Port Shepstone, KwaZulu-Natal - National championship racing visited the Dezzi Raceway for the first time at the weekend when the new 2.8-kilometre circuit hosted Round 10 of the Extreme Festival series.
Heading up the show were three Production Car races; everybody knew the tight and twisty circuit was going to be a challenge both to learn, and to set cars up for, but it turned out to be worse than expected.
Desmond Gutzeit's private playground is also very bumpy in places, with high kerbs and sudden changes of elevation that put added stresses on the suspension of the heavier Class A cars.
Michael Stephen took his Audi S4 off pole to the day's opening victory, chased to the flag by championship leader Hennie Groenewald, also in an S4, who adopted a cautious approach in light of the narrow circuit's lack of overtaking opportunities.
Just as well, as his team-mate Gennaro Bonafede, who'd qualified third, suffered a broken steering ball-joint on S4 halfway through the race and was forced to retire.
Class T cars took the next three places, with Graeme Nathan (Golf GTI) leading home Gary Formato (Ford Focus ST) and Charl Smalberger (Golf GTI).
‘BIG BANGERS’ AT THE BACK
Race two always features a reversed grid, which put the Class T cars in front and most of the 'big bangers' at the back. Simon Moss drove a wide Audi S4 to a hard-earned win from Nathan, Smalberger, Stephen and Groenewald.
Groenewald actually got past Formato into fourth but lost the place halfway around the last lap after big moment, dropping back to fifth at the flag.
Stephen took an early lead off pole in the final outing, with Bonafede (second on the grid) all over him like a rash for the first three laps. On lap four, however, the Audi's unruly back end bounced over a kerb, snapping a bolt in the rear suspension and Bonafede's difficult Dezzi raceday came to a premature end.
That promoted Groenewald to third behind Stephen and Nathan; he put in a solid if conservative drive to bring the car home for a vital points haul and retain the championship lead, with Moss and Formato rounding out the top five.
VW POLO CUP
The new circuit posed a challenge to the Polo racing youngsters, and the opening race produced a number of lurid spins. Chris Shorter survived a wild race best to win from Daniel Rowe, Sheldon van der Linde and Brad Liebenberg. Shaun Le Reservee impressed with a gutsy drive from 10th on the grid to fifth at the flag.
Race two saw Rowe leading home Van der Linde, Masters category leader Mathew Hodges and Le Reservee, who started from eighth and worked his way up to sixth at the line - which became fourth when the two drivers ahead of him were penalised for race infringements.
That got him third overall for the day behind Rowe and Van der Linde and earned him the Driver of the Day award.