SARDA Electric On-road Nationals Rd5 – Report

The 5th and final round of the 2014 South-African ORE national championship were held at the 2002 Worlds track in Krugersdorp this past weekend. The weekend started out wet as a rain storm hit the track on Saturday morning which delayed the start of the qualification. One part of the track remained waterlogged and the layout had to be changed for the event to continue, which caused some unhappiness among the drivers, but in the end it was the best option for the sport. Due to the delay only two qualifying rounds were held on Saturday with the remaining two being held on Sunday morning followed by the mains.

The Touring Modified class once again provided for some spectacular high-speed racing. Jason Hillcoat, who already wrapped up the 2014 championship, could not attend the event. It was Shaun Schutte who qualified well and eventually took the TQ. The three A-mains provided for some great racing and it was Shaun Schutte, Anderton Smith, Deon Gove and Antonio Caroli who were racing for the top honours with Schaun Schutte taking the win.

Modified Touring result:
1. Shaun Schutte
2. Deon Gove
3. Anderton Smith
4. Antonio Caroli
5. Willie du Plooy
6. Hein Kotze
7. Kallin Kolmel
8. Ashley Hurley
9. Colin Amis
10.Gerry Esterhuizen

Overall in the Touring Modified class Jason Hillcoat managed to defend his 2013 title with great and consistent performance during the season with his team mate Shaun Schutte claiming the runner-up spot

Touring Modified overall top 5:
1. Jason Hillcoat
2. Shaun Schutte
3. Hein Kotze
4. Anderton Smith
5. Deon Gove

The very fast 13.5T Touring Boosted class again provided some great racing. Shaun Schutte managed to take TQ and the win in the A-mains with Antonio Caroli in 2nd and Ashley Hurley 3rd.

13.5T Touring result:
1. Shaun Schutte
2. Antonio Caroli
3. Ashley Hurley
4. Anderton Smith
5. Kallin Kolmel
6. Deon Gove
7. Willie du Plooy
8. Dillon du Plooy
9. Willem Janse van Rensburg
10.Pieter de Villiers

In the 13.5T Touring Boosted class Hein Kotze dominated the season to take the title with one event to spare. Shaun Schutte managed to take the vice-champion title.

Touring 13.5T Boosted overall top 5:
1. Hein Kotze
2. Shaun Schutte
3. Anderton Smith
4. Deon Gove
5. Antonio Caroli

In the 17.5T Touring Boosted class Kallin Kolmel dominated the event as he took the TQ and win after some great racing with Willem Janse Van Rensburg and 12-year old youngster Jacques Myburg who is improving and showing his talents with every event.

17.5T Touring result
1. Kallin Kolmel
2. Willem Janse van Rensburg
3. Jacques Myburg
4. Ashley Hurley
5. André Greeff
6. Gerrie Myburg
7. Karl Joubert
8. Pieter de Villiers
9. Sean Vollmer
10.Dillon du Plooy

Overall Ashley Hurley came out successful in the 17.5T Touring Boosted class to take the title with one event to spare followed closely by Kallin Kolmel.

17.5T Touring Boosted top 5:
1. Ashley Hurley
2. Kallin Kolmel
3. Willem Janse van Rensburg
4. Andre Greeff
5. Karl Joubert

Neville Menezes continued his good form from the previous nationals and managed to grab the TQ in the 21.5T Touring class. After bad luck in the mains Neville allowed the other competitors to fight for the title and it was Jean Wessels who made the best out of the situation and scored a win in front of the Wilken brothers.

21.5T Touring result:
1. Jean Wessels
2. Jonathan Wilken
3. Tyronne Wilken
4. Francois Verwey
5. John Steyn
6. Paul van der Westhuizen
7. Neville Menezes
8. Johan Venter
9. Yashin Ramdhin
10.Fanie Viljoen Snr

21.5T Stock Touring had Neville Menezes taking the overall championship with two events two spare. Christopher Dolphin grabbed the runner-up spot.

21.5T Touring top 5:
1. Neville Menezes
2. Christopher Dolphin
3. Paul van der Westhuizen
4. Francois Verwey
5. Fanie Viljoen Snr

In the 1/12th scale 10.5T Blinky class André Greeff and Shaun Schutte showed good pace early in the qualifiers with André Greeff managing to take the TQ. The mains showed great racing between the team mates Willie du Plooy, André Greeff and Shaun Schutte with each of them winning a main. At the end it was Willie du Plooy who took the day’s in with a win and two 2nd places in the A-finals.

1/12th 10.5T Blinky result:
1. Willie du Plooy
2. André Greeff
3. Shaun Schutte
4. Neville Menezes
5. Daryl Neal
6. Alan Mines

Team mates Shaun Schutte and André Greeff had a great battle throughout the season in the 1/12th 10.5T Blinky class and they even ended tie on points. At the end Shaun Schutte took the championship with the better tiebreaker while André Greeff had to settle for 2nd.

1/12 10.5T result
1. Shaun Schutte
2. André Greeff
3. Neville Menezes
4. Morne de Noon
5. Willie du Plooy

Source: Xray [teamxray.com]