Brett Garland (autObarn/Incco/Sabat Honda Civic) took the Class A sprint race win at the second round of the 2019 Car Care Clinic SuperHatch championship on Saturday, 8 June but Louis Scholtz (Car Care Clinic Honda Civic) claimed the SuperHatch honours in the annual Phakisa 200. Zane van Zyl (Credit Guarantee VW Golf) took Class B in the sprint race but had no answer to Nic Martin and Chris Davison (Rex Diff & Gearbox Peugeot 207) in the endurance race. In Class C Reno van Heerden (X-Box VW Polo) took the longer race but a penalty gave Andre Dannhauser (Pro Auto Rubber/Jestik Opel Corsa) the sprint race.
In Friday afternoon’s qualifying session, Andre de Lange (Roofsure Audi A3) was the quickest of the Class A brigade, claiming pole position from Garland and Scholtz. Wouter Roos (Nathan’s Motorsport VW Polo) led the way in Class B from Martin and Bryce Pillay (Volkswagen Motorsport VW Polo) while van Heerden was the quickest of the Class C competitors with Dannhauser and Almero van Eck (TAURUS VW Polo) in second and third.
De Lange grabbed the lead from the start in the 8-lap sprint race and was never headed on his way to the chequered flag. Unfortunately, he incurred a 15-second penalty after the race when his car was found to be in breach of the technical regulations. This dropped him down to third place and handed the win to Garland who managed to hold off Scholtz. Tyler Scott (Jestik/Episerve Opel) just got the better of Francois Henning (VW Polo) to take fourth.
Martin led Class B from Roos and van Zyl until his brakes started to fade in the final quarter, allowing both van Zyl and Roos through. Van Zyl took the win with Roos in second. Behind the leading trio, Donavan le Roux (Mechanical Masters Honda Civic) just managed to hold off Mel Spurr (iTre Cugini/ATT VW Polo) who had earlier dealt with Pillay. Shane Forget (4Js Opel Cub) and Ishmael Baloyi (Honda Civic) rounded out the top eight.
In Class C the top three on the grid crossed the line at the end of the 8-lap race in the same order as they started despite swapping positions a few times on the way. Unfortunately for van Heerden and van Eck, they both incurred penalties for a technical infringement, which handed the win to Dannhauser. Van Heerden took second ahead of Reaobaka Komane (Squadra Corse VW Polo) with van Eck in fourth. Freddy Watkins (LNF Racing VW Polo) just edged out Nathi Msimanga (Squadra Corse VW Polo) to take fifth with Juan van der Walt (Ford Fiesta) in seventh. Nolan Fleetwood took Class D in his VW Passat.
There was early drama in the Phakisa 200 when Jeffrey Kruger, who was piloting of Brett Garland’s Honda Civic, lost a wheel on the opening lap ending their race before it had really got underway. This left de Lange and Scholtz to fight for the Class A win. De Lange led the way in the early stages, but his Audi was far harder on its tyres than Scholtz’ Honda. Shortly before one-third distance, Scholtz moved into the lead and from there had a trouble-free run to the class win. He finished in second overall, beaten only by the winning Trans Africa Racing/Siris BMW Z4 of Mark du Toit and Kishoor Pitamber. De Lange claimed second with Scott in third ahead of Henning.
Class B was led by van Zyl from Martin with Spurr not far behind in third until almost half distance when van Zyl pitted for his compulsory stop. Martin then took the class lead until he pitted and handed over to Davison which allowed van Zyl to move back to the front. It was short-lived, however, as van Zyl destroyed a tyre and had to make another pit stop, dropping him down the field. With van Zyl experiencing problems, Roos who was at the wheel of Spurr’s Polo moved back into second place, a position he held until the flag. Pillay brought his Polo home in third ahead of Forget with van Zyl having to settle for fifth. Le Roux, who shared the driving duties in his Honda Civic with Kenneth Ella, was in sixth at the flag.
After 200 kilometres of racing, van Heerden and van Eck were separated by less than six seconds in the battle for Class C honours with van Heerden leading the way. Msimanga took the final podium position ahead of van der Walt. After Robert Stoltz’ Opel cried enough in the sprint race, Andre Dannhauser offered him a co-drivers seat. They ended in fifth ahead of Komane.
In the Index of Performance standings, which measures consistency over the 200km race distance, Msimanga emerged at the top of the standings ahead of Forget and van Eck. Van Heerden took fourth ahead of Scholtz with Martin and Davison in sixth.
The next outing for the Car Care Clinic SuperHatch drivers is at Zwartkops Raceway, where the third round of the 2019 championship will take place on Saturday, 29 June.