Archer and Stols share the wins at Red Star Raceway

Lenard Archer (ACD Welkom Hyundai Getz) and Karel Stols (PTA Noord Toyota Etios) shared the Class A wins at the sixth round of the Car Care Clinic SuperHatch championship at Red Star Raceway on Saturday, 9 October. Christiaan van Wyk (NBR Karting Ford Figo) won Class B in both heats, while Devon Piazza Musso (Hot 102.7 FM Racing VW Polo) had an easy run to two Class C victories.

Karel Stols on his way to victory in heat 2
Karel Stols on his way to the second heat win

Although the SuperHatch qualifying session doesn’t determine grid positions, that is decided by partially reversing the finishing positions of the previous outing, competition for the championship bonus point that rewards the quickest time is fierce. In Class A, Andre Dannhauser (Pro Auto Rubber Opel Corsa) was the early pacesetter, but Stols claimed the top spot with the quickest lap of the day, with Dannhauser having to settle for second. Louis Scholtz (Car Care Clinic Honda Civic) was the third fastest, but a major electrical problem at the end of the session brought his day to a premature end. Archer was the following Class A runner, about half a second quicker than Andre De Lange (Roofsure VW Golf), with the Honda Civics of Ishmael Baloyi and Dhiren Ganasen rounding out the top seven in Class A. Nic Martin (RDG Peugeot 207) was the quickest of the Class B brigade, comfortably ahead of van Wyk and Mel Spurr (Car Care Clinic VW Polo) while Piazza Musso was considerably faster than Class C rival Francis Aldrich (Opel Corsa).

Devon Piazza Musso took took victory in both Class C heats
Class C victor, Devon Piazza Musso

In the opening heat, de Lange led the pack away, but by the end of the first lap, it was Archer at the front. He opened a gap while Stols worked his way through the pack into second. Stols then closed the gap, but some superb defensive driving by Archer meant that the man from Welkom could hang on for the win by just over a quarter of a second. Behind the leading pair, Dannhauser worked his way up to third ahead of de Lange, but a spin shortly after half-distance dropped the Opel back to fourth. Although Dannhauser recovered and closed the gap, he could not find a way back into the podium positions and settled for fourth behind de Lange. Ganasen ended fifth after Baloyi’s race came to a premature end when his Honda cried enough. Van Wyk grabbed the early Class B lead and was never seriously challenged on his way to victory. He was followed home by Matin and Spurr. Piazza Musso had an easy win in Class C after Aldrich had his race spoilt by a spinning Class A competitor.

Mel Spurr, Christiaan van Wyk and Nic Martin
Mel Spurr, Christiaan van Wyk and Nic Martin fighting for the lead in Class B

In the second race, de Lange was again the early Class A leader, but this time, Stols took over the lead after a couple of laps. Stols was then able to pull away and went on to take the win from Dannhauser, who had Archer not far behind. De Lange had to settle for fourth ahead of Baloyi and Ganasen. In Class B, Spurr, van Wyk and Martin were locked in a great battle for the first few laps, spending most of the time covered by just a couple of car lengths. Eventually, Spurr and van Wyk made contact. While van Wyk was able to continue, Spurr’s race came to an end with a damaged wheel rim. Van Wyk then slowly opened a gap to Martin, taking his second win of the day by just over five seconds. Aldrich’s Opel developed a misfire shortly before the end of the opening heat, and despite his best efforts, the problem wasn’t cured between races. He had to pull into the pits with just a lap completed, leaving Piazza Musso to take an unchallenged Class C win.

In the day’s overall standings, Stols claimed Class A from Archer and Dannhauser. Two wins gave van Wyk Class B from Martin and Spurr, while Piazza Musso took Class C from Aldrich.

The 2022 Car Care Clinic SuperHatch championship final round takes place at Zwartkops Raceway on 11 & 12 November.