Durban, KwaZulu Natal (Feb 25, 2007)
A comfortable second place in race two behind Shaun Watson-Smith (Audi A4 quattro) saw reigning Bridgestone SA Production Car champion Leeroy Poulter (Sasol Nissan 350Z) emerge from the opening round of this year's championship in the lead in class A with Watson-Smith.
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| Copyright © Nissan South Africa |
After winning saturrday's opening race of the season from Watson-Smith and the Nissan Dealer Team's Reghardt Roets (Bosal 350Z), Poulter qualified his 3,5-litre V6 Nissan in second place alongside Watson-Smith for this afternoon's second race around the challenging 3,28-km Durban street circuit that has been specially built for the South African round of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport.
In a race that was interrupted after five laps by the appearance of the safety car following a crash involving Brian Martin's Toyota Runx Compressor, Watson-Smith and Poulter circulated in close company and had built up a healthy four-second lead over third-placed Johan Fourie (Audi A4 quattro) before the safety car was deployed.
With the lead reduced to a few tenths of a second as the field bunched up behind the safety car, Poulter had to fight off a determined challenge from Fourie when the race resumed and went on to take the chequered flag three laps later, 1,69 sec behind Watson-Smith and just 0,28 sec ahead of Fourie.
Sasol Nissan team-mate Gary Formato, who started from 8th on the grid, fought his way up to sixth in the opening laps and looked set to finish in this position when clutch problems forced him to slow on the penultimate lap. He eventually finished ninth after being passed by Sasol Nissan team-mate Tschops Sipuka, former class A champion Anthony Taylor (BMW 330i) and Melvill Priest (Audi A4 quattro). Sipuka, who started from ninth on the grid, was deprived of what would have been a well-deserved sixth place when he deferred to a rather robust overtaking move by Taylor which saw the Nissan pushed dangerously close to the concrete wall surrounding the temporary street circuit.
Reghardt Roets, in the Bosal-backed 350Z, completed a disappointing weekend with retirement on lap 4 as a result of mechanical problems.
Nissan Motorsport team manager Glyn Hall was upbeat about the weekend's results. "The early lead in the driver's championship after a win and a second place by Leeroy is a good reward for the team's efforts over what was a particularly challenging weekend. Street circuits, with their narrow confines, bumpy road surface and unforgiving concrete walls, are a recipe for disaster for the unwary. With first practice for next weekend's Kyalami races just four days away, we could not risk unnecessary damage to our cars and adopted a conservative approach here in Durban. Tschops drove very well in race two and was unlucky to finish behind Anthony (Taylor) after successfully defending his position until the very last lap," said Hall.
Leeroy Poulter: "We knew the racing would be close so we're very pleased to have come away from the opening race weekend with a win and a second. It was a great experience driving on this street circuit in Durban and being a part of the A1GP World Cup of Nations."
The next round of the Bridgestone SA Production Car Championship is at Kyalami on March 2 and 3.
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