INEX Legends Championship – Round 6 – Zwartkops – 2016-07-16 – Race Report

The sixth round of the INEX Legends Championship saw this popular series make their way to the Zwartkops Raceway on Saturday 16 July for yet another action packed event.

The traditional ball draw for grid positions saw Keagan Wessels (Liqui Moly) draw pole position with Jordan Larsson (N&S Bodyworks / Enviro Aire) pulling second. Lonika Maartens (Maxtrac / Denmar Steel) would line up in third position with Shjaell Nel (INEX Legends SA) joining her on the second row. Clinton Bezuidenhout (Universal Health Care) and Richard van Heerde (Browndeck Roofing) would round out the top six starting positions.

Race 1

The first race of the day was red flagged on the opening lap after a turn one incident involving Steve Nel (INEX Legends SA), who was left stranded in a car that was missing a wheel. Divan Myburgh (Bamboo Racing) took the lead at the restart of the race with Wessels and Larsson in tow.

Wessels inherited the lead on lap five when Myburgh dropped back with a misfire, allowing Larsson and Seef Fourie (Maxtrac / Denmar Steel) to move into the top three as well. Fourie took second place a lap later and then proceeded to chase down the race leader. The battle behind the leaders was just as close with Justin Robertson (Big Boss Auto) fending of Bezuidenhout and rookie Richard Upton (R.U. Racing).

Fourie had closed down the gap by the penultimate lap of the race and squeezed past Wessels through turn four to take the lead. He crossed the line half a second ahead of Wessels to secure the win with Larsson holding on to a respectable third place.

Race 1 Results

Race 2

Fourie grabbed an early lead in the second race and set off trying to put as much space between himself and the rest of the chasing pack. A close battle behind him saw Divan Myburgh taking second place ahead of his cousin Llewellyn Myburgh (Bamboo Racing). Anro Stadler (Jentelle Racing) was the best of the rest with Robertson and Bezuidenhout hot on his heels.

Upton soon joined the party as well and was hassling Bezuidenhout for fifth position. He got past the youngster on lap five bringing Wessels along with him in the process. Wessels was also on the move and dived up the inside of Upton through turn four to take fifth position on the same lap. Larsson was also closing the gap on the leading pack as he and Bezuidenhout fought over sixth position on the final lap of the race.

Fourie had to work hard as he only just held Divan at bay to claim his second victory in succession. Lady luck finally shone on Llewellyn as he crossed the line in a fighting third position to rack up some much needed points.

Race 2 Results

Race 3

The third and final race proved to be an absolute cracker. The drama started on the opening lap when a three car pileup coming out of turn two brought out the red flag. The incident involving Stadler, Upton and Larsson unfortunately saw too much damage to Stadler’s car for him to be able to continue.

Divan Myburgh took the lead at the restart with Nel Senior fending off Bezuidenhout and the rest of the pack. With the faster drivers making their way through the field, positions changed quickly. Bezuidenhout grabbed second place on the next lap with Fourie claiming third ahead of Llewellyn and Robertson.

A fired up Wessels was once again scything his way through the field. He was up to third by lap six and grabbed second place a lap later when Divan slowed with engine problems that saw him retire to the pits. Bezuidenhout slotted into third with Maartens right behind him. Robertson was on a late charge as he got past both of the youngsters to slot into third position with three laps to go.

Llewellyn would suffer a similar fate to his cousin as he too retired to the pits with engine problems. Some late race drama saw Janeske Viljoen (INEX Legends SA) run wide coming through turn eight, waking up the fans on the pit wall in the process as she spun cross the circuit to narrowly avoid hitting the unforgiving barrier.

Race 3 Results

The next round of the INEX Legends Championship will visit the Red Star Raceway near Delmas in Mpumalanga on the 13th of August.

Race Report by: Greg Reilly
Event Photographs: www.RacePics.co.za
Media requests can be directed to: media@racepics.co.za
Website: www.legendsracing.co.za
Facebook: LegendsRacingSA

[sdm_download id=”263948″ fancy=”1″]