Bridgestone BMW Club Racing Series – Round 2 – Red Star – 2017-03-11 – Race Report

The Bridgestone BMW Club Racing Series made their way to the popular Red Star Raceway on Saturday 11 March for the second round of the 2017 Inland Championship.

Qualifying

Lorenzo Gualtieri (E36 328i Turbo) highlighted his return to the fray by grabbing pole position in his first ever class A race. Desmond Bloem (E36 M3 Turbo) would line up alongside him on the front row with cousins Dino Fameliaris (E36 M3 Turbo) and Julian Fameliaris (E36 328i Turbo) right behind the leaders. Paulo Loureiro (E36 M3 GTS) and Jorge Estrela (E36 328i Turbo) made a welcome return to class B by locking out the third row of the grid.

Race 1

Bloem and Dino Fameliaris got the jump on young Gualtieri at the start to lead the chasing pack through the first few corners. Defending champion Julian Fameliaris slotted into fourth place with Loureiro and Estrela hot on his heels. Both Dino and Gualtieri got past Bloem with Gualtieri then taking the lead before the end of the first lap. Philip Smit (E46 M3) led the class C battle ahead of Andreas Meier (E36 M3) and Willie Erasmus (E36 M3).

Gualtieri’s lead was short lived however as he ran off the circuit on lap four when his brakes faded, dropping him back to fourth position in the process. Estrela saw his hopes go out the window when he slowed with boost problems ending his race prematurely on lap five. Dino had all but checked out at the front and had opened up a massive lead over Bloem and Julian. Smit ruined his chances when he ran wide coming off of the back straight on the penultimate lap of the race.

Dino held on to take a comfortable Overall and class A win with Julian and Gualtieri being credited with second and third respectively after Bloem was slapped with a 30 second jump start penalty. Fifth placed Loureiro took the class B victory with a relieved Smit being handed the class C honours after Erasmus was handed a 30 second jump start penalty as well. Shane Grobler (E36 328i) was in dominant form as he took a convincing win in class D.

Race 2

The traditional inverted grid by class for race two would make for another exciting heat. Manny Ribeiro (E46 M3 GTR) took the lead ahead of Julian Fameliaris and Mish-al Sing (E30 325is). Julian had grabbed the lead by the end of the first lap with Gualtieri and Bloem blasting through to slot into second and third positions respectively. Sixth placed Rick Loureiro (E30 3.2 CSL) held the class B lead ahead of brother Paulo with Riaan Woest (E46 M3 GTR) in hot pursuit.

Gualtieri took the lead down the back straight on the first lap. There were clearly no team orders in the Loureiro family as Paulo shot past Rick to grab the class B lead as well. Ribeiro then blew his chances when he spun coming out of turn ten, dropping him way back in the field as the rest of the field came charging through. Bloem grabbed second place on lap two with Woest relegating Rick to third in class B on the same lap.

Dino then squeezed past Julian dropping his cousin back to fourth position. Dino was on a charge and passed Bloem around the outside of turn nine coming off of the back straight. Further back in the field Smit had picked up the class C lead with Sing having to fend off an attack from Erasmus. Jan Eversteyn (E36 328i) was having a great race leading out the class D pack as well. Bloem wasn’t about to give up without a fight as he regained second place with three laps to go.

Gualtieri held on to take his maiden Overall and class A victory ahead of Bloem and Dino. Paulo took the double in class B with Erasmus inheriting the class C win after Smit was handed a 30 second jump start penalty this time around. Eversteyn only just managed to hold off a hard charging Grobler to take the class D honours.

The Bridgestone BMW Club Racing Series will head to Zwartkops Raceway outside Pretoria on 8 April 2017 for round 3 of the championship.

For live updates on race days follow the racing series on Facebook: Facebook.com/InlandChampionship

Race Report by: Greg Reilly

More about BMW Car Club Gauteng

The Club was formed in 1981 to afford like minded enthusiasts the opportunity to interact with each other through a comprehensive calendar of events, a club magazine and website portal. The Club also organizes adrenaline and social based events such as breakfast runs, classic car gatherings, Concours d’Elegance competitions, noggins, weekend trips, gymkhana’s and top speed events. The Club is proud of its family ethos where all enthusiasts are welcome. Annual membership starts from as little as R350, more information is available at www.bmwcarclub.co.za.