Audi Sasolracing Press release
After claiming a superbly-timed victory at the Sasol Race Day at Zwartkops Raceway last month, the Audi Sasolracing team heads to Killarney for the penultimate round of the Bridgestone Production Car Championship with renewed confidence for a solid set of results, and a surprise victory could be on the cards.
A feature of the Sasol Race Day was the closest qualifying times yet seen in the modern incarnation of the series where the top five cars were covered by just 0.154 seconds, a sure-fire recipe for ultra close racing to thrill the enthusiastic Western Cape fans.
Gennaro Bonafede and Hennie Groenewald are hoping the team’s focus on suspension and braking development to maximize the quattro S4’s handling on the fast 3.3km Cape Town circuit will pay dividends on race day.
If the racing is clean and incident free – a rarity in Production Car racing – the result will come down to who has done the best job of ensuring everything is millimeter perfect and which car and driver combination looks after its tyres the best. Unless it rains…
Gennaro, currently third in the championship, has his eye on the runner-up spot while Hennie is hoping to make the top three by season’s end. With 70 points from the final two events looking for a home, both Sasolracing driver’s goals are well within reach.
Vic Maharaj, Team Manager: “We have fielded very good cars in the last two races so I am quietly confident of a good weekend. I expect the grid will be very close again and that this time we are on the right side of the 10th of a second that kept us away from pole position last month.
A good qualifying position for the first race is very important and hopefully it will be a clean weekend, free of incidents and accidents”.
Gennaro Bonafede #32: “Killarney is a tough circuit to pass on even though there are plenty of opportunities. I’ve had good race pace and been consistent; we’re getting closer and closer. Now I need to win. It will come. I need a good qualifying position for the first race and will start the second race from 4th as a result of the championship-order grid reversal”.
Hennie Groenewald #8: “The racing is split by nothing. I have a car that can win races so there is no reason not to be confident. I had a decent outing at Killarney in March and we’ve done substantial development since then. Our competitor’s performance is unpredictable as we saw at Zwartkops so anything can happen, which makes the series so exciting for the drivers and fans alike”.
Race fans are invited to the Audi Sasolracing pits to view the race cars, meet the drivers and collect a souvenir poster.
Photo credit: David Ledbitter
