The third round of the 2016 INEX Legends Championship saw this popular series make their way to the rustic Midvaal Raceway in the Vaal Triangle on Saturday 7 May.
The ball draw for grid positions saw Divan Myburgh (P) on pole position with series rookie Johan Jooste (M) alongside him. Young Lonika Maartens (SP) would line up in third position with Keagan Wessels (P) joining her on the second row. Shjaell Nel (SP) and Johan van de Venter (M) would round out the top six positions.
Race 1
The first race of the day saw the eager field of competitors charge through the first few corners. Myburgh led the field onto the long back straight with Maartens, Wessels and the rest of the field in tow. The back straight became slip stream city as the faster drivers clawed their way through the pack. Seef Fourie (P) slotted into fourth position with Justin Robertson (M) and series newcomer Richard Upton (SP) hot on his heels.
Clinton Bezuidenhout (YL) was also on the move from the back of the field and grabbed sixth position from Upton on the third lap. Battles raged throughout the field but it was the battle for the lead that had the fans on their toes. Maartens was keeping Myburgh very busy and made her move on the penultimate lap of the race to take the lead.
Myburgh wasn’t about to give up without a fight however and re-took the position with a bold move around the outside of Maartens through turn five on the last lap. Wessels followed his example as he picked up third position as well. Myburgh only just crossed the line ahead of a determined Maartens to take the Overall victory – 0.044 of a second separating the pair across the line! Wessels had to defend for all that he was worth to claim third.
Race 1 Results
Pro Category Results
Semi-Pro Category Results
Divan Myburgh – Best lap: 1:14.879
Keagan Wessels – Best lap: 1:16.026
Shaun Nel – Best lap: 1:16.010
Lonika Maartens – Best lap: 1:16.235
Richard Upton – Best lap: 1:17.270
Dawie Fourie – Best lap: 1:18.321
Masters Category Results
Young Lions Category Results
Justin Robertson – Best lap: 1:16.715
Anton Repsold – Best lap: 1:16.819
Fred Els – Best lap: 1:17.925
Clinton Bezuidenhout – Best lap: 1:16.655
Altan Bouw – Best lap: 1:18.802
Race 2
Nel romped home to an easy Overall victory in Race 2
A reverse grid for the second race saw the action get off to an early start. A collision in turn one at the end of the first lap between Fourie and Fred Els (M) split the field rather drastically. Shaun Nel (P) took an early lead and focused on making the most of the opportunity. He was followed by Anton Repsold (M), Robertson (M) and Llewellyn Myburgh (P).
The faster drivers were also making their way through the field and were picking off positions through almost every corner. Divan was up to third position by lap three with a recovered Fourie hot on his heels. A fired up Fourie shot past the series leader and set about after the leaders. Bezuidenhout relegated Llewellyn to fifth position on the same lap as well.
Fourie eventually caught Repsold on the seventh lap and made a clean move through turn six to claim second position. Llewellyn regained fourth position with Bezuidenhout dropping Divan back to sixth place. Maartens saw her hopes end on the penultimate lap of the race with a very ill sounding car crossing the line into retirement.
Nel romped home to an easy Overall victory, setting the fastest lap of the race in the process. Repsold picked up second place after Fourie was disqualified for his involvement in the first lap incident. Divan regained two positions on the last lap to clinch third position.
Race 2 Results
Pro Category Results
Semi-Pro Category Results
Shaun Nel – Best lap: 1:15.812
Divan Myburgh – Best lap: 1:17.054
Llewellyn Myburgh – Best lap: 1:16.531
Anro Stadler – Best lap: 1:17.298
Shjaell Nel – Best lap: 1:18.117
Richard Upton – Best lap: 1:17.378
Masters Category Results
Young Lions Category Results
Anton Repsold – Best lap: 1:17.415
Justin Robertson – Best lap: 1:15.921
Steve Nel – Best lap: 1:17.768
Clinton Bezuidenhout – Best lap: 1:16.793
Altan Bouw – Best lap: 1:18.181
Race 3
A tight battle ensued between the Myburgh’s and Bezuidenhout
With another inverted grid for the third and final race of the day action aplenty was expected once again. Drama struck in the first corner when Llewellyn collided with Steve Nel (M) and ended his race in the outfield before it had begun. Luckily Nel was able to continue – albeit further back in the field.
Wessels picked up three places when he grabbed the lead a lap later, with Divan up to third position behind his cousin as well. Divan was on a charge once again as he grabbed the lead before the end of the lap. Bezuidenhout had finally made his way past some of the slower cars in the field and was up to sixth position on the same lap. Driving with experience beyond his years the plucky teenager was up to second place before the end of the lap.
When the dust had cleared it was Dawie Fourie (SP) who had grabbed the lead ahead of Shjaell Nel (SP) and Seef Fourie. It didn’t take long for Seef to take the lead from Dawie. A repaired Els slotted into third place with Johan van de Venter (M) and Anro Stadler (SP) hot on his heels. Divan Myburgh was making his way through the field as well and grabbed sixth position from Shjaell on the same lap.
With the faster drivers in the pack all making their way through the field there was action in every corner. Stadler was up to second place by lap three with Justin Robertson blasting his way through to third position ahead of Divan. Bezuidenhout got past Els to claim fifth position as well. Robertson dropped back after an off-road excursion leaving the rest of the pack to fight for the minor positions.
Seef continued to extend his lead with Divan getting past Stadler to claim second place. Bezuidenhout slotted into fourth with a recovered Robertson closing in on him however. Bezuidenhout got past Stadler on lap six with Robertson relegating Stadler to fifth on the same lap.
Unfortunately Fourie was excluded for a technical infringement, handing the Overall victory to Divan. Bezuidenhout took an impressive second place with Robertson taking a respectable third.
Race 3 Results
Pro Category Results
Semi-Pro Category Results
Divan Myburgh – Best lap: 1:15.935
Keagan Wessels – Best lap: 1:16.794
Shaun Nel – Best lap: 1:17.303
Anro Stadler – Best lap: 1:16.516
Richard Upton – Best lap: 1:16.988
Shjaell Nel – Best lap: 1:18.236
Masters Category Results
Young Lions Category Results
Justin Robertson – Best lap: 1:16.055
Fred Els – Best lap: 1:17.714
Anton Repsold – Best lap: 1:16.956
Clinton Bezuidenhout – Best lap: 1:15.870
Altan Bouw – Best lap: 1:17.458
Series newcomer Altan Bouw scored an impressive top 10 result in both races
Current Top 5 Overall Championship
Pos.
Driver
No.
Cat.
Points
1
Divan Myburg
127
P
1745
2
Keagan Wessels
33
P
1425
3
Justin Robertson
76
M
1405
4
Shaun Nel
7
P
1330
5
Clinton Bezuidenhout
57
YL
1310
Current Top 3 in Category
Professional
Semi- Professional
Divan Myburgh – 1785
Keagan Wessels – 1575
Shaun Nel – 1550
Lonika Maartens – 1645
Shjaell Nel – 1535
Dawid Fourie – 1515
Masters
Young Lions
Justin Robertson – 1770
Anton Repsold – 1655
Steve Nel – 1495
Clinton Bezuidenhout – 1600
Altan Bouw – 555
The next round of the INEX Legends Championship will visit the scenic Dezzi Raceway in Kwa-Zulu Natal on the 4th of June.
