Pre Race Report: Bridgestone BMW Club Racing Series – Round 8 – Red Star

The Bridgestone BMW Club Racing Series will head to the Red Star Raceway in Delmas on Sunday 1 November for the final round of the 2015 season. The series will also be making history as the first tin-top series to host and run a full race day at this popular motorcycle facility.

With three of the four class titles already decided, the Class B and Overall championship titles are still up for grabs. The racing throughout the other classes will be no less exciting with pride and honour on the line for each and every driver. Add a brand new circuit into the mix and the racing is expected to be closer than ever – with the possibility of a few surprise results as well.

2015 Class A champion Mish-al Sing (E92 M3) has extended his lead in the class championship and will be looking to end the season on a high note. Devin Robertson (E90 320i Turbo) is still credited with second place. Jimmy Giannoccaro (E82 135i) holds onto third position ahead of his son Ricky Giannoccaro (E46 M3 GTR) who is recovering from injuries sustained in a quad biking accident a few months ago. Manny Ribeiro (E36 328i Turbo) has worked his way up to fifth position after having being moved up into the premier class at the fourth round of the year. Ricky’s twin brother Gianni Giannoccaro (E46 M3) rounds out the top six positions in the class.

The class B title chase has been a hard fought affair and will appropriately be decided at the final event of the year. Zimbabwean Darren Winterboer (F30 335i) has opened up a comfortable ten point lead over young Julian Fameliaris (E36 328i Turbo) while Riaan Woest (E46 M3) is a further ten points behind the leaders in his normally aspirated entry. Andries Greyvensteyn (E46 M3 Turbo) finds himself in fourth position with Dino Fameliaris (E36 328i Turbo) only three points behind him. With his car in for recent surgery at BMW tuning specialists SavSpeed, Dino is expected to be back to the form he showed last year.

2015 Class C champion Stefano Martinelli (E36 328i) has extended the lead that he has in the class and will be looking to end the year on a high note as well. Fred Kruger (E46 M3) is still credited with second place despite last racing at the fifth round of the championship. Kruger’s position will most certainly be under threat as Shane Grobler (E36 328i) moves up to third position – only 5 points behind the second placed man. Seasoned campaigner Warren Dodd (E46 330i) has dropped back to fourth but will be looking to try and finish in the top three for the season as well in his new race car. Feroz Ebrahim (E46 M3 GTR) drops back to fifth position. Series newcomer Lorenzo Gaultieri (E36 328i) has had some impressive performances during the year and will be keen to move up another position in the class championship if possible.

2015 class D champion Mike Salt (E36 323i) continues to open up the gap on the rest of the field and will no doubt be focused on trying to better his position in the Overall Drivers Championship. Arri van Heerden (E30 2.7) holds onto a comfortable second place after leading the class championship earlier in the year as well. Trevor Long (E36 328i) remains in third position but he will have to worry about Craig Ball (E36 328i) who is only four points behind him. Mike Grobler (E36 328i) has been impressive in his Challenge spec car and his consistency throughout the season has seen him move into the top five. Bevan Meyer (E36 325i) drops back to sixth place but will no doubt be determined to make up for the points that he lost after not being able to race at the sixth round of the championship. With no less than half a dozen other competitors in the class who are all capable of taking a points scoring position, the racing is expected to be closer than ever.

The battle for the Overall Drivers Championship has seen a number of vital changes after the last event with the title chase now developing into a three horse race. Mish-al Sing (Class A) leads the Overall Championship once again but is only three points ahead of Stefano Martinelli (Class C). Zimbabwean Darren Winterboer (Class B) is a solitary point behind Martinelli and remains a massive threat to both drivers.

Julian Fameliaris (Class B) finds himself in fourth position with a narrow six point advantage over new fifth placed man Mike Salt (Class D. The title chase will most definitely go down to the final corner in the last race of the year!

1. Mish-Al Sing – 112 points
2. Devin Robertson – 44 points
3. Jimmy Giannoccaro – 35 points
4. Ricky Giannoccaro – 34 points
5. Manny Ribeiro – 34 points
6. Gianni Giannoccaro – 17 points

Class C

1. Stefano Martinelli – 89 points
2. Fred Kruger – 54 points
3. Shane Grobler – 49 points
4. Warren Dodd – 47 points
5. Feroz Ebrahim – 43 points
6. Lorenzo Gaultieri – 35 points

Overall

1. Mish-Al Sing – 112 points
2. Stefano Martinelli – 109 points
3. Darren Winterboer – 108 points
4. Julian Fameliaris – 98 points
5. Mike Salt – 92 points

1. Darren Winterboer – 108 points
2. Julian Fameliaris – 98 points
3. Riaan Woest – 88 points
4. Andries Greyvensteyn – 23 points
5. Dino Fameliaris – 20 points
6. Morne Visagie – 20 points

Class D

1. Mike Salt – 92 points
2. Arri Van Heerden – 63 points
3. Trevor Long – 50 points
4. Craig Ball – 46 points
5. Mike Grobler – 41 points
6. Bevin Meyer – 38 points

Pre Race Report by Greg Reilly
Media requests must please be forwarded to RacePics at media@racepics.co.za

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