The fifth round of the Bridgestone BMW Club Racing Series saw this popular series make their way to the popular Red Star Raceway near Delmas on Saturday 13 August with an impressive field of 27 cars heading out for qualifying.
Poleman Fameliaris leads the way into turn twelve before the start
Qualifying
Julian Fameliaris (E36 328i Turbo) claimed pole position ahead of the surprise of the season, Jorge Estrela (E36 328i Turbo). Riaan Woest (E46 M3 GTR) would line up on the second row of the grid with Paulo Loureiro (E36 M3) lining up alongside him.
An impressive Lorenzo Gualtieri (E36 328i) would start from the third row of the grid with Rick Loureiro (E30 3.2 CSL) rounding out the top six.
In celebration of BMW’s 100th birthday the BMW Car Club of Gauteng will be hosting a track day and Centenary Parade at the popular Red Star Raceway in Delmas on Saturday 20 August 2016. This event is proudly supported by Zambesi Auto BMW.
The day will kick off at 08:00 with the usual Bridgestone BMW Track School and will continue until 11:00. The ever popular Hot Lap sessions for those passengers brave enough to be taken around this tight and technical race circuit by a professional driver in BMW’s latest M3 monster will take place during this time as well. The cost is R100 per passenger.
The Bridgestone Track Challenge will have the next round of their Championship too with plenty of fast cars and drivers expected to put in some impressive times around the challenging Red Star Raceway circuit. The time trials are open to all makes of vehicles, as long as you are a holder of an MSA licence, have a track-worthy vehicle and a helmet. The entry fee is R950. Full details of the event can be found on the club website and MSA licences for the day can be arranged ahead of the event. The track sessions will then close from 11:00 to 13:00 in order to set up and carry out a slow speed parade around the circuit with as many BMW vehicles as possible.
While the intention of the parade is not to go for an official Guinness World Record, the rules will be followed so that the footage of the parade could be submitted at a later stage if the club thought that it was viable to do so. The rules for the parade will therefore require that every participant must stay in formation with no less than a cars length in front of the next vehicle – hence the requirement of a slow speed parade around the circuit. In 2013, four hundred and forty six BMW’s circulated the old Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit. The organisers of this year’s Centenary Celebration event are hoping to better this number with more than 500 vehicles on track.
The Historic Tour headed out to the tight and technical Red Star Raceway on Saturday 6 August for the fifth round of the 2016 season. A chilly winter’s morning greeted the competitors but as with the racing things certainly heated up as the day went on.
Anton Raaths (Mazda 100 Coupe) took an easy Overall victory
The first race for the Marlboro Crane Hire Pre-79 Historic Saloons, Pre-84 Sports and GT and Classic Thoroughbred category saw giant killing Anton Raaths (Mazda 100 Coupe) grab pole position ahead of Willie Hepburn (Opel Rekord V8). Hepburn grabbed the lead into turn one with Raaths, Fred Konig (Porsche 911 RSR) and George Avvakoumides (Porsche 911 RSR) in tow. Jannie van Rooyen (VW Scirocco) was the best of the rest with Colin Ellison (Alfa Romeo GT AM) and Gert Botes (Ford Escort MK1) in hot pursuit. With the leaders breaking away in front the mid field were having a great battle as well.
Mike O’Sullivan (BMW 2002), Colin Kean (Mercedes Benz 280CE) and Willem Vonk (Ford Escort) were involved in a titanic battle of their own for twelfth position. Race leader Hepburn slowed on the fourth lap and retired coming out of turn three. Van Rooyen didn’t help his chances with a spin coming out of the same corner. The fight for ninth position saw a late charge between Marius Verwey (Datsun GX Coupe), Quentin Willis (Ford Escort MK2) and Paige Lindenberg (Ford Escort MK1). When the chequered flag dropped it was Raaths who took an easy Overall victory ahead of Konig and Avvakoumides.
