Audi South Africa
Press Release
THE four Audi S4 quattro entries in the
Bridgestone Production Car Championship produced a dominant start to the 2014
season, clearly stamping their authority on the Super Series right from the
outset.
Race one on Saturday at Zwartkops Raceway
saw the Audi Sasolracing entries of Hennie Groenewald (A8) and Gennaro Bonafede
(A32) filling the top two spots on the starting grid. In third place it was
defending champion Michael Stephen (A1) and in fifth Stephen's Engen Xtreme
teammate, Simon Moss (A38).
This event was Groenewald's first outing in
the Audi S4 quattro and for Moss it was his first race meeting in the
Bridgestone Production Car Championship – as well as his first national race
meeting in the Audi S4 quattro. Both showed good pace in qualifying with
Groenewald proving the fastest car in the field.
The Audi Sasolracing entries made good use
of their qualifying pace to claim first and second place in the first race of
the season, with the Engen Xtreme Audi S4 quattros in fourth and fifth place
across the line.
“I'm extremely satisfied,” says Groenewald.
“You always want to prove yourself in the wet, but it doesn't always work out
the way you want. The Audi S4 quattro is very satisfying to drive in terms of
feel and grip, it really does what you want it to do. We set the pace this
weekend and I'm satisfied with where we are as a team after this first round.”
“I'm very, very happy today,” says
Bonafede. “Consistency has really paid off at this event and qualifying in
second place, achieving second in race one and again in the feature race, this
is a great way to start the season.”
With a reverse grid for race two – and wet
weather setting in to make conditions interesting – it took no time at all for
defending champion Stephen to show why he has claimed three consecutive titles
in this series. A red flag just one lap into the 17 lap feature race saw the
field assemble for a re-start and here Stephen wasted no time showing the other
racers just how things are done in the wet.
By the time the chequered flag made an
appearance, Stephen's lead was almost a second ahead of a hard-charging
Bonafede. Groenewald put in a good performance to claim third spot and Moss
rounded out the leading positions, ensuring a clean sweep for the Audi S4
quattro racers by finishing in fourth.
“Qualifying and race one didn't go quite
according to plan,” says Stephen. “We didn't have quite the horsepower as our
competition in the first race but the wet conditions of race two, for double
points, was very different and being able to win in the wet put our
championship on a good footing. It is a good start to what is going to be a
very challenging season.”
Stephen's teammate, Moss, found himself
right in the thick of the action from the outset of the race weekend and he
proved himself up to the task ahead.
“From Saturday morning things have been
working well, I even managed to be a bit quicker than Michael at one point,”
says Moss. “I got a few things a bit wrong in the second race in the rain, but
I finished both races today, have fourth overall in my first event and kept my
pace close to that of Michael. I decided a fourth in race two was the better
option, rather than taking a risk and pushing too hard.”
Moss' fourth place result also provided the
Audi S4 quattro competitors with the top four spots overall for the day, with
Bonafede taking an early lead in the championship. Between them, the first
round of the season finishes with an Audi S4 quattro winning each of the races,
two second places, a third place in race two, the top four spots overall for
the day and the championship leader is also behind the wheel of an Audi S4
quattro.
Photo credit: MotorPress.co.za
