Brett Garland (autObarn/Incco/Sabat Honda Civic) and Tyler Scott (Episerve/Jestik/Lopec/EBC Opel Kadett TS) shared the Class A wins at the fifth round of the 2019 Car Care Clinic SuperHatch Championship held at a warm Zwartkops Raceway on Saturday, 17 August. Championship leader Nic Martin (Rex Diff & Gearbox Peugeot 207) had a comfortable win in Class B in the opening heat but mechanical problems sidelined him in the second, leaving Graeme Nathan to take an easy victory. Squadra Corse VW Polo teammates Nathi Msimanga and Reobaka Komane shared the Class C wins.
In the morning qualifying session Garland was the quickest of the Class A brigade, 0.183” quicker than Louis Scholtz (Car Care Clinic Honda Civic) with Scott just under half a second further back. Martin led the way in Class B, just over half a second quicker than Nathan who was keeping Mel Spurr’s seat in her Itre Cugini/ATT/Metal Used Spares VW Polo warm while she recovers from surgery. They were followed by Matt Cohen (BHIT VW Polo). Msimanga was the quickest of the Class C brigade, less than a tenth ahead of Andre Dannhauser (Pro Auto Rubber/Jestik Opel Corsa) with Andre de Lange (Roofsure Ford Fiesta) in third.
Scholtz grabbed the lead from the start with Garland tucking in behind him for the first couple of laps. Garland moved into the lead on the third lap and from then on wasn’t troubled on his way to a comfortable win. Scott had to settle for third behind Scholtz with Trevor Stringer (Citrine Designs Peugeot 206) and Tiaan Smith (SPS Racing/Javrec) in fourth and fifth respectively.
While his rivals were entertaining the Zwartkops crowd with a great battle, Martin was able to open a gap at the front of the Class B field. Zane van Zyl (Credit Guarantee VW Golf was the early leader of that group with Nathan, Shane Forget (4Js Auto Opel Kadett) and Cohen in close attendance. Shortly after half-distance, Nathan found a way past van Zyl but, by then, Martin had opened up a five-second lead which Nathan was unable to close down. Forget was the next to challenge van Zyl, making his move up into third with a couple of laps remaining. Van Zyl was able to hang on to finish fourth ahead of Cohen with Wouter Roos (Nathan’s Motorsport VW Polo) in sixth.
Dannhauser led the way in Class C from Msimanga until a couple of laps from the flag when the rookie found a way through to take his first SuperHatch win. Behind the leading pair, de Lange claimed third with Reno van Heerden (Taurus VW Polo) just managing to hold off Komane to take fourth. Jacques van der Zee brought his Jzee Projects Citroen C2 home in sixth.
First-race winner Garland didn’t have much joy in the second heat. Mechanical gremlins sidelined him partway through the opening lap allowing Scott to open up a two-second advantage over Scholtz who was running in second. The gap was closed up when the safety car came out after Almero van Eck (Taurus VW Polo) made heavy contact with the tyre barrier between turns one and two. At the restart, Scott was able to hang on to the lead and take his first Class A win just less than half a second ahead of Scholtz. Smith ended third with Stringer joining Garland on the sidelines.
Nathan completely dominated Class B, taking the lead from Cohen on the second lap and pulling away to win by almost eight seconds. Cohen, despite some serious pressure from Forget, was able to hang on to second with Forget just over a tenth behind at the flag. A last-lap move gave Roos fourth place and demoted van Zyl to fifth. Bryce Pillay (Volkswagen Motorsport VW Polo) was another second back in sixth.
De Lange led the way from Dannhauser in Class C until the half-way mark when Komane took over at the front. De Lange dropped to second with Msimanga in third and Dannhauser down in fourth. That’s how it stayed until the flag with the four drivers covered by 1.8 seconds at the flag. Robert Stoltz (Episerve/Jestik/EBC Opel Kadett) and van der Zee rounded out the top six.
Two second places were enough to give Scholtz overall victory in Class A with Scott and Smith joining him on the podium. Nathan took Class B from Forget and Cohen with de Lange just emerging at the top of Class C ahead of Msimanga and Dannhauser. Nolan Fleetwood (Electro Whizz VW Passat), who won both heats, took the Class D trophy.
The Car Care Clinic SuperHatch Championship heads to the Eastern Cape for round six, which takes place at the Aldo Scribante Racetrack in Port Elizabeth on Saturday, 21 September.