The fifth round of the Bridgestone BMW Club Racing Series saw this popular series make their way to the popular Red Star Raceway near Delmas on Saturday 13 August with an impressive field of 27 cars heading out for qualifying.
Poleman Fameliaris leads the way into turn twelve before the start
Qualifying
Julian Fameliaris (E36 328i Turbo) claimed pole position ahead of the surprise of the season, Jorge Estrela (E36 328i Turbo). Riaan Woest (E46 M3 GTR) would line up on the second row of the grid with Paulo Loureiro (E36 M3) lining up alongside him.
An impressive Lorenzo Gualtieri (E36 328i) would start from the third row of the grid with Rick Loureiro (E30 3.2 CSL) rounding out the top six.
The sixth round of the 2016 Inland Championship saw this popular Roadshow head out to the technical Red Star Raceway this past weekend for another action packed round which provided thrills and spills for the large crowd on the day.
An impressive performance by Seef Fourie (Pro) saw him taking the overall and Pro class victory
The INEX Legends Championship series kicked off proceedings with their first race of the day. Poleman Jordan Larsson (Semi-Pro) held an early lead ahead of Seef Fourie (Pro) and Keagan Wessels (Pro). Fourie took the lead before the end of the lap however with a hard charging Clinton Bezuidenhout (Young Lion) up to second a lap later. Fourie held on for a comfortable victory with Wessels getting the better of Bezuidenhout on the last lap to claim second. Maartens was credited with third after Bezuidenhout was penalized for a jump start.
Poleman Divan Myburgh (Pro) held the lead at the start of the second race with Justin Robertson (Master) and the rest of the pack in tow. Lonika Maartens (Semi-Pro) was up to third and rapidly closing down on the leaders. She got past Myburgh for second and then grabbed the lead from Robertson coming out of turn one on the second lap. Fourie was up to second by the penultimate lap, bringing Wessels with him. Maartens took a comfortable win ahead of Fourie and Wessels.
Shaun Nel (Pro) took an early lead at the start of the third race with Bezuidenhout, Larsson and Fourie not too far behind. Bezuidenhout grabbed the lead by lap three only to lose it to Fourie a lap later. Fourie held on for the win ahead of Bezuidenhout with Maartens coming through to take third.
In celebration of BMW’s 100th birthday the BMW Car Club of Gauteng will be hosting a track day and Centenary Parade at the popular Red Star Raceway in Delmas on Saturday 20 August 2016. This event is proudly supported by Zambesi Auto BMW.
The day will kick off at 08:00 with the usual Bridgestone BMW Track School and will continue until 11:00. The ever popular Hot Lap sessions for those passengers brave enough to be taken around this tight and technical race circuit by a professional driver in BMW’s latest M3 monster will take place during this time as well. The cost is R100 per passenger.
The Bridgestone Track Challenge will have the next round of their Championship too with plenty of fast cars and drivers expected to put in some impressive times around the challenging Red Star Raceway circuit. The time trials are open to all makes of vehicles, as long as you are a holder of an MSA licence, have a track-worthy vehicle and a helmet. The entry fee is R950. Full details of the event can be found on the club website and MSA licences for the day can be arranged ahead of the event. The track sessions will then close from 11:00 to 13:00 in order to set up and carry out a slow speed parade around the circuit with as many BMW vehicles as possible.
While the intention of the parade is not to go for an official Guinness World Record, the rules will be followed so that the footage of the parade could be submitted at a later stage if the club thought that it was viable to do so. The rules for the parade will therefore require that every participant must stay in formation with no less than a cars length in front of the next vehicle – hence the requirement of a slow speed parade around the circuit. In 2013, four hundred and forty six BMW’s circulated the old Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit. The organisers of this year’s Centenary Celebration event are hoping to better this number with more than 500 vehicles on track.
