Both Team Ferodo young drivers Gennaro Bonafede and Devin Robertson enjoyed podium overall finishes for the day in their respective categories at the seventh round of the WesBank Super Series in Cape Town on Saturday.
Robertson, 18, finished second and third in the two eight-lap races for the Engen Volkswagen Cup in his Ferodo Polo, on each occasion behind championship leader and defending champion Mathew Hodges. The Alberton matric student had qualified fastest for both races (taking his total pole positions to eight out of 14) but was again out of luck in the draw for the grid, pulling fourth place for each race.
He finished 1.2 sec behind Hodges in a fairly uneventful race one and had his work cut out to finish on the podium in race two after mistakenly switching off the Polo’s engine on the opening lap. He had noticed that the fan had come on and killed the engine when he tried to turn it off. This dropped him to the back of the field, but he recovered to cross the line at the end of the first lap in seventh place.
He was up to third on lap four and took the chequered flag two seconds behind winner Hodges and runner-up Kyle Barnes. He finished second overall for the day and remains second in the championship, but now trails Hodges by 42 points with two rounds remaining.
“We again didn’t get any advantage from our pole position in qualifying,” said Robertson. “The draws for grid positions continue to be unkind to us.”
Despite struggling with an electronics problem on his Ferodo VW Golf GTi throughout the weekend, Bonafede emerged second overall for the day in class T of the Bridgestone Production Car Championship, thanks to an excellent second place in the 90-minute feature race that scored double points.
The 20-year-old university student from Dainfern qualified sixth and struggled to fifth in the both of the back-to-back six-lap sprint races. His lap times were well off the winning pace of defending champion Gary Formato (Ford Focus) in race one and Kieren Quarmby (VW Golf GTi) in race two.
Unable to find the fault, the team relied on a good strategy for the 90-minute feature race and it all went according to plan. Great teamwork in the two mandatory pit stops and smooth driving by the former Volkswagen Cup rookie of the year saw the Ferodo Golf finish second just 15 seconds behind class winner Graeme Nathan (VW Golf GTi) after 56 laps. Third place went to Nizaam Esa in another Golf, who finished nearly a minute behind.
“With our electronic problem, we knew we had to be consistent and preserve the car for the full 90 minutes,” said Bonafede. “We were off the pace all weekend, but our plan worked and the team did a great job in the two pit stops. The car and the tyres held up well and we were catching Graeme towards the end of the final stint. Actually, I was lucky to finish at all. Because of the electronic issue, the car was down on power and also over-revving on the gear changes. I was unable to make smooth gear-changes and eventually all that crunching of gears resulted in fourth gear breaking on the last corner of the last lap. I just shifted from third straight into fifth and brought the car home for a very satisfying second place.”
Bonafede remains third in the championship, but has closed the gap to second-placed Formato to just two points. Nathan leads with 219 to Formato’s 173 and Bonafede’s 171.
Long-time supporters of motor sport in South Africa, Federal-Mogul's Ferodo brake pad and Champion spark plug brands are world famous and used by top competitors in all branches of motor sport. They are official suppliers to both the Engen Volkswagen Cup series and the Formula Volkswagen single-seater championship. The factory Volkswagen Polo team, winners of the last five national rally championships, rely on Champion spark plugs.
STORY COURTESY OF PETER BURROUGHES COMMUNICATIONS
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