Bridgestone BMW Club Racing Series – Round 7 – Kyalami – 2016-10-29 – Race Report
Greg Reilly
The beautiful sight of the charging pack of Beemers at Kyalami
The Bridgestone BMW Club Racing Series made their way to the newly refurbished Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit on Saturday 29 October for the seventh round of the 2016 Championship. A scorching day at this historic motorsport venue set the tone for equally heated racing throughout the five classes.
Qualifying
Guest drivers Sav Gualtieri (F30 335i Turbo) and Paul Hill (E90 335i Turbo) locked out the front row of the grid during qualifying. It was an all family affair on the second row as Dino Fameliaris (E36 M3 Turbo) out qualified his cousin Julian Fameliaris (E36 328i Turbo) to claim third position. Stefano Martinelli (E36 328i Turbo) and Riaan Woest (E46 M3 GTR) would round out the top six places.
Gualtieri would not start the first race as he concentrated on repairing his son Lorenzo’s car after an incident in qualifying.
Lorenzo Gualtieri scythed his way from ninth to take the class C lead on lap 2
Race 1
Hill had a disastrous start to his race when the boost pipe came off of his car heading into turn two. The lack of power saw him lose drive out of the corner and he was tapped into a spin by one of the cars behind him.
Dino Fameliaris emerged onto the back straight in the lead with Julian Fameliaris and Martinelli in tow. Willie Erasmus (E36 M3) was up to fourth place after a fantastic start with Paulo Loureiro (E36 M3) and Woest in tow. Julian took the lead on lap two with Dino and Martinelli trying to stay in touch. Loureiro shot past Erasmus with Woest doing the same shortly thereafter.
The battle behind the leaders was closer than ever with the class C brat pack producing some great racing. Lorenzo Gualtieri (E36 328i) was driving like a man possessed as he scythed his way from ninth in class to take the class C lead from Mish-al Sing (E30 325i) on lap two. Guest driver Bruce Turner (E36 328i Turbo) slotted into second place two laps later. Mike Salt (E36 318i) saw his guest drive come to an end when the engine of his car let go coming out of Leeukop corner. Erasmus dropped back with a misfire in the latter stages of the race.
Julian held on for a narrow Overall and class A victory ahead of Dino, while third placed Martinelli took a convincing class B victory ahead of Woest. Sixth placed Gualtieri claimed an impressive class C win while Troy Cochran (E46 325ti) took an easy win in class D. Mike Dodd (E36 318i) was the sole class E survivor.
Top 3 Results by Class
Class A
Julian Fameliaris – Best lap: 1:56.268
Dino Fameliaris – Best lap: 1:57.074
Martinelli took a convincing class B victory ahead of Woest
Class B
Stefano Martinelli – Best lap: 1:57.530
Riaan Woest – Best lap: 2:00.661
Paulo Loureiro – Best lap: 2:01.062
Class C
Lorenzo Gualtieri – Best lap: 2:04.416
Bruce Turner – Best lap: 2:03.923
Mish-al Sing – Best lap: 2:04.839
Class D
Troy Cochran – Best lap: 2:13.827
Allan Hilligenn – Best lap: 2:17.607
Bevan Meyer – Best lap: 2:14.030
Class E
Mike Dodd – Best lap: 2:25.260
Loureiro brothers in their beautifully branded Jägermeister cars
Race 2
The usual reverse grid by class would certainly make for an interesting second race. Dino Fameliaris grabbed an early lead ahead of Rick Loureiro (E30 3.2 CSL) and Jorge Estrela (E36 328i Turbo). Paulo Loureiro slotted into fourth place with Woest and Erasmus in tow. Julian Fameliaris started from the pit lane as he was stuck in fourth gear due to a broken clutch.
Estrela lost a few positions on the first lap when a change in tyres between races saw him lose the back end of the car on the new rubber coming out of Leeukop Corner. Woest was closing down on Paulo and made a bold move around the outside of Sunset Corner on lap three to take third place. Once again the class C battle produced its usual antics. Nathan had grabbed the class lead with Turner and the rest of the pack in tow. Turner showed great skill in getting past Nathan on lap four with a hard charging Gualtieri slotting into third place.
With the race shortened to six laps it was Dino who romped home to the Overall and class A victory. Second placed Rick Loureiro claimed the class B win ahead of a hard charging Woest. Seventh placed Turner took the class C win this time out with Andy Smith (E36 318is Turbo) coming back from suspension issues in the first race to claim the honours in class D. Dodd found plenty of pace in the second race to claim the double in class E.
Top 3 Results by Class
Class A
Dino Fameliaris – Best lap 1:55.629
Julian Fameliaris – Best lap: 2:11.195
Smith came back from suspension issues in the first race to claim the honours in class D
Class B
Rick Loureiro – Best lap: 2:01.276
Riaan Woest – Best lap: 2:00.894
Jorge Estrela – Best lap: 2:02.156
Class C
Bruce Turner – Best lap: 2:04.082
Graeme Nathan – Best lap: 2:05.987
Lorenzo Gualtieri – Best lap: 2:03.585
Class D
Andy Smith – Best lap: 2:13.264
Allan Hilligenn – Best lap: 2:16.647
Bevan Meyer – Best lap: 2:16.345
Class E
Mike Dodd Best lap: 2:20.852
The final round of the championship will return to the Red Star Raceway near Delmas on 12 November where they will once again race as part of the Inland Championship.
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