Inland Championship - 2015-11-14 - Midvaal

Inland Championship – Midvaal – 2015-11-14 – Photographs

Photographs from the Inland Championship – 2015 event held at Midvaal Raceway on 14 November 2015.

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Inland Championship - Zwartkops - 2015-10-17

Inland Championship – Zwartkops – 2015-10-17 – Photographs

Photographs from the Inland Championship – 2015 event held at Zwartkops Raceway on 17 October 2015.

no images were found

Race Report: Alfa Trofeo Racing – Round 7 – 17 October 2015 – Zwartkops

Alfa Trofeo Racing

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
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
Ewart was in a class of his own in his beautiful machine

Race 1 Results

  1. Warren Ewart (A)– Best lap 1:16.436
  2. Cuan Helen (A) – Best lap 1:17.847
  3. Jose de Carvalho (A) – Best lap 1:20.542
  4. Jacques Baartman (B) – Best lap 1:21.962
  5. Ralph Kernes (C) – Best lap 1:23.364
  6. Shane Baartman (A) – Best lap 1:20.925

Race 2

De Carvalho racked up more valuable points towards the championship
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
Shane Baartman had another good run despite a spin in turn one

Race 2 Results

  1. Warren Ewart (A) – Best lap 1:15.842
  2. Cuan Helen (A) – Best lap 1:19.011
  3. Shane Baartman (A) – Best lap 1:20.374
  4. Jose de Carvalho (A) – Best lap 1:19.789
  5. John Hendriks (B) – Best lap 1:20.889
  6. Jacques Baartman (B) – Best lap 1:20.486

Defending champion Theobald did well in the Index results
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

  1. Jose de Carvalho – 93.56%
  2. Cuan Helen – 93.51%
  3. Warren Ewart – 93.14%

Category B

  1. Christopher Tarboton – 93.92%
  2. Jacques Baartman – 93.24%
  3. John Hendriks – 92.92%

Category C

  1. Anthony Theobald – 95.14%
  2. Ralph Kernes – 94.56%
  3. 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.

Report by: Greg Reilly
Photographs by RacePics.co.za
More info: media@racepics.co.za
Website: www.alfatrofeo.com

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