeme Nathan, the Ford Focuses of reigning champion Gary Formato and Shaun Duminy and the Ford of Michael van Rooyen, Quarmby finished a strong third in the first of the day’s back-to-back 6-lap sprint races, crossing the line just two tenths of a second behind Duminy and 1.5 sec behind winner Van Rooyen.
With the top six finishers in race one taking to the grid for race two in reverse order, Quarmby started fourth and was up to third behind Formato and Gennaro Bonafede (VW Golf) by the end of lap 2 after being held up by a slower car for most of the first two laps. In a strong and assured performance that he showed in finishing third in the feature race last time out at Kyalami in February, the Tyres in Transit driver finished third, 0.7 sec behind Bonafede and 3,.1 sec behind Formato.
With double points on offer in the 12-lap feature race, which started in gathering darkness, Quarmby produced the drive of the day to chase eventual winner and reigning champion Formato all the way to the chequered flag. With headlights blazing in the dark, the gap at the end was just 0.5 sec. Quarmby started second on the grid alongside Formato by virtue of his second-best qualifying time being the second fastest. He dropped to third behind Duminy on the opening lap, but managed to regain second place on lap 4 when he found himself over two seconds behind Formato.
He put in a big effort to close the gap to the Ford from lap 8, reducing it from two seconds to 1.4 on lap 10 and then taking another nine tenths back in the last two laps.
“We had great race pace this weekend,” said a delighted Quarmby, owner of a mobile tyre-fitting business, Tyres in Transit. “Just one more lap and I reckon I could have caught Gary. I was also held up early in race two, where I should have got a second place. Overall I’m very happy, particularly with winning overall for the day and improving our championship position. A massive ‘thank-you’ must go to the team at Nathan’s Motorsport and RG Motorsport, without whose hard work and dedication we could never have done this. Another first for Graeme Nathan’s team!”
The next round of the WesBank Super Series is at Phakisa Freeway in the Free State on August 14.
STORY BY Peter Burroughes Communications
No comments:
Post a Comment