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Developing on the new strength of a
team of three Alfa Romeo 147GTAs, Alfa Romeo Squadra Corse consolidated their
successes by scoring a victory and solid finishes in Rounds 9 and 10 of the SA
Production Car Championship at Zwartkops Raceway outside Pretoria yesterday.
The team of Alfa Romeo 147GTAs returned from Port Elizabeth bearing the scars of
close Production Car racing. The need to fix the resultant damage left the team
just two weeks to prepare the cars for Round 5 of the Vodacom Power Tour.
"The team worked very long hours to prepare the three 147GTAs for this weekend's
racing," said Michael Burkhart, general manager for marketing at Fiat Auto South
Africa. "Once again the team has pulled together and can enjoy the rewards of
their mammoth efforts."
The tight Zwartkops circuit is not ideally suited to the Alfa Romeo 147GTAs,
which makes Martin Steyn's victory and close second position all the more
remarkable.
The benefit of a strong team of three identical cars has meant that Alfa Romeo
Squadra Corse is able to test different development strategies within the team.
"Our development work with Martin Steyn's car worked this weekend," said an
elated Burkhart. "We have learnt a lot by testing different set-ups on the three
cars and have learnt much more than we might have otherwise.
"A lot of new development work has been carried out and the team's efforts have
been rewarded by our second victory."
Round 5 of the SA Production Car championship saw yet another great showing of a
full field with competitors from all over the country. Steve Wyndham made a
concerted effort to be there with the Ford Falcon and even Leeroy Poulter's
Mercedes-Benz C320 was running, giving the 12,500 spectators a great show.
"The weekend's racing was a return to close competitive racing at the front end
of Production Cars," said Burkhart. "The result is a great show for the
spectators.
"Thanks to the efforts of the competitors, the future of SA Production Car
racing looks better than ever, both from a spectator's point of view and a
manufacturer's one. The two clearly work hand in hand to provide a spectacle for
South African motorpsport."
Etienne van der Linde's works Castrol BMW 330i took honours from Martin Steyn's
LG Alfa Romeo 147GTA after a close fought battle. Steyn faltered from the lead
while struggling with overheating tyres to give Van der Linde the eventual win
by just three tenths of a second after Steyn set a new lap record.
Johan Fourie (Kaye Eddie Estates BMW) beat a determined Morne Jurgens (LG Alfa
Romeo 147GTA) to the line for third place.
The order was reversed in Heat Two when Steyn took the honours ahead of Van der
Linde, Anthony Taylor's works BMW 330i taking third after Jurgens retired the
Alfa Romeo 147GTA from third place.
The combined result of a second place in the first race and a first place in the
second race as well as the best overall combined time for the two races resulted
in Martin Steyn taking the title of overall winner of the day in class A.
In addition Steyn set a new lap record at Zwartkops Raceway by taking off an
astonishing 1.558 seconds from last years lap record achieved by Leeory Poulter
in his Mercedes Benz C320.
Alfa Romeo Squadra Corse moves to Round Six of the Vodacom Power Tour at AA
Kyalami on 31 July.
Heat 1 results: Pos No. Name Class Laps Total Tm Diff Best Tm In Lap: 1 1 BMW E.
Van Der Linde A 12 14:31.296 01:11.643 9, 2 3 Alfa M. Steyn A 12 14:31.663 0.367
01:11.318 2, 3 BMW J. Fourie A 12 14:43.527 12.231 01:11.983 3, 4 4 Alfa M.
Jurgens A 12 14:43.873 12.577 01:12.040 3, 5 13 Mercedes L. Poulter A 12
14:45.750, 14.454 01:12.520 2
Heat 2 results: Pos No. Name Class Laps Total Tm Diff Best Tm In Lap:1 3 Alfa M.
Steyn A 12 14:26.9 01:11.6 2, 2 1 BMW E. Van Der Linde A 12 14:28.1 1.158
01:11.7 5, 3 2 BMW A. Taylor A 12 14:33.4 6.478 01:12.2 6, 4 8 BMW S. Morris A
12 14:35.0 8.064 01:12.1 6, 5 BMW J. Fourie A 12 14:36.0 9.083 01:12.0 6
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