Vodacom Roadshow AA Kyalami national race report 11-03-01

Kennerley Wins Vodacom Sports Prototype Two Hour Enduro

Midrand driver Clive Kennerley scored his second win of the season when he won the Vodacom Sports Prototype two hour endurance race at the Vodacom Roadshow national meeting at AA Kyalami on Saturday, 3 November.

Kennerley did not post a qualifying time on Friday, and started from the back of the grid. A super steady drive, however, saw the former motorcycle racer work his way through the field to finish a lap ahead of Steve Desilla and Richard Sorensen in second place.

Just 13 seconds in arrears in third place was experienced Toby Venter in a Porsche 911 GT. Venter led the race at the end of 60 minutes, but in the second hour gradually slowed and allowed Kennerley and the Desilla/Sorensen combination to take the initiative.

Championship leader George Ferreira, sharing a car with Miguel Rocha, finished in 13th place, but is still in the title chase driving seat with one race to go at Zwartkops next weekend. Ferreira's closest championship rival, Alan Eve, was an early casualty today when he clashed with Garth Waberski, sharing with Neil Lobb, and this has taken all the pressure off Ferreira.

The early stages of the race saw Venter involved in a terrific scrap with international star Gary Formato, making a rare South African performance, taking the first stint in a car he was sharing with Colin Frost. Unlike the other VSP entries in the race, the Formato/Frost car was fitted with a Nissan motor with the car running as part of a development project.

Formato set a fastest lap that was inside the existing lap record. But, because it is a development car, the time will not be recognized.

The dice ended when Formato spun in the Esses and hit Dave Beattie with the Formato/Frost entry suffering body damage. The pair borrowed a new shell from Damian Frost, but the incident dropped Formato and Frost down to 13th at the halfway mark.

They fought back to finish seventh and it was at the one hour mark that Venter started to slow. Kennerley and Desilla/Sorensen started to pile on the pressure, but in the latter stages the Desilla/Sorensen car also started to sound a little sick, and barely made it to the finish with Venter only 13 seconds in arrears.

Newly crowned Formula Vee champion Lee Thompson crowned a successful season by taking a win and a second. Former motocross star Symm Grobler, who finished second in the opening heat, took the final win of the season to score his second victory of the 2001 season.

There were double wins in both the Formula GTi and Isondo Vodacom Sports 2000 events. Marco da Cunha took both Formula GTi heats ahead of Midrand youngster Dale Knez, who goes into the final round of the championship with a comfortable 15 point cushion over experienced Barry Ingle.

The double in the Isondo Vodacom Sports 2000 event went to Riyad Jaffer who upstaged recently crowned champion Chad Francis. In the final event of an interesting and varied day, Vernon Pappas and Fabio Tafani shared wins in the 250 Superkart category.

Results:

250 Superkarts (Heat 1): 1 V Pappas (Anderson); 2 G Gribben (Stealth); 3 K Zachau (PVP Rotax); 4 F Tafani (Stealth); 5 W Kruger (Anderson Rotax). Heat 2: 1 F Tafani (Stealth); 2 G Gribben (Stealth); 3 K Zachau (PVP Rotax); 4 W Kruger (Anderson); 5 T Farah (ADE).

Formula GTi (Heat 1): 1 M da Cunha (Swift); 2 D Knez (Swift); 3 G Connelly (Swift); 4 P da Cunha (Swift); 5 B Ingle (Swift). Heat 2: 1 M da Cunha (Swift); 2 D Knez (Swift); 3 B Ingle (Swift); 4 M Rocha (Swift); 5 G Connelly (Swift).

Formula Vee (Heat 1):1 L Thompson (Vision); 2 S Grobler (Rhema); 3 A Holm (Rhema); 4 P Hills (VFW Vee); 5 K Robinson (Sting). Heat 2: 1 S Grobler (Rhema); 2 L Thompson (Vision); 3 T Smith (Rhema); 4 P Hills (VFW Vee); 5 D Veringa (Rhema).

Vodacom Sports 2000 (Heat 1): R Jaffer (Sports 2000); 2 D Moonsammy (Sports 2000); 3 L Kupai (Sports 2000); 4 S Manqele (Sports 2000); 5 M Apollis )Sports 2000). Heat 2: 1 R Jaffer (Sports 2000); 2 L Kupai (Sports 2000); 3 C Francis (Sports 2000); 4 D Moonsammy (Sports 2000); 5 Z Zonele (Sports 2000).

Vodacom Sports Prototypes (Two Hour Endurance): 1 C Kennerley (VSP Canam Dodge); 2 S Desilla/R Sorensen (VSP Canam Dodge); 3 T Venter (Porsche 911 GT); 4 A Green/T Voller (VSP Canam Dodge); 5 R Wood/G Eckman (VSP Canam Dodge).

-VR-