Fiat Auto SA’s racing effort is one of the strongest the SA Production Car championship has seen. That onslaught is set to strengthen even further with two new additions to the Fiat racing stable.

Marco da Cunha will join the hotly contested class B in a Fiat Stilo 2.4 Abarth to challenge class leaders Mini as well as the entries from Toyota and Ford. Da Cunha’s Stilo Abarth will join fellow Fiat Stilo racers Angus Thompson, Mike O’Sullivan and Dawie Brough.

The da Cunha’s will be making the rest of this year’s SA Production Car championship a family affair. Brother Paulo da Cunha will jump into a Class C Fiat Palio to make the Fiat offensive there stronger than ever before. Da Cunha’s Palio will join class-leading Theunis Eloff, Molefe Lebethe, Trevor Tuck and Guy Botterill in taking the Fiat brand to the Ford Ikon’s efforts.

“Our bigger line-up in class B and class C will bring even more experience and strength to our Fiat racing effort,” said Michael Burkhart, general manager for marketing at Fiat Auto SA. “We are proud to have the da Cunha brothers on board and look forward to some excellent results in their capable hands.”

POWERTOUR MOVES ON TO ROUND THREE AT PHAKISA THIS WEEKEND

After the opening two races of the 2005 South African Production Car Championship, at Kyalami (26th February) and Killarney (2nd April), the 10-event series, which forms the centerpiece of the Vodacom Powertour, moves onto Phakisa this weekend.
 

The Phakisa Freeway (Phakisa means "hurry up" in Sotho) is an international standard, multi-purpose motorsport facility situated in the heart of the Goldfields region of the Free State. Construction of the facility commenced in September 1998, on the site of the old Goldfields Raceway. By late April 1999 the circuits and paddock facilities had been completed and the first National Race event was held a mere 6 months after work had started. The entire facility was completed in time for the penultimate leg of the 1999 FIM Motorcycle Grand Prix held at the circuit on 10th October 1999. The track boasts a 4,24km road course as well as a 1,5 mile banked oval track similar to the highly acclaimed Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Nevada.

The Grand Prix road course was designed in conjunction with officials of the FIM and is rated as one of the safest circuits on the GP tour. It is 12m wide throughout and has 14 turns, 5 left and 9 right-hand. Although the straights are relatively short and the top speed is slower than on many tracks, the circuit has no chicanes which makes for a fast and flowing ride.

On his first visit to the circuit in late 1999, Alex Barros rated the fast right-hander at the end of the back straight as the best in Grand Prix bike racing! After taking to 500cc crown in the 2001 South African MotoGP, Valentino Rossi said "I love this place - it is one of the most demanding racetracks in the world, and you have to be brave to win here."