Audi Sasolracing’s Gennaro Bonafede emerged from the carnage of the third round of the Bridgestone Production Car Championship with a pair of third place finishes and an overall podium place on the day, while Hennie Groenewald in the #8 Audi Sasolracing S4 quattro bore the brunt of some robust racing.

Dented bodywork after the two races bore testimony to the no-holds-barred racing between the various teams in class A of the premier racing series with the Sasolracing team featuring in the thick of the action.

The scene was set for ultra-close racing after Friday’s qualifying session when the top five contenders qualified within 0.19 seconds of each other, Hennie 3^rd and Gennaro 4^th on the grid.

In the opening 8 lap race, Hennie was passed by Gavin Cronje (BMW) in the drag race off the line to the first corner.  Try as he might, he could not find a way past Cronje until the second last corner of the race. 

Hennie picked his moment with care, lunging down the inside of the BMW at the fast, sweeping penultimate corner and made the move for third place stick; the Audi’s rear bumper clipped the BMW’s front bumper in the process, which caused the BMW to lose its oil.  Unable to brake for the final corner, Cronje bumped the Audi, spinning Hennie around.

Gennaro, with nowhere to go hit the rear of the BMW which punctured the Audi’s radiator but he made it home in 3^rd place, while Hennie dropped to 6^th at the flag.

The 17 lap feature race, started in reverse championship order, saw Hennie challenge for the lead on the opening lap but slotted in behind the BMW and settled into a steady rhythm.  Midway through the race, the Audi’s dashboard lit up, indicating a terminal mechanical failure and his race was run.

Further back, Gennaro was in a four-way fight with a wounded car.  Driving with caution and self-preservation mode, he had a grandstand view of the accident that befell Cronje and Simon Moss (Audi) in the closing stages.

With both cars off the track, Gennaro slipped through into a lucky third place, cementing his championship position with another five rounds to go.

Gennaro Bonafede: “Qualifying was very close, showing our pace is there, but the races didn’t quite come to us.  I touched Gavin’s car on the last lap of the first race.  The team thought it was fixed but there must have been another leak in the system because within two laps of the second race, the temperatures were going off the dial.

I radioed the team and we decided to keep going but at a reduced pace.  The incident with Moss and Cronje allowed me into a lucky third.  After the race, there was no coolant in the supercharger’s cooler, so I was really lucky today”.

Hennie Groenewald: “Gavin got ahead of me at the start then held me up in the back section which allowed the other Audis to get away.  I picked my moment to attack Gavin and it worked.  Defending the last corner, Cronje hit me and I spun down to sixth.

In the second race, I got past Johan Fourie (BMW) on the first lap.  Gavin was holding me up again, which allowed Johan to close up on me and he got past on the straight.  When the dash lit up, I had no option but to pull off, race over”.

The next outing for Audi Sasolracing is at the historic East London Grand Prix Circuit on 5 July.

Ends

Issued by:

Alex Anderson, Group Media Manager

Direct telephone +27 (11) 441 3295; Mobile +27 (0) 71 600 9605;

alex.anderson@sasol.com