Summarize

Gerard Geldenhuys turned the form book on its head with a grand slam weekend as Investchem Formula1600 delivered a dramatic day of racing at Delmas’ dusty Red Bull Raceway on Saturday. 

 

It could not have been closer in qualifying with a mere 0,034 gap between the top two as Josh le Roux’s Investchem RDSA Mygale pipped Gerard Geldenhuys’ similar Abacus Divisions car to top the charts. However, all Le Roux’s hard work vanished in a flash when his car was found two kilograms underweight and he was exiled to the back of the grid for both races. 

 

So, third quickest and just 0,44s off the leader’s pace, Alex Vos’ DVBS Investchem Mygale inherited the outside front row slot alongside incumbent pole man Gerard. Row 2 comprised Nicholas van Weely’s Magnificent Paints & Hardware Van Diemen and brother Antwan Geldenhuys’ Abacus Divisions car ahead of Andrew Schofield’s Safair Investchem Mygale and an improving Shrien Naidoo‘s RDSA Mygale.

Jason Coetzee’s Mint Mygale followed ahead of Macrocomm Mygale lass Taya van der Laan, Siya Mankonkwana’s Investchem Mygale, Ewan Holtzhausen’s Total Plastics Mygale and Storm Lanfear in another Investchem Car.

 

The race off the line saw some synchronised driving with the first four cars neatly aligned two-by-two until near the end of the lap when Antwan Geldenhuys tagged Nicholas van Weely to rough up proceedings somewhat. That left the race then led by Gerard Geldenhuys leading Vos, Schofield and Coetzee.

 

Never letting up in intensity, the race settled down until Schofield was forced to park his car on the infield. That left Gerard leading Vos, Coetzee and Josh Le Roux enjoying a storming run from the back of the grid.

 

Behind them, Naidoo, Mankonkwana and a recovering Antwan Geldenhuys were involved in their own scrap. That became quite intense when Geldenhuys tried to mount Mankonkwana, the nett result being that he dropped places to finally cross the line in 11th as brother Gerard held on for the win from Vos, Le Roux, Coetzee, Mankonkwana and Ewan Holtzhausen.

Race 2 was very much a mirror of the first race with a bit less physicality as Gerard Geldenhuys grabbed the lead from the get-go and hung on grimly to the finish, chased hard by Vos, Van Weely, Antwan Geldenhuys and Schofield.

 

From the back Josh le Roux started his chase through the field and moved into sixth spot on lap three but was finding it harder this round to get past those ahead of him. By lap five he had passed Schofield and then snuck ahead of Antwan Geldenhuys in the dying moments of the race.

 

The top three remained unchanged for the race with Gerard Geldenhuys taking the victory from Vos, van Weely, Le Roux, Antwan Geldenhuys and Schofield. Geldenhuys’ win completed his grand slam weekend with pole position and the fastest lap of the race too. He now sits second in the title chase, 7 points behind Le Roux, one clear of brother Antwan and 10 ahead of Vos.

 

Formula Ford Kent raced behind the Investchem Formula 1600 where GTC guest drivers and former F1600 champions, Andrew Rackstraw claimed pole position from Julian van der Watt, Graham Hepburn and Allen Meyer.

 

Race 1 fizzled out when Rackstraw and van der Watt collided, eliminating Rackstraw and leaving van der Watt to take the flag from Hepburn after Meyer also stopped. Van der Watt and Hepburn also survived the heat 2 one-two.

Investchem Formula 1600 races at the classic East London Grand Prix Circuit next on Saturday 6 August.