The Alfa Trofeo Series returned to the Zwartkops Raceway in Pretoria for the penultimate round of the 2015 season on Saturday 17 October. Once again the series was joined by the competitors of the Midvaal Historics category, leading to some more close racing.
Race 1
Alfa Trofeo Racing – Round 8 – 17 October 2015 – Zwartkops
Pole man Warren Ewart (GTV 6) led the charge through turn one with the rest of the pack hot on his heels. Cuan Helen (Junior) slotted into second place with Shane Baartman (GTV) in tow. Baartman ruined his chances however with a spin through turn four on the opening lap. The safety car was then brought out when Carlos Gamiero Junior (GT) came to a halt in a dangerous position with electrical gremlins.
When the race re-started on lap four Ewart darted off into an immediate lead once again. Helen slotted into second with Jose De Carvalho (155 GTA Twin Spark) and Jacques Baartman (GT) behind him. John Hendriks (Sud) grabbed fifth position ahead of Ralph Kernes (Alfetta). Paul Griffin (Sprint) was driving a spare car after his usual steed let him down for the fourth race in a row.
Just as the race seemed to be settling into a rhythm, drama struck. Defending champion Anthony Theobald (Guilia) slowed with a sudden loss of power while Hendriks slowed as well when a loose steering rack drastically altered the handling of his car, dropping him back in the field.
Ewart romped home to take the Overall and category A victory with Helen taking a comfortable second ahead of de Carvalho. Jacques Baartman picked up the category B honours with Kernes doing the same in category C.
Ewart was in a class of his own in his beautiful machine
Race 1 Results
Warren Ewart (A)– Best lap 1:16.436
Cuan Helen (A) – Best lap 1:17.847
Jose de Carvalho (A) – Best lap 1:20.542
Jacques Baartman (B) – Best lap 1:21.962
Ralph Kernes (C) – Best lap 1:23.364
Shane Baartman (A) – Best lap 1:20.925
Race 2
De Carvalho racked up more valuable points towards the championship
The second race of the day got off to another action packed start – this time with Jacques Baartman spinning through turn four after getting tagged by a backmarker in the Midvaal Historics class. He managed to get going again but not before he had dropped to the back of the field. Ewart once again set about opening an early lead on Helen and de Carvalho. Shane Baartman slotted into fourth position with a repaired Hendriks on his tail. Kernes was the best of the rest as he settled into sixth place ahead of Chris Tarboton (Berlina) and Griffin.
Tarboton was clearly coming to grips with his newly prepared car as he passed Kernes down the back straight on the third lap to move into the top six. The battle for third was just as close with Shane challenging de Carvalho through turn one at the start of the fourth lap. He made his move through the next corner and moved into a podium position. Jacques was on the comeback trail as well when he scythed past Kernes on the same lap.
Gamiero Junior’s woes continued when he retired to the pits at the end of the lap with clutch issues. Jacques continued to haul in the opposition and soon got past Tarboton to move into sixth position. It was too little to late unfortunately as the chequered flag came out to put a halt to his charge.
Ewart took the double for the day in category A and Overall. Helen held on for another comfortable second place with Shane only just keeping a hard charging de Carvalho at bay – 0.475 separating them across the line. Hendriks took the category B win this time around with an elated Tarboton picking up the honours in category C with a respectable seventh overall.
Shane Baartman had another good run despite a spin in turn one
Race 2 Results
Warren Ewart (A) – Best lap 1:15.842
Cuan Helen (A) – Best lap 1:19.011
Shane Baartman (A) – Best lap 1:20.374
Jose de Carvalho (A) – Best lap 1:19.789
John Hendriks (B) – Best lap 1:20.889
Jacques Baartman (B) – Best lap 1:20.486
Defending champion Theobald did well in the Index results
Index of Performance
The Index of Performance has always been one of the main goals for many a Trofeo racer, and this event was no less important. Proving that consistency counts as well and not just outright speed, there were a number of surprise victors in the final Index of Performance results:
Category A
Jose de Carvalho – 93.56%
Cuan Helen – 93.51%
Warren Ewart – 93.14%
Category B
Christopher Tarboton – 93.92%
Jacques Baartman – 93.24%
John Hendriks – 92.92%
Category C
Anthony Theobald – 95.14%
Ralph Kernes – 94.56%
Paul Griffin – 94.30%
With the final round of the season at Midvaal Raceway only weeks away and a very close championship fight for the top six positions, the action is expected to be closer than ever.
