Bridgestone BMW Club Racing Series – Round 8 – Red Star – 2016-11-12 – Race Report

The Bridgestone BMW Club Racing Series returned to the popular Red Star Raceway on Saturday 12 November for the final round of the 2016 Championship. With three of the five championship titles still to be decided it was an all or nothing affair for the competitors involved.

Qualifying

Julian Fameliaris (E36 328i Turbo) grabbed pole position by half a second ahead of Desmond Bloem (E36 M3 Turbo). Brothers Rick Loureiro (E30 3.2 CSL) and Paulo Loureiro (E36 M3) would lock out the second row with Riaan Woest (E46 M3 GTR) and Stefano Martinelli (E36 328i Turbo) rounding out the top six positions.

Race 1

Poleman Fameliaris held the lead at the start of the first race with Bloem, Rick Loureiro and Martinelli in hot pursuit. Paulo Loureiro’s race ended before it had begun when he retired down the main straight with mechanical gremlins at the end of the first lap. Newly crowned class C champ Lorenzo Gualtieri (E36 328i) retired through turn six on the next lap with broken engine mountings while Andreas Meier (E36 M3) retired to the pits with a burst fuel line.

After a bad qualifying session Dino Fameliaris (E36 M3 Turbo) was charging through the pack from further back on the grid. He slotted into fourth position by lap three and then blasted past Martinelli for third place a lap later. Shane Grobler (E36 328i) was on a charge in class C as he broke away from Philip Smit (E46 M3) and series debutant Len-Henry Gobey (E36 M3).

After running in a strong fifth place Rick Loureiro ran wide coming out of turn ten on lap seven. Unfortunately his car rolled and this brought out the red flag, ending the race prematurely.

Julian Fameliaris took a narrow Overall and class A victory ahead of Bloem with Dino taking a comfortable third place. Martinelli took the class B honours with Grobler taking a popular class C victory. Andy Smith (E36 318is Turbo) crossed the line to take the class D honours.

Race 2

The reverse grid by class for the second race saw Julian take the lead ahead of Bloem, Dino and Martinelli. Julian slowed on the second lap and retired his normally reliable racer in turn six. Bloem used the opportunity to his advantage and broke away from Dino and the rest of the chasing pack.

Martinelli quickly grabbed the class B lead with Woest and Willie Erasmus (E36 M3) in tow. Shane Page (E36 328i) took the class C lead but had Gualtieri and Smit hot on his heels. Gualtieri took the class lead on lap two and set about chasing the class B pack. Paulo Loureiro was on a charge from the back of the field and was up to sixth place on the same lap. Loureiro grabbed fifth on lap five when Erasmus ran wide through the Esses coming onto the main straight.

Bloem went on to take a comfortable win ahead of Dino with class B victor Martinelli taking a respectable third. Gualtieri ended his season on a high with a win in class C while Edwin Dreyer (E46 M3) topped off his season with a win in class D.

Despite not finishing the second race Julian Fameliaris had accumulated enough points to clinch the coveted Overall Bridgestone BMW Club Racing Series Drivers championship. Riaan Woest secured the class B championship against some stiff turbo charged opposition, while Troy Cochran wrapped up the class D title as well.

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

Race Report by: Greg Reilly

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.