Kalami (July 7, 2007)
Reigning champion Leeroy Poulter (Sasol Nissan 350Z) had to settle for fourth place in the first of the afternoon's two 12-lap races that made up the fifth round of the Bridgestone SA Production Car Championship here.
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Gary Formato and his Sasol Nissan 350Z scored a long overdue win - their first together since 2005 - in the second 12-lapper of the day. Leeroy Poulter made it a memorable Nissan 1-2 in the second Sasol 350Z from fifth on the grid with Tschops Sipuka bringing the third Sasol Nissan home in a fine fourth place from 10th on the grid. In the process, Poulter, the reigning overall and class A champion, extended his lead in both championships.
A delighted Formato, who started from second on the grid (the top eight based on race one best lap times were inverted), made the most of his experience with rolling starts to take the lead from pole man Melvill Priest (Audi) into turn one. He held off an initial challenge from Anthony Taylor (BMW), Poulter and race one winner Fourie (Audi), but by half distance was enjoying a relatively comfortable lead over team-mate Poulter and Taylor.
Poulter fended off the attentions of Taylor and was extremely lucky on lap 10 to avoid a clash between two class C competitors who were being lapped. Taylor was not so lucky and made contact with one of the class C cars, dropping back to 9th. Sipuka, continuing the fine form he showed in the last round at WesBank Raceway, moved up a place to ninth at the end of lap one, was eighth on lap 3, seventh on lap five, sixth at half distance, fifth on lap 10 and finally fourth on the final lap.
Formato: "I'm very happy. I knew I could beat the Audi (Priest) in a rolling start. We touched in turn one, but I had the momentum and after that it was a case of concentrating really hard until the finish and not making a single mistake. We made some changes to my car for this weekend and they really worked. A big 'thank you' to my team."
Glyn Hall, Nissan Motorsport general manager: "Under the circumstances, we enjoyed great results today. Congratulations to the entire team, who worked hard under difficult circumstances."
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