The Alfa Trofeo Series made their way to the dusty plains of the Phakisa Freeway in Welkom on Saturday 15 August for the sixth round of the 2015 Championship. Once again the series was joined by the competitors of the Midvaal Historics category, leading to some action packed racing.
Paul Griffin (Sud) must be wondering what he has to do to get his luck to change. Mechanical gremlins struck during qualifying for the third event in a row, but this time it was a blown head gasket that put him out of the running.
Race 1
Alfa Trofeo Racing – Round 6 – 15 August 2015 – Phakisa
Pole man Warren Ewart (GTV) led the charge down through turn one at the start of the first race. Ralph Kernes (Alfetta) slotted into second position with John Hendriks (Sud) and Christopher Tarboton (Berlina) hot on his heels. Jose De Carvalho (155 GTA Twin Spark) had a disastrous start when he retired coming out of turn one with a broken side shaft.
The battle behind the leading pack saw Shane Coetzer (Sud) making good progress in his loan car (after his usual steed was side-lined with a terminal misfire). He was up to fifth position by the end of the first lap with Kyle Viljoen (145), Werner Nortje (Alfetta) and Anthony Theobald (Guilia) in tow. Angelique Griffin (Sud) soldiered on at the back of the field despite a persistent misfire.
Viljoen’s efforts ended prematurely when a broken gear linkage retired him to the pits at the end of the second lap. With Ewart off into the distance the battle for second place was the one to watch with Hendriks being hounded by Kernes through every corner. Kernes efforts faded with three laps to go however when a mysterious fuel surge developed.
When the chequered flag came out it was Ewart who claimed a comfortable victory ahead of Hendriks. Kernes had done enough in the early stages of the race to hold onto third position.
Hendriks and Kernes battled all race long
Race 1 Results
Warren Ewart – Best lap 2:.276
John Hendriks – Best lap 2:11.699
Ralph Kernes – Best lap 2:11.165
Christopher Tarboton – Best lap 2:14.682
Shane Coetzer – Best lap 2:14.920
Werner Nortje – Best lap 2:21.651
Race 1 Index of Performance
Werner Nortje – 112.81%
Warren Ewart – 112.75%
John Hendriks – 112.17%
Christopher Tarboton – 111.90%
Anthony Theobald – 111.77%
Shane Coetzer – 111.45%
Race 2
Coetzer got the better of Tarboton in his borrowed steed
The second race of the day got off to another frantic start. Kernes had a blinder off the line and took the lead around the outside of turn one. This was short lived however when the horsepower advantage of Ewart’s car pulled him into the lead heading into turn three. Hendriks slotted into third position with Tarboton and Coetzer in tow.
Theobald’s race came to a sudden end when the engine of his car let go down the main straight at the start of the second lap. With the leading trio already breaking away at the front, it was left to the rest of the field to make a show of it. Coetzer had grabbed fourth position but was being chased all the way by Tarboton.
To add to the fun, the Datsun of Vos joined the party and made it a three way battle over the next six laps. The trio swopped positions on almost every lap with the proverbial blanket being able to cover them. Kernes saw his second place go out of the window when a suspected blown head gasket saw him drop back with a sudden loss of power on the penultimate lap of the race.
Ewart went on to claim his second victory of the day after another eight laps of hard racing. Hendriks took a comfortable second place with Coetzer crossing the line in an impressive third.
