The annual Car Care Clinic SuperHatch away race took place at Port Elizabeth’s Aldo Scribante Racetrack on Saturday, 21 September 2019. The event, the sixth round of the 2019 championship, featured three heats instead of the normal two. Tyler Scott (Episerve/Jestik/Lopec/EBC Opel Kadett TS) claimed the Class A victory in the first of those heats before Jonathan du Toit (Trans Africa Racing Honda Civic) claimed the next two.
Shane Forget (4Js Auto Opel Kadett) claimed the Class B win in the first heat with Wouter Roos (Nathan’s Motorsport VW Polo) taking the second. Championship leader Nic Martin (Rex Diff & Gearbox Peugeot 207) had to wait until the third heat before he could emerge on top. Andre de Lange (Roofsure Ford Fiesta) took Class C in the opening heat. Andre Dannhauser (Pro Auto Rubber/Jestik Opel Corsa) took the next two while Nolan Fleetwood (Electro Whizz VW Passat) made it a clean sweep in Class D.
Qualifying, which took place late on Friday afternoon, saw du Toit comfortably quickest of the Class A brigade, nearly a second-and-a-half ahead of Brett Garland (autObarn/Total/Ingco Honda Civic) with Scott not far behind in third. Roos topped Class B ahead of Martin and Forget while Dannhauser was quickest in Class C, ahead of de Lange and Nathi Msimanga (Squadra Course/ASEDA Engineering VW Polo).
In Saturday’s opening heat, Scott grabbed the lead from the start and managed to keep the rest of the Class A field behind him for the eight laps of the race. Louis Scholtz (Car Care Clinic Honda Civic) was initially the driver that was applying pressure to Scott before du Toit took over. He too could not find a way past Scott and had to settle for second. Garland got past Scholtz late in the race to take third with Scholtz in fourth ahead of Shaun Smith (Pretoria Noord Toyota Run X).
Forget led the Class B field from the start with Zane van Zyl (Credit Guarantee VW Golf), Martin and Roos in close attendance. Martin soon found a way past van Zyl to move into second but could not find a way around Forget before the flag came out. Van Zyl remained in third ahead of Roos with Chad Ten Doeschate (Trans Africa Racing Honda Civic) just getting the better of Mel Spurr (iTre Cugini/AKA/Wealth Avenue/Metal Used Spares VW Polo) to take fifth. Bryce Pillay (VW Motorsport Polo) ended in seventh.
In Class C de Lange had a relatively untroubled run to victory after Dannhauser lost momentum when he caught a couple of Class B cars. Freddy Watkins (LNF Racing VW Polo) ran in third in the opening stages but was passed by Msimanga. Msimanga was then able to pull away and take the final podium spot in the race while Watkins was joined by Craig Priestley (Tactical Fluid Ford Laser) in a battle that lasted until the flag with Priestley emerging on top by just quarter of a second. Reoabaka Komane (Squadra Corse VW Polo) rounded out the top six.
In the second heat, Scholtz was the early leader from Scott and du Toit but by the end of the third lap du Toit had taken the lead which he didn’t relinquish. Scholtz managed to hang on to second ahead of Scott, who had Garland all over his rear bumper, but was later adjudged to have jumped the start, thereby incurring a 30-second penalty that drooped him to fourth. As a result, Scott inherited second with Garland in third.
Roos picked up a lights-to-flag Class B win in the second heat, but it was not all plain sailing. For most of the race he had Martin within a couple of car lengths, but the championship leader had to settle for second. Forget held off some early pressure from van Zyl to take third with Spurr a somewhat lonely fifth. Pillay and Ten Doeschate ended in sixth and seventh.
A great start by Dannhauser saw him take the lead by the second corner and, despite having Watkins close by in the early stages, was able to take the win. Watkins finished second with Msimanga just getting the better of Priestley to take third. Komane ended in fifth.
The third heat saw Garland leading the way from Scott and Scholtz in the early stages with du Toit in fourth. Du Toit, however, was not satisfied with just a single win on the day and by half-distance had passed all three cars in front of him to move into the lead aided when Garland missed a gear which allowed Scott through as well. At the flag du Toit was out in front with Scott again in second. Garland took third ahead of Scholtz.
Marin led the Class B pack in the third heat from van Zyl until the final lap when a CV joint on van Zyl’s Golf let go allowing Martin to take a comfortable win from Forget who had Roos about a second behind him. Spurr out did Ten Doeschate this time around to take fourth with Pillay in sixth.
Watkins was the early Class C leader from de Lange but de Lange’s challenge soon came to an end when mechanical gremlins left him stranded on the side of the circuit. A couple of laps later Watkins was joined by Dannhauser, who had worked his way back through the field after dropping back on the opening lap. Watkins was able to hang on to the lead for a while but Dannhauser eventually found a way through and went on to take the win. Priestley managed to get the better of Komane to take third with Msimanga in fifth.
In the day’s overall standings, du Toit took Class A from Scott and Garland with Martin on top of Class B. Forget and Roos joined him on the podium. Dannhauser claimed Class C ahead of Watkins and Msimanga. Fleetwood took the Class D trophy.
The Car Care Clinic SuperHatch Championship returns to Gauteng for the final round of the 2019 championship, which takes place at the Zwartkops Raceway on Saturday, 9 November.