LEE THOMPSON RULES EAST LONDON

Ferodo Racing Team’s Lee Thompson remained in charge of the over-27 Masters’ category of the Engen Volkswagen Cup with back-to-back victories in round six at the East London grand prix circuit on Saturday.  The 31-year-old from Garsfontein near Pretoria has now won nine of the 12 races so far this season in his Ferodo-backed VW Polo.
 

Ferodo team-mate Kelvin van der Linde finished fourth overall for the day in his Polo in the main Engen Volkswagen Cup competition for drivers aged under 28.  The 15-year-old rookie from Dainfern near Johannesburg was seventh in race one and fourth in race two.

The third member of the team, 20-year-old Gennaro Bonafede, finished second overall for the day in class T of the Bridgestone Production Car Championship.  Driving a Ferodo VW Golf GTi, the Dainfern resident finished fifth and third in the first two six-lap sprint races, which were run back-to-back, and followed this up with third and second in the back-to-back third and fourth sprint races.  All four races were won by former champion Gary Formato (Ford Focus).   

Thompson got his race day off to the perfect start with a comfortable pole position in qualifying, nine tenths of a second quicker than the next Master, Miguel Pasqualli.  After picking third place on the grid in the ‘lucky draw’ among the top six qualifiers, he had already made up the deficit by the end of lap one and led the 22-car field.

Van der Linde, third quickest in qualifying and second among the under-28-year-olds behind championship leader Devin Robertson, unluckily drew fifth place on the grid and was fifth at the end of the first lap.  He and Kosie Weyers made contact under braking in the final corner, causing frantic avoiding action by a number of drivers and allowing Thompson to make his getaway.

While Thompson disappeared into the distance, finishing a comfortable 5,6 seconds ahead of closest rival Pasqualli in fifth place overall at the end of the eight laps, Van der Linde dropped back to sixth after his incident and then worked his way back to fifth overall at the chequered flag and fourth in his age group.

The teenager impressed on his first VW Cup visit to the high-speed former grand prix circuit and traded places with Pasqualli and Robertson in an exciting battle for fourth place overall.  Robertson finally took the place ahead of Van der Linde after his young rival had passed him on the run to the final corner, only to be eased off on to the grass as Robertson resisted his efforts.

However, he received a 30-second penalty for his part in the incident with Weyers, who was unable to continue, which dropped him to seventh.

Thompson, starting from fifth on the grid in race two, was second behind race leader Weyers and first Master by the end of lap two.  Van der Linde, who started third, was fifth behind Weyers, Kyle Barnes and Robertson after two laps.

Thompson went on to take a second Masters’ win for the day and second overall, four tenths of a second behind race winner Weyers.  

In a determined drive, Van der Linde dispensed with third-placed Barnes on lap four with a bold move down the inside as the two braked for the final corner on lap four.  He then closed on Robertson and worried the championship leader throughout the second half of the race, sitting on his bumper through the Esses on the penultimate lap.  He crossed the line just three tenths of a second in arrears and picked up a valuable 10 championship points for third place in his age group and fourth overall.

Bonafede was frustrated by a mysterious engine management problem that plagued him throughout Friday’s practice, Saturday qualifying (he could only manage sixth fastest time) and race one.  His pit crew managed to make a successful quick adjustment on the grid between the first two races and he was almost back on the pace for the rest of the day.

He had a great dice for second place with the Ford Focus of Shaun Duminy in the final race.  The two touched as Bonafede took the inside line coming out of the Hairpin on lap four, with Duminy crashing out while the Ferodo driver went on to take the runner-up spot behind Formato.  

STORY COURTESY OF PETER BURROUGHES COMMUNICATIONS