Category: Zwartkops Raceway

Photographs of racing and events at Zwartkops Raceway

Extreme Festival – 2014-11-15 – Zwartkops – Photographs

Paul BlackburnExtreme Festival, Zwartkops Raceway

Photographs from the Extreme Festival event held at Zwartkops Raceway on 15 November 2014.
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BMW CCG Club Racing Series – Round 7 – Zwartkops

Greg ReillyBMW Car Club Gauteng, BMW Club Racing Series, Zwartkops Raceway
The popular BMW CCG Club Racing Series joined the national Super Series Roadshow for their swansong event at Zwartkops Raceway on Saturday 1 November. The penultimate round of the BMW CCG Club Racing Series certainly made all and sundry sit up and take notice with two action packed heats keeping race fans on their feet. The dedicated competitors of this well organised series produced some of the most exciting racing on the day with all four classes producing close racing throughout the field. BMW Car Club Gauteng
Sav Gaultieri (F30 335i) made the long awaited debut of his new racer and promptly grabbed pole position in the process by almost a full second over Kris Budnik (E46 M3 GT). Ricky Giannoccaro (E46 M3 GTR) picked up where he left off at the previous race when he grabbed the class B pole ahead of team mate Thouca Mechanicos (E46 M3 Ti GTR).
Lee Jones (E39 M5) dominated the class C qualifying only to break out and receive a 5 place grid penalty. This put Dino Fameliaris (E36 M3) on the front row of the class with Justin Robertson (E36 328i) alongside him. Johan Dreyer (E46 330i) continued his good form and once again grabbed the class D honours with championship rival Mike Salt (E36 323i) lining up alongside him.

Race 1
The charge through the first corner couldn’t have been closer
The charge through the first corner couldn’t have been closer
The first race got off to a thunderous start with the large twenty nine car field jostling for position through the first corner. With the leaders three abreast out of turn one it was the tight turn two hairpin that would decide the men from the boys! Gaultieri emerged from turn three with an immediate lead over Budnik, Robertson and the rest of the chasing pack.
The frantic pace at the front would take a few prisoners however, as first Jimmy Giannoccaro (E82 135i) succumbed to a broken exhaust system on lap two, with class B championship contender Manny Ribeiro (E36 325i Turbo) retiring from the class B lead a lap later with a broken engine mounting.
Mechanicos picked up where Ribeiro left off with Garbini and G&H Transport team mate Ricky G in hot pursuit. The class C battle was just as fierce with Jones scything his way from the middle of the pack to challenge Fameliaris and Robertson for the lead. The class D battle was a mirror image of the last couple of events with Salt being the Venter trailer on Dreyer’s rear bumper as the two fought for the class lead.
Garbini was on a charge as he grabbed the class B lead by the half way point in the race. Ricky followed suit as he demoted Mechanicos to third position in the class as well. The class C brat pack once again saw a titanic battle in the mid field with Daniel Koekemoer (E36 M3 GTR) fending off Nic Smythe (E46 330i) and Hein Strohm (E36 M3 GTR). Class D contender Shane Grobler (E36 328i) suffered engine failure on lap five, putting a premature end to his race weekend.
When the chequered flag came out it was Gaultieri who edged out a hard charging Budnik to claim the Overall and class A honours. Garbini had to work hard to take the class B honours ahead of Ricky. Jones proved that he had the pace in class C as he romped home to victory ahead of Robertson Senior. Dreyer only just held on for the class D victory with Salt keeping him busy all the way to the line.
Gaultieri threw down the gauntlet early on and dominated from the out set
Gaultieri threw down the gauntlet early on and dominated from the out set
 

Race 1 Class Results

Class A

Class B
  1. Sav Gaultieri – Best lap: 1:04.546
  2. Kris Budnik – Best lap: 1:05.517
  3. Devin Robertson – Best lap: 1:06.430
  1. Carlo Garbini – Best lap: 1:07.899
  2. Ricky Giannoccaro – Best lap: 1:07.872
  3. Thouca Mechanicos – Best lap: 1:8.151

