Motor racing is a cruel mistress and there are days when
things just don’t go your way. So it was for the Ferodo Racing Team in
round seven of the WesBank Super Series at Cape Town’s Killarney circuit on
Saturday.
However, despite a trying day at the office, the team’s two contenders in the Engen Volkswagen Cup, Lee Thompson and Kelvin van der Linde, as well as team-mate Gennaro Bonafede, contesting class T of the Bridgestone Production Car Championship, successfully defended their positions in their respective categories.
Thompson, 31, a former Volkswagen Cup champion, scored his 10th Masters’ win from 13 races in race one, but was knocked out early in race two for his first non-finish of the season. He still enjoys a comfortable 30-point advantage over his nearest Masters’ rival with two rounds remaining and a maximum of 60 points on offer.
Van der Linde, who is only 15 and competing in his first season in senior circuit racing, remains an impressive third in the overall Volkswagen Cup (for drivers aged under 28) after a sixth and a fifth in the day’s two eight-lap races despite his Ferodo VW Polo being down on power.
Gennaro Bonafede, who recently turned 21, endured the most trying day. Plagued by an engine management system problem that resulted in his class T Ferodo VW Golf GTi running too lean – the team had to turn down the boost to compensate, reducing the car’s power – he soldiered through the two races to two fifth place finishes and was rewarded with his third place in the class championship remaining intact.
Van der Linde commented, “I just didn’t have the pace this weekend and there was no point in fighting the faster cars. I concentrated on finishing as high as I could to earn the maximum championship points under the circumstances. Our aim is to finish third in our first year in the championship and we’re still on track to achieve this.”
Thompson: “I always seem to suffer some kind of misfortune at Killarney and today was no exception. After a great opening race, someone knocked me off in the first corner of the first lap in race two and terminally rearranged my front suspension. Still, I’m very happy to have scored maximum points in race one and kept my championship lead.”
Bonafede, who turned 21 on September 18, was philosophical about the day’s outcome. “We’ve battled to solve the problem which spoilt our weekend in the last round in East London and thought we had it licked for Cape Town. My mother warned me there would be days like this and I’m just happy to have scored some points and defended my third place in the championship.”
STORY COURTESY OF PETER BURROUGHES COMMUNICATIONS
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