Summarize

A record 46-car Mike’s Place WP Clubmans grid and dramatic, close and exciting racing throughout the field kept Killarney race fans on their feet throughout two action packed races on Saturday. The second round of the Mike’s Place series went down in front of an enthusiastic Wingfield Motors Power Tour crowd, but there was high jinks behind the scenes right from the outset before the weekend settled down to see VW trio Clint Rennard, Michael Sueur and Jesse Huggett top the podium.

The weekend started dramatically as both Nieyaaz Modack (Audi S4) and Danie van Niekerk (Van Niekerk Racing BMW) qualified quicker than their break-out times to fill the front row of the grid ahead of Alex Johnson (Executive Decisions Audi A4), Michael le Sueur (New Engineering Golf), Class B man Wayne Wilson (DTM Helderberg Maxima) and Clint Rennard (G&A Speed Precision Golf).

Cody Alberts (Alfaholics Conferneur BMW) was second in Class B, with Class X man Kosie Swanepoel (D&E Steel KSD Lexus) in close attendance, while Ernest Roos (Van Niekerk Racing BMW) started in front of Class C, Willem Swart (WFS Motors Jetta) topped Class D, Denver Benjamin (Speed Precision Golf), Class E and Tristan Verkuil (Golf) was on the Class F pole.

Modack and van Niekerk were compelled to run road tyres at the rear as penalty for their breakout pace and while that seemed to make little difference to the all-wheel drive Audi, the rear-drive BMW struggled for pace as van Niekerk did all he could to stay ahead of the pursuing pack as Modack made off up front after the race 1 lights went out.

It all came to a head on lap 2 as Wilson touched another car and lost a tyre valve as he struggled to control the punctured Maxima through Turn 3, Swanepoel’s Lexus slowed and Johnson, who had dropped back in the mayhem, ended up playing in the T5 kitty litter with John Kirsten’s Class C Golf. Modack then slowed to stop in the pits and leave Rennard to fend off Huggett and le Sueur for the win as van Niekerk dropped back to come under pressure from Class B winner Alberts.

The second race was less dramatic as Rennard made off up front ahead of le Sueur and Huggett, leaving van Niekerk to fight Alberts off once again as Rennard wrapped up a double win to take the overall and Class A day from le Sueur Huggett and van Niekerk.

Cody Alberts chased van Niekerk home in both races to take Class B after Wilson’s demise, comfortably beating Riaan Swart (A1 Gutters Jetta) and Paul Munnik (Audi VW Auto Golf) in race 1 and Eugene Kruger (Industrial Gardens Golf) and Billy Brink (Mike’s Place Golf) in race 2, respectively. Alberts took the day from Swart, the ever-consistent Anwar Levy (BMW), Brink, Mansoor Parker, who had rebuilt his BMW wrecked three weeks back and Kruger, after Munnik retired from race 2.

Brennon Green (Weskaap Bakwerrke Golf) beat pole man Ernest Roos to win the first race in Class C with John du Toit (Fikraft Golf) third, before Green repeated the win in race 2 from du Toit and Roos. Green took the day from Roos and du Toit, with JP Share (Coastal Hire BMW) fourth from racing granddad Armien Levy (Jive AMR BMW), while John Kirsten (Mike’s Place Golf) and Anthony Carstens (Auto Stop/Skylab) hit trouble on the day.

Gary Smith (Jetta) took race 1 in Class D from Anton Jacobs (All Scale Sentra) and Devin Camons (Jetta), before pole man Willem Swart bounced back to win race 2 from Jacobs and Smith. Jacobs had enough in the bag to take the day from Smith, Swart and Camons though, while Jonathan Groenewald (Audi VW Auto Golf) and Tony Leca (Golf) stopped in race 2 and Steven Gouws (Thermo Fires Jetta) retired from race 1.

Pole man Denver Benjamin went on to win both Class E races from Stacy Wilson (DTM Maxima) and Byron Mitchell (Wheel Colition/Dolphin Engineering Golf) in race 1 and Mitchell and Ruan van der Walt (Italoven Golf) as Benjamin beat Mitchell, van der Walt, Wilson and the troubled Brendan Moore (BM Packaging Golf) to class honours for the day.

Tristan Verkuil (Golf), Ian Kapp (Hydracor Golf) and promising racing lass Ciara van Niekerk (Van Niekerk Racing Golf) diced hard to finish in that order in the opening Class F race, before hot rod expat van Niekerk turned the tables on the guys to lead Verkuil and Kapp home. That was not enough to stop Verkuil from taking the day from van Niekerk, Kapp, Brent van der Schyff (White Knuckle Polo), while Ley Fielding (Polo) Gilberto Nobrega (Ford Ikon) and Gary Manwaring’s days all ended in race 1.

Newcomers to Mikes Place Clubmans race in Class X to determine their pace before being allocated to one of the six regular lap time based classes and it was Jonathan Gunn’s immaculate VW Scirocco that emerged on top from Shane Smith (BMW) and Peter Kannemeyer (Diamond Coating Golf) in race 1, before Basie Burger (Ital Oven Golf) bounced back from a first race retirement to beat Gunn and Smith in race 2.

Gunn took the day to book himself a place in Class C ahead of Smith, who is set for admission to Class D and the Class E destined Kannemeyer, with Burger (who is looking at Class C in future), the troubled Kosie Swanepoel, Cedric Burger (Ital Oven Golf) and Charl Opperman all suffering challenging race days.

Mike’s Place Clubmans returns to Killarney for round 3 at the second round of the Wingfield Motors Power Series Saturday 16  March.