Class C

Class D
  1. Lee Jones – Best lap: 1:10.905
  2. Justin Robertson – Best lap: 1:11.788
  3. Dino Fameliaris – Best lap: 1:11.658
  1. Johan Dreyer – Best lap: 1:15.011
  2. Mike Salt – Best lap: 1:15.080
  3. Bruce Turner – Best lap: 1:15.698

Race 2
Garbini was back to race winning form
Garbini was back to race winning form
An inverted grid by class for the second race would certainly shake things up with plenty of opportunity for overtaking being created. It didn’t take long for Gaultieri to once again get to the front of the pack. By the end of the first lap he held the race lead ahead of Budnik and Gianni Giannoccaro. A determined Garbini secured the class B lead ahead of Mechanicos and Riaan Woest (E46 M3 GTR) who was making his first appearance amongst the class B ranks in his new car after moving up from class C.
The class C battle was the one to watch with Speed and Sound Magazine front man Joel Silva (E36 328i) being chased down by Strohm, Robertson and the rest of the chasing pack. Donovan Salt (E30 3.0i) was unfortunate to retire with a puncture on lap three in his beautifully turned out retro Jagermeister touring car replica. Jones was on a charge once again as he scythed his way through the field. He made short work of the leading trio to grab the class C lead a lap later. Silva’s challenge came to an end on the fifth lap when he was plagued by spark plug issues.
With the front end of the field settling down into a good rhythm, the rest of the class C contenders were nowhere near from done. The battle for second position in the class saw a train of cars all fighting for the same piece of tarmac – Robertson had his hands full with Strohm, Koekemoer, Julian Fameliaris (E36 328i) and Smythe all in with a shot of a podium finish. The fight would quite literally go down to the last corner on the final lap of the race.
Gaultieri was in dominant form as he romped home to victory ahead of Budnik and Gianni to claim the Overall and class A double once again. Garbini made it two out of two in class B with Ricky and Mechanicos making a repeat performance of their results as well. Jones has found some amazing pace in the last few races of the season and a sublime effort from him saw him take his second victory amongst the hotly contested class C ranks once again.
Robertson held on for a hard fought second position with Strohm only just grabbing third. Dreyer was under pressure from Salt for the start but managed to drive one of the widest cars in the race to hold on for the double victory ahead of his championship rival once again. Turner used the new found grip of his car to claim another well deserved third position.

 
Jones was sublime in the brutish M5
Jones was sublime in the brutish M5
 

Race 2 Class Results

Class A

Class B
  1. Sav Gaultieri – Best lap: 1:05.165
  2. Kris Budnik – Best lap: 1:05.831
  3. Gianni Giannoccaro – Best lap: 1:06.992
  1. Carlo Garbini – Best lap: 1:08.668
  2. Ricky Giannoccaro – Best lap: 1:08.802
  3. Thouca Mechanicos – Best lap: 1:08.685

Class C

Class D
  1. Lee Jones – Best lap: 1:11.283
  2. Justin Robertson – Best lap: 1:12.501
  3. Hein Strohm – Best lap: 1:12.521
  1. Johan Dreyer – Best lap: 1:15.411
  2. Mike Salt – Best Lap: 1:15.188
  3. Bruce Turner – Best lap: 1:16.291
The proverbial blanket could have been thrown over Dreyer and Salt once again
The proverbial blanket could have been thrown over Dreyer and Salt once again
The final round of the year at Zwartkops Raceway on 29 November will no doubt see all guns come out blazing! All four of the individual class titles still need to be decided, as well as the coveted Overall title.

Race Report by Greg Reilly.
Website: www.BMWCarClub.co.za
Facebook: BMW Car Club Gauteng or
BMW CCG Club Racing Series
Twitter: @BMWCarClubGP
Event Photographs: www.RacePics.co.za
Media requests must please be forwarded to RacePics at Click-to-Reveal@racepics.co.za

Photographs of BMW Car Club Gauteng Events
BMW CCG Club Racing Series

MSA Super Series – Zwartkops Raceway – 2014-11-01 – Photographs

Paul BlackburnBMW Car Club Gauteng, BMW Club Racing Series, Super Series, Zwartkops Raceway

Photographs from the MSA Super Series event held at Zwartkops Raceway on 1 November 2014.
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