Summarize

Thompson wins as his team shines too

While the man himself handed out an Engen Volkswagen Cup driving lesson of note in his utterly dominant wildcard drive at Kyalami on Saturday, Lee Thompson’s own team also enjoyed a very positive day at the races. 

Thompson took a clean sweep of pole position, two race wins and set a new lap record as he substituted for Shaun La Réserveé in the Alpine Pepper Racing Polo, but he was also delighted with the progress of his men, Charl Smallberger in his iCorp VW Genuine Parts LTR Golf GTI in Sasol GTC and Simon Need’s Photonics LTR Polo in the Engen VW Cup.

“It was a good outing for us today,” Lee explained. “Simon had a difficult qualifying, but he impressed in the races and Charl’s second in heat 2 shows us that we right at the top and despite low boost issues in heat 1, we still managed to come home with good points.”

"That was another hectic weekend and it started before we even got to the track,” Charl explained. “We only collected the car from Image Build, who did a fantastic job on on our new look and headed straight to the track for practice, where we ended up a bit off the pace, but I got to grips with the track and we sorted the set-up and on Saturday the car felt great in qualifying but the times were off the pace.

“Anyway, we discovered that we had an ECU mapping issue — we just had no grunt out of the corners and we battled to sort it, but could not come right in time for race 1 and although I had a good dice with Chris Shorter in the Mini, I was compromised and could not make a proper move to pass him and I ended up sixth — not the best, but that meant I got the reverse grid pole position.

“I managed to get a clean start to lead race 2 — the car seemed a little better and I managed to pull away while they diced behind, but then Mandla Mdkane got into second in the works Golf and gradually reeled me in and passed me. “Even though I was still struggling a bit, I was able to stay with him — my car was really handling well, but he got away a bit in the end so I could not challenge for the win.

“Still, I’ll take second — I am very happy with that, all considered and now we need to get our heads around this new ECU and figure it out for East London so we can fight for wins — we have the equipment and I am really looking forward to fighting for wins. “Special thanks to Lee and the guys - we can’t wait for East London!"

Simon Need’s weekend similarly started difficultly, but he too rose to the occasion. “I went off in qualifying when I hit the dirt of another competitor who also went of,” the Mauritian Need explained about his qualifying drama. “So I had to start at the back of the grid for each heat, but I am very happy with my races, where I made lots of passes and my best races yet.” Simon rose from the back of the grid in each race to finish 15th and 16th and take a happy 15th overall. 

“Thanks and congratulations to Lee too — your performance was incredible today and I am really proud to have you as my mentor.”

“Again, Simon’s results don’t really show his potential,” Lee Thompson pointed out. “But from what I can read, it’s not long before our newcomer starts mingling in the top 10.”

Thompson was also delighted with his own performance on the day. “It was a great honour for me to be asked to drive Shaun’s car,” Lee admitted. “I really enjoyed being back in a Polo Cup race again and I am delighted with the results — especially that lap record. “Thanks to Ian, Shaun and the lads — I am glad to have done the job asked of me.”

There’s no rest for Lee Thompson Racing as usual as the team prepares for the second round of the Dunlop Volkswagen Challenge at Red Star Raceway near Delmas this Saturday 29 April where the team will run its regular quartet of Iain Pepper’s Husqvarna LTR Polo alongside Waldie Meintjes (LTR/Marty’s Body Polo) and Wayne Crous’s (Delway LTR Polo) in Class A and Shaun Crous’ Ancro Building Projects LTR Polo Vivo in Class C.

“We had a positive run in the opening Challenge round,” Thompson concluded. “My old men Iain and Waldie should be able to fight for the win and Wayne will be right there because he’s making some great progress and Shane won last time out at Red Star, so we are looking forward to a great weekend. “Bring it on!”

ENDS

Issued on behalf of Lee Thompson Racing

What:Kyalami Motorsport Festival Report
Where:Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit, Johannesburg
When:22 April 2017
Community:Lee Thompson Racing

For further information please contact thompsonlee01@gmail.com

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