EVAPCO HRSA Racing – 20 April 2024 – Round 2 at Zwartkops Raceway.

(Article by Stuart Konig)

Evapco SA (Pty) Ltd Historic Racing South Africa had the crowd on their feet with door-to-door racing throughout the field.

Class B saw Andre van der Merwe in his Evapco SA (Pty) Ltd Porsche 911 RSR taking pole position for Race 1. With no one able to match the outright pace of the 911, van der Merwe drove to a double victory on the day. It is always a treat seeing the Evapco SA (Pty) Ltd 911 on track and racing.

In Class C it was Andre ten Napel in his TNMC Medical Devices VW Scirocco that dominated in qualifying to take pole position in Class C by a significant margin. As race 1 started it was Hennie Groenewald in his Kameeldoring Motorsport Ford Escort and Stuart Konig in his Northern Bolt & Tool VW Scirocco that kept ten Napel honest. George Avvakoumedes in his Liqui Moly / Euro Shop Equipment Porsche 911 found himself out of position down the field with some work to do to catch up to the leading pack. As the battle at the front was heating up, the Escort of Groenewald suddenly suffered a mechanical failure resulting in his retirement. Shortly after this there was an incident involving cars in a different class resulting in a safety car being deployed. It took quite a while for the incident to be resolved and when the safety car came back into the pits there were only 2 laps left of the race. Despite Konig’s best efforts he could not get past ten Napel who won by a few tenths of a second. Sadly, Groenewald could not get his car repaired for Race 2 and retired from the days racing. Race 2 started and Konig was once again all over ten Napel. There was very little in it between the two Scirocco drivers and they went side by side on a number of occasions. Despite this ten Napel was able to retain the lead and again took the chequered flag in 1^st position closely followed by Konig. Avvakoumedes unfortunately suffered a mechanical fault toward the end of the race as he nursed the 911 around the track to complete 8 of the 10 laps to get classified as a finisher.

Class D saw an exciting qualifying session as Jonathan Konig in his Northern Bolt & Tool VW Scirocco took Class D pole position by 2 tenths of a second. The opening laps of the race were incredibly exciting with Martin Botha in his Zakspeed Ford Escort and Gavin Lundin in his The Lube Guys Datsun 1200 GX taking the battle to Konig in the Scirocco. After the safety car came in it was a two-lap sprint to the end of the race. As the chequered flag came down it was Konig who was able to hold off Botha and Lundin respectively to take victory in Race 1. Sadly, in Race 2 Botha did not start the race leaving it up to Konig and Lundin to battle for the victory in Race 2. As the race ended it was Konig who was able to get the better of Lundin to take a double victory on the day.

Class E was the most hotly contested class with no less than 11 competitors entering in this class of which 3 were invitational drivers from Kwa-Zulu Natal. Qualifying saw the beautiful MK1 Ford Escort of Nigel Townshend taking pole position for Class E. The opening laps of the race were epic with Townshend jostling for position with fellow class competitors in the form of Stuart Armstrong in his Ford Escort, Terence Ladner in his Hamilton’s Racing VW Scirocco, Mike Gaines in his Ford Escort, Franz Jensen in his Hamilton’s Racing Datsun 1200 GX, Andre de Lange in his Opel Kadett, Meredith Willis in his Ford Escort, Sean Hepburn in his AA Datsun 1200DL, Grant Cramer in his Jensen’s Towing Datsun 1200 GX, Daryl Mann in his M Projects Datsun 1200 GX, Michael Lundin in his The Lube Guys Datsun 1200 GX Louis Cloete in his Automotive Racing Components VW Beetle, Willem Vorster in his Advanced Digital Devices MK2 Ford Escort and Peder Jensen Hamilton’s Racing Datsun 1200 GX. Unfortunately, it was an incident involving Lundin and Cameron Foster resulting in the cars getting stuck in the shale in a dangerous position. Once the Safety car returned to the pit the two-lap sprint race commenced. Townshend was able to hold off the attack from Ladner to take 1^st place in race 1. The pair was closely followed by Franz Jensen, Hepburn, Mann, Cramer, Peder Jensen, Lundin, Vorster, Gaines and Armstrong. Sadly, de Lange retired from the race in the early stages of race 1. Race 2 saw plenty of overtaking and racing action with side-by-side action at every corner. When the flag came down it was Ladner on this occasion that took the win from Townsend, Mann, Hepburn, Franz Jensen, Cramer, de Lange, Lundin, Peder Jensen, Armstrong, Gaines and Vorster. We saw some super racing from this class, well done.

Class F had Cameron Foster in his Jensen Towing Datsun 1200 GX taking pole position after a dominant qualifying performance. As the race started Foster was kept very honest by Ian Odendaal in his AIM Precision Engineering MK1 Ford Escort and Keegan Ward in his Datsun GX Coupe. Foster was going well and caught up to Mike Lundin in Class E. As the pair were battling for track position the two came together resulting in a Safety car deployment. Foster was able to get back on track and continue to the end of the race, however his race was compromised. This allowed Ward to take the victory followed by Foster and Odendaal. Race 2 saw an epic battle between these three competitors. In the end Ward was able to hold off the advances of Foster and Odendaal to take a double victory on the day.

Class G saw Mike Bishop in his Gasoline Denim Co. Renault Gordini recording the fastest lap in Class G to take pole position for Race 1. The Class G battle was also exciting with Bishop being kept very honest by Gerrit Murray in his Alfa Romeo GTV, Riaan de Ru in his Ford Prefect and Johann van der Walt in his Star Mining Supplies Mercedes 280E. Once the safety car returned to the pits, a two-lap battle opened up resulting in Bishop taking the win from de Ru and van der Walt. Unfortunately, the Alfa of Murray suffered a mechanical fault resulting in his retirement after a few laps of racing. Race 2 saw the battle resume, and despite some close and exciting racing it was once again Bishop that took the win from de Ru and van der Walt.

After many years of racing, we have seen both ‘The Legend’ Jannie van Rooyen and Willem Vorster retire from motor racing. Thank you both for your commitment and passion to motorsport.

With that, Evapco SA (Pty) Ltd Historic Racing South Africa had another successful and exciting Raceday at Zwartkops. We are looking forward to the next round of the Championship at Red Star Raceway on 15 June 2024.