Ewart was in dominant form in his mint GTV
Race 2 Results
Warren Ewart – Best lap 2:03.063
John Hendriks – Best lap 2:12.437
Shane Coetzer – Best lap 2:14.945
Christopher Tarboton – Best lap 2:14.016
Kyle Viljoen – Best lap 2:15.363
Ralph Kernes – Best lap 2:10.288
Race 2 Index of Performance
Shane Coetzer – 98.65%
John Hendriks – 98.52%
Warren Ewart – 98.39%
Kyle Viljoen – 98.22%
Christopher Tarboton – 97.89%
Griffin soldiered on despite an ill behaved car
Final Class and Trophy Results
Category A – Warren Ewart
Category B – Shane Coetzer
Category C – Christopher Tarboton
Youth Class – John Hendriks
The Alfa Trofeo Racing Series made their way to a cold and windy Zwartkops Raceway on Saturday 25 July for the fifth round of the 2015 championship. With the new sprint race format now well established, the entries continue to grow with every event, and a healthy field of cars lined up on the grid for the first race.
Disaster struck for Paul Griffin (Sud) for the second event in a row however, when a broken oil seal during qualifying put paid to his chances of a decent race day.
Race 1
Pole man Cuan Helen (Junior) led the field through turn one
Pole man Cuan Helen (Junior) led the field through turn one. Jacques Baartman (GT) slotted into second position with Jose de Carvalho (155 GTA Twin Spark) and Shane Baartman (GTV) hot on his heels. John Hendriks (Sud) wasn’t too far behind but had Ralph Kernes (Alfetta) hassling him all the way.
Shane Baartman grabbed third position on lap two, and then proceeded to claim second a lap later. De Carvalho moved up to third with Kernes slotting in behind him after Hendriks ran wide coming out of turn eight. Hendriks dropped further back a lap later when a jammed throttle saw him take to the kitty litter and lose a number of positions in the process.
Jacques Baartman was fighting his way back through the field after an earlier off and got past Kyle Viljoen (145) and Anthony Theobald (Guilia) to pick up fifth place on lap five. Some last lap heroics saw him scythe past Kernes, de Carvalho and Shane Baartman to pick up second position. Shane was unfortunate to drop back to sixth position on the last lap as well.
When the chequered flag came out it was Helen who claimed the victory ahead of Jacques. De Carvalho was pressured all the way to the finish line by Kernes for third position with 0.00.365 separating the pair across the line.
Race 1 – Results
De Carvalho and Kernes were neck and neck for the whole race
Cuan Helen – Best lap 1:19.789
Jacques Baartman – Best lap 1:21.527
Jose de Carvalho – Best lap 1:23.136
Ralph Kernes – Best lap 1:22.686
Kyle Viljoen – Best lap 1:24.701
Shane Baartman – Best lap 1:22.329
Race 2
Shane Baartman and Hendriks couldn’t have been closer
The second race of the day got off to a dramatic start when leading lady Angelique Griffin (Sud) was forced wide through turn four on the opening lap, sending her into a tank slapper which saw her unceremoniously thrown across the kitty litter and into retirement.
When the dust had settled it was de Carvalho who had grabbed the lead ahead of Jacques Baartman and Kernes. Shane Baartman slotted in behind the leading trio with Hendriks, Viljoen and Theobald Senior in tow. Shane Coetzer (33) had been battling with pace all weekend and his woes came to an end when he retired to the pits with a persistent misfire. Viljoen saw his efforts come to an end as well when the gearbox linkage broke on his car.
Jacques ruined his chances on lap five when he ran wide into turn eight, spinning out in the process before rejoining the race in fifth position.
With the race quickly running out of time it was de Carvalho who crossed the line to claim the victory ahead of Kernes. The third place battle went all the way to the line with Shane beating out Hendriks by 0.00.498 to claim the last podium spot.
Race 2 – Results
Consistency paid off for Nortje and Theobald Junior
Jose De Carvalho – Best lap 1:21.256
Ralph Kernes – Best lap 1:22.586
Shane Baartman – Best lap 1:23.820
John Hendriks – Best lap 1:23.471
Jacques Baartman – Best lap 1:21.738
Anthony Theobald – Best lap 1:27.917
Final Class and trophy Results
Category A
Jose De Carvalho
Jacques Baartman
Category B
Ralph Kernes
Shane Baartman
Category C
Werner Nortje (Alfetta)
Shannon Theobald (Sud)
The sixth round of the championship will be held at the Phakisa Freeway in Welkom on Saturday 15 August.
The new sprint race format is working well. It is hoped that this will inspire more Alfanatics to get involved with the series once again.
