Midas Productions AA Kyalami preview

Midas Production Car Title War Moves To AA Kyalami

With more than 50 competitors on the grid, Rounds 15 and 16 of the 2001 Midas Production Car Championship should provide some of the Ford Centenary Race Day's best spectacle at AA Kyalami on Saturday, September 8.

The country's largest national tin-top racing series will go to AA Kyalami with its overall title chase balanced on a knife-edge, and scores to be settled in each of its five contested classes.

In statistical terms, Cor Kraamwinkel (Class E Goldi Chicken Opel Kadett 140iS) and Shaun van der Linde (Class A Castrol BMW 328i) will continue their season-long fight for the overall 2001 Midas Production Car title, with various other drivers able to upset their applecart.

In terms of sheer excitement, the AA Kyalami crowd can expect fender bashing, door-handle scraping wars throughout the field.

Class A will see Shaun van der Linde desperate to score a full 20 points in the interests of his overall title aspirations. To do so would require two race wins and two quickest laps from the Castrol BMW team leader, assisted by Michael Briggs in an identical Castrol BMW 328i.

Various other drivers in the class will have very different ideas, led by Steve Wyndham in his Ford Credit Fairlane plus Kaye-Eddie BMW 328i team mates Reghardt Roets and Gavin Kelsey.

With Ford sponsoring the day, the pressure will be on Wyndham to produce the Fairlane's first victory and he will engage the BMW brigade in battle from next Friday's first practice session. So will recent first-time race winner Richard Sorensen in his Auto Body Specialist BMW 328i and veteran Peter Lanz, in his venerable Nissan Maxima QX.

Class B should see the Team Total Honda- and Castrol Toyota equips resume a season-long fight for supremacy. Driving Total Honda Ballade V-TEC entries will be current points leader Gavin Cronje', Curt Alchin and Clinton Weston. Taking them on in works Castrol Toyota Corolla RSi models will be Charl Wilken and Mark Cronje', with nothing between the front five cars in terms of pace.

Backing Wilken and Cronje in a third works Corolla RSi will be former tin-top champion Mike White, called out of retirement to aid Toyota's cause, plus privateer Mario da Sousa (AV Toyota Corolla RSi).

Bert Grogor (Fairdeal Midas Opel Kadett 180i) will face a serious Class C onslaught from Honda Ballade 180i drivers Phillip Booysen, Doug Reekie and Lawrence Boshoff, racing under the respective banners of Maxi-Flex, Ray-Ban and Orbit Coach Works.

In Class D, Deltaparts Opel Corsa 160 GSi team mates Leeroy Poulter and Stephen Taylor will race without team orders, separated by a single point in the championship stakes. They will come under attack from Ford Fiesta RSi racers Fanie de Bruin and Etienne du Toit, again with the drivers under pressure to win on the occasion of Ford's Centenary Race Day.

Others who could join the front bunch will be Nyameka Williams (Petronas Opel Corsa 160 GSi), Jaco Correia (Honda Ballade 160i), Phillip Kekana (Sasol Toyota Tazz 160) and Dawie de Villiers in his ever-improving Daihatsu Sirion.

Cor Kraamwinkel needs two Class E wins and two quickest laps in his Goldi Chicken Opel Kadett 140i to keep his current overall Midas Production Car Championship lead. Trying to rain on his parade will be James Menin (Goldco Midas Opel Corsa 130i), Dave Compton (Toyota Tazz) plus rapid VW CitiGolf pilots Angus Thompson and Robi Beninca. Others who could surprise will be CAR Magazine's Craig Nicholson (Champion Toyota Tazz), Sheehan Grant (Shalom Opel Kadett 140i) and Nico de Waal (Opel Corsa 140i).

-MPCC-