Summarize

Extreme racing to thrill 4 November crowd

The Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit is all set for an action packed Motorsport Festival set to thrill Johannesburg race fans Saturday 4 November, where a jam-packed program of top notch South African National Championship motor racing waits to thrill visitors to the iconic circuit.  

Not only will the heroes of the Sasol GTC series fight the next battle of an epic war that’s raged right through the season, but there’s a selection of the fastest GT race cars in the world ready to fight it out in the G&H Transport Extreme Supercars and top junior classes, the Engen Volkswagen Cup, Investchem Formula 1600 and Hankook Formula Vees will entertain. 

But that’s not all — the 4 November Kyalami supporting act includes the rolling thunder of V8 Supercars, Volkswagen Challenge action and a packed autObarn Superhatch and 111 Sports & Saloon grid, while the Red Square Kawakasi ZX10 Masters and races for the Bridgestone Thunderbikes, Sub 10 and Challenge motorcycles will entertain two-wheeler fans.

The epic Audi-BMW Sasol GTC championship war between Michael Stephen and Gennaro Bonafede heads into its penultimate battle as Michael Stephen, who came from behind with his Engen Audi to nick that championship lead from arch rival Gennaro Bonafede’s Sasol BMW, will now pull every trick in the book to keep ahead. Don’t discount their respective teammates, Simon Moss and Robert Wolk, while Volkswagen duo Mathew Hodges and Daniel Rowe and privateer BMW pair Michael van Rooyen and Johan Fourie will be chasing for against-the-odds glory.

There’s extra interest in Sasol GTC2 this weekend too, as Iain Stevenson’s Comsol Honda Civic Type R and Volkswagen trio Nick Adcock, Darryn Lobb and Johan Pretorius join the grid to take on the likes of Keagan Masters’ championship leading VW Golf, privateers Charl Smalberger and Trevor Bland, Mandla Mdkane’s factory GTI and the Minis of Bradley Liebenberg and Chris Shorter.

A spectacle guaranteed to keep fans on the edges of their seats is the G&H Transport Extreme Supercars show, where Charl Arangies’ new Aston Martin Vantage GT3 will be among those out to topple Kyalami King Toby Venter’s fearsome Porsche 911 GT2R. Add Marcel Angel and Craig Jarvis’ Ferrari 458, the Porsches of Johan Engelbrecht, Dino Scribante, Sun Moodley and Andrew Culbert and Dawie Olivier ’s wildcard ‘Baby Beemer’ and fans can expect action of the highest order. 

Other notable Extreme Supercar entries include Deon du Plessis’ wieldy KTM X-Bow, Pieter Zeelie’s intriguing Super GT Toyota MR2, Brian Hastie’s mysterious Jaguar, Marius Jackson’s Audi A4 and Roy Orbery’s Alfa Romeo GT to take on brothers Mark and Jonathan du Toit’s Ferraris and the regular horde of BMWs in the ranks.

The magical SAMCAR V8s will certainly prove to be among the quickest races of the day as they make for a blast from the past in a star studded field that includes former V8 champions the likes of Ben Morgenrood’s Ford Mustang, Grant van Schalkwyk in a Chev Corvette and Larry and Terry Wilford’s Ford Falcons fighting it out with exciting newcomers the likes of flying lass Lonika Maartens and Ben’s son, Benjamin Morgenrood in what can only be described as a field of thunder.

2017 SA Engen Volkswagen Cup champion Devin Robertson can sit back and watch as Juan Gerber, Clinton Bezuidenhout, Jeffrey Kruger and Tasmin Pepper fight it out for Polo runner-up honours, while the likewise newly crowned Investchem Formula 1600 champion Julian van der Watt will want to maintain his advantage over the likes of Stuwie White, Cameron O’Connor and others in their fight over second in that title race, which like Polo Cup, the championship comes to a head at Kyalami on Saturday. Hold on to your hats!

There is bound to be another tough and entertaining spat in the Gauteng Volkswagen Challenge where veteran Iain Pepper and upstart Stiaan Kriel will be fighting for Class A honours up front, Adrian Wood and Lyle Ramsay tussle in Class B and Rory Atkinson and Shaun Crous fight it out in C. The Hankook Formula Vees are always entertaining to watch with Jaco Schriks, Peter Hills, Greg Wilson, Luchen Ramchander and Namibian Siyabonga Mankonkwana fighting it out there. 

Brett Garland, Jono du Toit, Nic Martin, Chris Davison and Mel Spurr are among the autObarn Super Hatch frontrunners amongst a monster grid shared with over forty 40 111 Sports and Saloon Car entries, while Sven Grune, Sanjiv Singh, Greg and Gareth Bezuidenhout should be the frontrunners in the Red Square ZX 10 Masters motorcycles.

The Kyalami Motorsport Festival promises a great day out for race fans, enthusiasts or anyone keen on an entertaining day’s extreme entertainment — spectator embankments at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit offer excellent views of the track and race fans are encouraged to bring and braai. There will be a lunchtime grid walk where spectators can meet the drivers and see the race cars up-close on the starting line and there will be a Galleria Expo Retail Hall too.

General access starts at R50 up to a R400 premium package, pit passes are R75 each and kids under 12 enter free — book now at itickets.co.za.

See you at Kyalami 4 November!

ENDS

Issued on behalf of Motorsport Memories

What:Motorsport Festival Preview
Where:Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit, Johannesburg
When:Saturday 4 November 2017
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For further information please contact denis@motorsportmemories.co.za

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