Engen Racing Team Press Release
The 2013 national motorsport season is fast coming to a
close. There are just two rounds left and the fight for various national
championships is becoming tense.
The Engen Racing Team will tackle the Killarney circuit
in Cape Town for the penultimate event of the season in both the Bridgestone
Production Cars and Engen Volkswagen Cup championships. This event takes place
on Saturday, 5 October, and the team contests two of the five categories that
form the Super Series.
With the championships reaching their closing stages,
every available point is now of primary concern. For those drivers building up
to a potential title every little bit of breathing space in the points standing
counts. For the drivers who are still chasing a podium finish, the best
possible results in the final rounds is of critical importance.
In Bridgestone Production Cars the championship leader,
Engen Xtreme's Michael Stephen (A1), has built up a commanding lead and is the
clear favourite to claim the title this season. Stephen is optimistic about his
chances – which will see him reach a third consecutive national championship
title if he maintains his performance through the final two rounds.
With back-to-back victories in 2011 and 2012, Stephen has
again produced another extreme performance capable of placing him on the No1
platform of the podium for the year.
For Tschops Sipuka (A2) the final two rounds will see him
in a strong campaign to be among the top finishers for the season. With six
races remaining in the final two events, good race day finishes could possibly
provide him with sufficient points to join Stephen on the podium when the final
points are tallied.
Sipuka has proved time and again that he has the talent
and pace to compete at the sharp end of the competition. The reverse grid
system in place to promote exciting racing could play into Sipuka’s strategy
and provide him with the break he needs to gain the points for a strong season
finish.
The single-make Engen Volkswagen Cup series sees the
Engen Primax entry of Kosie Weyers (5) at the top of the leaderboard. Weyers
has put in a disciplined performance this season to rack up point after point.
After the first seven rounds of the nine round championship he has a 62 point
lead on the field.
Killarney will see Weyers on his home turf in another
battle for overall race day victory. The young Capetonian’s pedigree is evident
with a rookie of the year in 2011 and a third placed championship finish in
2012, this year he is guaranteed to improve on an already steep performance
trend. Weyers has won eight races so far this year, with a trio of
double-victories to his credit. Another strong performance could render any
attempt to catch him futile and he might well enter the final event as the 2013
championship winner.
Mandla Mdakane (18) will continue his fight for position
at the final two rounds of his first year in this popular saloon car formula. A
return to Killarney for the penultimate round can count in his favour as he can
make use of his setup earlier this year to challenge for position.
Mdakane's first outing at Killarney this season, round
two of the championship, saw him produce his second-best result of the season so
far. Returning there for a second event could be the boost he needs to a season
which has had its fair share of challenges.
Photo credit: TrackSidePics.co.za
