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 Polo and went for the pass into turn 5 but a stranded competitor in the following corner brought out the yellow flags and the safety car so Alex had to back off and line up behind Mel.
At the restart of the race it was a hard fought battle between Alex and Mel but neither of them gave up a position they did however both gain a position and Alex finished the race in 4th place, 1 step closer to a podium position.
Race 2
The race 2 was reverse order again and Alex now started 2nd on the grid alongside Raais Asmal in his Volkswagen Motorsport Polo, as the lights went out it was 4 cars into turn 1, Mel spun out and Alex narrowly missed her but this cost him a few places and he was down to 4th place. As the laps went on Alex started struggling with front end grip and was sliding all over the track, Sandro Gordinho in his Volkswagen Golf made a pass into turn 2 and made it stick, Alex was now down to 5th place and had Matt Cohen right behind him pushing to get past, Alex defended well and held on to finish the race in 5th place.
The team claimed 4th place overall in class for the day and is one-step closer to the top 3, the development changes we made between race meetings proved effective and we are closer than ever to the podium. Our next race will be held on the 11th of August in Port Shepstone, KZN at Dezzi Raceway.
If anyone may be able to assist in getting our race car on a transporter to Dezzi Raceway, that would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you to all our sponsors for the continued support
Ace Auto Scrapyard
Fuchs Lubricants
Goldwagen Delarey
Delarey Racing Developments
FSU Developments
Octangle Marketing & Signage