Summarize

Lee Thompson Racing started its national championship racing season with a positive weekend at Kyalami’s Motorsport Festival on Saturday as Charl Smalberger put his Sabertek Indy Oil LTR Golf GTI on the podium and Delon Thompson impressed in the top ten on his Engen Volkswagen Polo Cup debut.  

“That was an interesting weekend — a weekend of thirds!” Charl explained. “We had a difficult start on Friday when I went off and cracked a sump and I had to replace it, but after that the car felt good in rest of practice — I was third all day long. “The first race went well and we ended third but I thought I was out of the second race — I had a bit of a boost issue and could feel ECU pulling the boost back so I limped back to the pits and decided to get it running as a test. 

“Then the red flag flew, we had fixed the problem so I could race again and I fought back to third when there was another red flag. “The key then broke and we had to hot wire the car to start it, but we pulled it off and I ended up in a great dice for — you guessed it — third, third overall for the day too! “Thanks to Lee and the guys for all the help — despite all the challenges, that was a good start to the new season!”

It was a mixed weekend for Lee’s Engen Volkswagen Polo Cup duo, with rookie Delon Thompson impressing on debut in his A&L LTR Polo with seventh on the grid and 9th and 8th in the races. “Today was a great result for my Engen Polo Cup Debut,” Delon admitted. “My pace on the weekend was good and I just missed Superpole in qualifying, but I was a little unlucky in the first laps of both races and found myself further back than I anticipated.

"Luckily I managed to fight back to ninth in heat one and eighth in the second race from 10th on the grid. “Huge thanks to Lee for all the help — I am now even more excited for the next round and I plan to keep growing under Lee as we gradually make our way up the grid.”

It was a tough weekend for Simon Need, whose weekend ended after his Photonics LTR Polo ended up deep in the tyre barrier after tangling with rookie Raais Aslam. “That’s how it goes sometimes,” Mauritius-based Simon rued. “We will be back — sorry to the team for the disappointment and thanks for all the effort as always.”

“That was a pretty positive start to the season,” Lee Thompson concluded. “Charl was a little lucky with some of his third places, but sometimes we need a little luck and Delon impressed with a solid fighting debut. “It’s a pity Simon went out like that, but he will be back - next race is Killarney 21 April - we will be ready for a full weekend with all five cars racing in three classes down there — can’t wait!”