Round two of the Super Series in Cape Town saw Michael Stephen (A1) claim the championship lead in the Class A of the Bridgestone Production Cars. Stephen has claimed the title on three separate occasions and a good performance at Killarney saw him move into first place.
“I was fastest in qualifying, won the first race and finished in second place in the feature race,” says Stephen who also posted laptimes within the top two racers during the practise sessions. “We’ll be racing at our home circuit next, we know the track and setup so it should be a strong round.”
According to the championship rules, Stephen will have to start the feature race, which counts for double points, from the back of the grid as he is now the championship leader. This is going to make his qualifying and first race result in PE critical to his championship ambitions.
In the Cape, Stephen took his usual methodical approach to the racing, opting to capitalise on opportunities that presented themselves, instead of pushing hard and gambling on a successful result. The reward for his patience was another strong performance, finishing second overall for the day, and a valuable haul of points that has moved him to the top of the log.
For Stephen’s teammate, Simon Moss (A38) the weekend was a decidedly tough one, but he is very happy with his race day.
“It has been a difficult weekend,” says Moss. “I can take a lot of good from this event though. I was a lot quicker than at Zwartkops. I touched Johan Fourie in that first race and it affected my wheel alignment. I scrubbed half the rubber off the tyre on the fender and in the second race my rear suspension broke – I think probably from an incident earlier in the race.”
Moss never expected an easy ride as he moved into the top class of competition in the Bridgestone Production Car Championship, and is philosophical about the trials and tribulations that accompany his new motorsport category.
He is, however, very optimistic about the coming event in Port Elizabeth. This is where he has done his testing in the run-up to the season, it is where he has spent the most time with multiple champion, Stephen, in preparation for the year ahead and he knows he has good pace at Aldo Scribante Raceway.
There is a good chance that he will produce one of his best performances, if not his best, of the 2014 season in front of his home crowd. A good result at home could see him prepared for an equally good performance at the East London round in July, the third of three consecutive coastal rounds for the Super Series competitors.
Look out for the Engen Xtreme team at Aldo Scribante Raceway on Saturday, 3 May, when they contest round three of the 2014 Bridgestone Production Car Championship in Port Elizabeth. The competition in this category gets more exciting with every passing event and a nail-biting performance is expected from these racers as they fight for points in the Friendly City.
