Round 4 – Midvaal Raceway

Round 4 of the Autobarn Superhatch championship and we’re at Midvaal raceway this time round, with the winter chill about it was going to be an interesting weekend of racing.

Practice day

First practise of the day was on a slightly wet track after the overnight rain, the grip levels were better than expected and Alex put in some flyers, the following practise sessions were used to test different setups and what a difference they made!

Race day

Qualifying

Qualifying was set for 7:45am with an icy track and the coldest temperatures we’ve ever qualified in, it was going to be difficult to get heat into the tyres in the short 10minute qualifying session we had. Alex Marques qualified in 5th place with only half a second between him and 2nd place, the race was looking to be a very close one.

Race 1

Due to the reverse grid order from Qualifying Alex in the Ace Auto Volkswagen Polo started 7th on the grid. Alex made an epic pass on two of his competitors on the back straight and was up to 5th place in no time, he continued to catch Mel Spurr in her… Continue reading →

This past weekend we set out to the very cold and Icey town of Meyerton to the Midvaal circuit, Friday once the mist settled and we could see past the end of the Silver Dream Machines bonnet, we set out in the first session of the day, on a still quite damp circuit, post a rather large storm Thursday… we were happy with the times and I was happy with the way the car was handling, Graeme and the team had done a great job.

2 more sessions and I somehow lost the plot and went slower with improving track conditions… so home for an early night and a large dose of Flu meds to try and handle the sniffles…. So that I could be fresh and ready for Saturday morning’s race day…

Saturday Morning quali as always in SuperHatch is merely a nice warm up session (and an excuse to get out of the cold air), I would be starting 3rd in class regardless, due to the top 5 grid reversal from the previous events finishing order..

Race 1:

…so there is was 3rd in class and 11th on the grid, lights on and off and off I went,… Continue reading →