Zwartkops Raceway, Pretoria - After four hard days of physical tests, psychological evaluations, media lectures and a string of tough driving tests, the original 14 candidates who made it through to this ‘motorsport boot camp’ have been cut down to two finalists in the 2017 Volkswagen Driver Search.
Six hopefuls fell out at the first cut, four more at the second; then it came down to skill and stamina as the final four put their lap times where their mouths were on the tight, twisty Zwartkops circuit, pushing themselves and their VW Cup-spec Polos to the limit and beyond, using all the track and then some!
The times were very close but in the end it was Talha Moosajee and Raais Asmal who topped the timesheets. Moosajee’s background is in off-road racing while Asmal has done some karting, so it was a huge step up for each, into a Polo and on to a race circuit.
The final four pushed themselves and their VW Polos to the limit on the tight, twisty Zwartkops circuit. Picture: Motorpress
Racing for real
Now it gets serious - Moosajee and Asmal will share a car with 2016 Driver Search winner Jonathan Mogotsi (now a works VW driver) in the Port Elizabeth 3-Hour Endurance Race at the Aldo Scribante circuit on 18 November, and the overall winner will be announced a week later at Zwartkops, during the final meeting meeting of the season.
“They both impressed us over the past few days,” commented VW Motorsport boss Mike Rowe. “They’ve come a long way in a short time.
Volkswagen has always been serious about developing our country’s most precious resource, it’s people, but we’re also passionate about motorsport. This way we get to do both!”