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Gennaro Bonafede Press Release
Rising star Gennaro Bonafede’s learning curve in class A
of the ultra competitive Bridgestone Production Car championship continued at
Cape Town’s picturesque Killarney circuit.
Having started the year racing in class T in
the Ferodo liveried Volkswagen Golf 6 GTI, the initial plan was to move up to
class A in 2013. When the ex Johan Fourie Audi S4 was acquired in August the
team was encouraged by testing but also realised how different the two cars
were. After careful consideration, Bonafede and race engineer Vic Maharaj
decided there was nothing to lose by abandoning his championship hopes in
favour of class A. The fact that Melvill Priest’s Audi is also prepared by the
VMP team made the decision a bit easier.
“The cars require such different driving
techniques and testing the Audi between racing the Golf would not have achieved
the desired results. We gave it a lot of thought, but in the end realised the
only way forward was to concentrate on the Audi. It’s a pity as I was winning
races in the Golf, but I’m sure it was the right decision,” said the lanky
Bonafede who is an official Monster Energy athlete.
At Killarney an engine problem put paid to
Friday’s practice so set-up for Saturday’s qualifying was pretty much a guess
and he was only ninth fastest. Nevertheless his confidence for the opening race
was high, but as cars assembled on the grid, the heavens opened.
Bonafede rose to the occasion with a mature
performance that belied his age and came home fourth. “Considering we only had
5 laps of practice on the Friday in a new car around that circuit. The fact
that we were right at the front and in the mix in the rain is a big positive
for me, I felt I could've challenged the Audi's in front of me but didn't want
to risk being ‘that guy who took out the championship leader’; that would not
have been cool.”
In race two he was holding third place when
an unusual problem reared its head. The 22-year old has size 12 feet and under
braking for turn 1 on lap six he managed to press both brake and accelerator at
the same time and he slithered off into the wall and dropped to eighth. “It was
completely my fault… Under pressure I made a crucial mistake. The pedals are
pretty close to each other and there’s little margin for error. Vic
Maharaj mentioned they definitely have to re-position the pedals before the
next race.”
Race three was brief as he was caught up in
opening lap pile-up at turn two. “From where I was it looked like Etienne Van
der Linde went in too hot and collided with Tschops Sipuka. As I was behind
Etienne, I didn't really have anywhere to go and with the speed I was coming in
I had no chance of missing Tschops. It was unfortunate because I think our
set-up would have resulted in good pace in that race, possibly enough to
secure a 3rd overall for the day. I will learn from all of this and take it as
another step on the flight of stairs to the top.”
The final round of the Bridgestone Production
Car championship takes place at the Wesbank Super Series event at Kyalami on
27th October.
Pic and Article by Steve Wicks
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