Summarize

EP race titles coming to a head October 13

Three Eastern Province motor racing championships will come to a head at Aldo Scribante Racetrack Saturday 13 October, with each of them poised for title showdowns that should make for an epic day’s racing. 

Five points separate the top five drivers going into the EP Regional Saloons championship, where drop races will become a major factor as the three races go on through the day, with just six points splitting the top four in the EP Regional Motorcycle Championship and while there is a bigger gap at the top of the EP Sports & GT title race, there is some close action in the classes there.

Saturday will see three races apiece for the EP Saloons and Sports & GTs, while the Motorcycles are split in two for quicker Unlimited, 600cc and Masters A, and Historic, PSP, Breakfast Run and Masters B bikes. They will be backed up by a trio of penultimate AMSC Club Championship round races for Street and Fine Cars as well as an AMSC Coastal Challenge, Historic & Classics Saloons race.

Drop points apply to the Eastern Province Saloon Car Championships, so a driver who has scored well through the year must drop his or her four worst points scores, while a driver who has had poor luck or has missed races, will not need to drop if they have enough dot scores through the season, so there are often surprises, come the final championship scores being posted...

Expect a huge spat up front in Class A, where Audi S4 quattro duo Nick Davidson and Celso Scribante both need only drop one score each and are split by a single point in the title table, so this one is a straight dice to the line. Class B leader, BMW driver Ian Riddle can only drop one round, so is his 27-point advantage enough over Deon Slabbert (Polo) and Kevin Kelly (Mitsubishi), considering neither of them will need to drop any of their three race scores with 30 points on the table?

It’s just as confusing in Class C, where Gordon Nolan (VW) has two races to drop and holds a scant 8-point lead over James Mattison, (BMW) who has no drops to worry about, so all his points will score on Saturday. By the same token, Nolan can also retire from a race on Saturday and gain a second place he'd otherwise drop. It is however a straight dice in Class D, where George van Baalen (Polo) holds a handy advantage over Rufus Neethling (Polo) and neither of them need drop any points.

Conversely in Class E, both Niel Roos (Polo) and Derik Gouws (BMW) have scored well in every race this year, with Roos just three points off a perfect championship score, but Gouws is only ten points behind. Daniel Bright (Golf) has the comfort of all his points counting this weekend and is within reach of Gouws in the title chase. 

The closest dice is however between Fanie Aucamp (Jetta) and Ryan Britton (Golf), who go into the Class E finale tied on points and both will drop two races, so their best score this weekend may not help as it could very well go down to a tiebreak count back. Overall, Class E man Niel Roos leads Class C driver Gordon Nolan, Class B leader Ian Riddle and Class A duo Nick Davidson and Celso Scribante, with five points between the lot of them in that wild fight for the championship win…

Class leader B Kean Barnard (Lotus 7) has to be the favourite for the overall EP Sports & GT championship that does not drop any points. He has an 18-point advantage over Class T leader Jeandre Marais (VW), with Class C Lotus duo Alwyn Kretzmann and Anton Ehlers right on his tail in the title race. Expect Garth de Villers (Formula VW) and Dean Ball (BMW) to fight it out up front there, with Class B gang Barnard, Tanya Watts, Gary Marais and Patrick Hanley in hot pursuit, while the likes of Kretzmann, Anton Ehlers and Ashwin Harri will entertain in the midfield, with Jeandre Marais playing interference.

The two-wheeled races will see Classic rider Mac Burrows (Suzuki) fighting Masters A man Roberto Jonker (BMW), 650cc leader Paul Jansen (Kawasaki), Masters B man Jan Dorfling (Suzuki) and 600cc rider Kevin Redman (Yamaha) off in the overall title race. In the classes, Jansen, Richard Rossouw (Suzuki) and Richard Hawkins will tussle over the 650cc title; Kevern Farley, Ray Wood and William Kew are the 400cc top three, while Mac Burrows leads Irfaan Johnson and Jaco Scholtz in the Classic title race and Roberto Jonker and Jan Dorfling are the men to beat in Masters A and B.

Rane Berry (Skyline) and Shaun Rudolph (Escort) are usually up front in the AMSC Coastal Challenge, while Opels of all sizes will dice as usual as Deon Gouws’s Kadett GTE takes on Ian Thompson and Gordon Bennet's Rekords and Aldo Scribante’s Street & Fine Cars are another entertaining racing class, where Duncan Lethbridge (BMW M5), Gordon Nicholson (Nissan GT-R) and Francois Wium (BMW) have impressed of late.

The day starts with the driver’s briefing at 07h40, before qualifying and then first races from 09h45 through to after five, before the champions will be crowned at prize giving at six. As always there will be catering and braai facilities available, so pack that braai, the cooler box, deck chairs and the kids and pals and head for Aldo Scribante off Kyalami Road, Coega — that’s just off the N2 on the R335. Pay R50 per person at the gate or book in advance via www.westway.co.za. 

ENDS

Issued on behalf of Aldo Scribante Racetrack

What:Eastern Province Championship Finals
Where:Aldo Scribante Racetrack, Port Elizabeth
When:Saturday 13 October 2018
Community:Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape.

For further information please contact sparkyb@vodamail.co.za

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