The scene is set for an epic weekend of motorsport action for local racers as Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit in Midrand hosts the second round of the National Extreme Festival this weekend. Making the trip up to the big smoke are Aldo and Silvio Scribante who will be taking part in the Extreme Supercars series, Jeandre Marais in Astron Energy PoloCup, East London’s motorbike racer Jason Lamb in Kawasaki ZX10 Masters and Michael Stephen who makes a surprise but welcome return to the Touring car scene in the newly relaunched South African Touring Car series.
The event combines both regional and national championships and boasts a total entry list of over 290 competitors across the thirteen competing classes in what will probably be the biggest race day ever held in South Africa.
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The Scribante brothers in their very quick Lamborghini Huracans are still coming to grips with the new tyres that are being used since the G&H Supercar series received the backing of Dunlop Tyres. Aldo had the following to say “It’s round number three of the championship for us and Silvio is racing in the GT3 class and I will be in the A+ Class but we are still trying to get our heads around the characteristics of the new Dunlop rubber. There are fluctuations in tyre temperatures and different rates of consistency with every set acting differently. After extensive testing at Scribante Raceway we have got it more refined now as we still search for the correct pressures to run to ensure maximum tyre efficiency, but it’s the same for all of the teams, so it’s not too serious at the end of the day.”
Michael Stephen as the most capped champion in local touring cars with four previous titles under his belt will be making a one-off appearance in Andrew Schofield’s FlySafair/Chemical Logistics BMW 128TC. Schofield, who will miss the event due to being overseas attending to a personal family matter, will no doubt be happy that his car is in the capable hands of Stephen who has been competing in the GT3 Supercar series lately.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity to race in South African Touring Cars again, especially at Kyalami, and it’s been a while since I drove a GTC car and having only two practice sessions before qualifying will give me a short chance to familiarise myself with the car, but I’m really looking forward to the challenge and will give it 110%” said an excited Stephen.
Former East London based driver Robert Wolk leads the championship and will be in the second of the BMW 128TC’s and him and Stephen will form a formidable team as they take on the strong Gazoo Toyota Corolla’s of Saood Variawa, Nathi Msimanga and Michael van Rooyen as well as the newly developed VW Golf TC of Julian van der Watt amongst others.
For Jeandre Marais it will be his second visit to the renowned circuit and he will be hoping to continue the momentum he built from Cape Town’s opening round where he finished in sixth place overall. “It’s the racetrack that every South African racer wants to tick off on his or her bucket-list, but it’s also the longest and most technical circuit with double the number of corners compared to the other tracks that we race on. Another challenge is that due to the almost 300 entries this weekend, we only get two practice sessions in place of the four we normally get, meaning we literally only have about sixteen laps to set the car up. This is a race weekend where anything can happen and you take what you get, but would be really happy with another top six finish.”
On two wheels in the SunBet Kawasaki ZX10 Masters motorcycles Jayson Lamb will be hoping to get his championship title chase back on track after an error in Cape Town saw him getting a jump-start penalty. The Kyalami Circuit lends itself to really close motorcycle racing and with the recent influx of more top riders, including championship leader Clinton Seller, Lamb will no doubt have his hands full against the best in the business.
Due to the large number of competitors taking part the organisers have changed the race format where all races will be counted down on time and not laps, with each race will be 20 minutes so when the clock runs out the checkered flag comes out.
