Those results mean that the team takes the 2018 Class B category and the National Championship Index of Performance as well, while team drivers, Bradley Scorer and Theo van Vuuren win drivers’ honours.

The team in fact arrived at the final round boosted by significant technical upgrades to the Alfa Romeo Giulietta driven by van Vuuren and Scorer that had paid off at Round 4 of the Mopar-sponsored South African Endurance Series in Port Elizabeth where wider wheels and accompanying wheel arch extensions allowed the team to run new geometry and wheel-tyre combinations that served to keep the Alfa Romeo Giulietta out of the pits and on the racetrack to secure their fourth consecutive class win and the victory on Index.

That result put Arnold Chatz Cars Racing in good shape heading into the final round at East London on 27 October, the team clearly targeting the Index of Performance prize and consequently the overall championship for 2018.

With an unblemished record of wins in Class B for production cars, the Alfa Romeo Giulietta was already sure of the class championship title, but the Index of Performance championship still remained hotly contested asjust 7 points separated the cars in first and second places.

“We are confident the Alfa Romeo Giulietta will once again deliver a fault-free run, leaving the result up to Bradley and I to bring home,” said Van Vuuren in the run up to the event. “East London is fast but bumpy, giving our production car a good opportunity against the sports cars. As ever, it will be a spectacular mix of machinery so typical of endurance racing around the world.”

“We extended our championship position by two points with a win on Index in Port Elizabeth,” added Scorer ahead of the showdown at the final round. “But there is everything to play for still and we will have to remain on point to bring the championship home.”

The East London circuit is home to the fastest corner in South African motorsport. Potter’s Pass is also one of the oldest, the East London Grand Prix circuit in its current form relatively unchanged since 1959. Potter’s Pass itself, however, was already introduced to the much longer Prince George circuit in 1936.

In the end it all went like clockwork throughout the 4-hour race, the fifth and final round of the 2018 championship, as the team added the Overall Index of Performance title to the Class B honours it had already secured.