Well as Brad and Anton correctly put it, the organization of Kyalami was beyond pathetic. As this was only my second official race at this track it was disappointing to see how preference is given to certain other classes and the other racers like us are pushed aside.
We as racers are there to put on a show for the spectators not just for officials and MSA needs.
I suppose it just proves how spoilt we are by Zwartkops and their way of organizing events.
Anyway driving the Westfield to Kyalami on Friday morning in the wet was quite fun. The looks I got from other people in the traffic were entertaining, as I did not have a radio to listen to.
First practice in the wet was a bit tricky and on the second lap coming into turn 11, all I saw was Brad spinning as well as a black Ferrari stopped with his nose almost against the pit wall. I drifted into the pit straight just managing to avoid Brad in the Locost. (Very very close)
The rest of the session was basically feeling the car out and it ended with no real good times.
Second session was a bit better and I managed a few 2:10's.In the third session after dropping tyre pressures slightly I managed to get into the 2:07's and was quite pleased.
I was hoping Brad would manage to sort the Locost's handling out so we could have a close race like we normally do at Zwartkops.
In all fairness to Brad, running on well worn semi's and no stabilizer bars as well as no LS Diff the Locost would never have caught the Westfield. My semi's had only done one race so on tyres alone I had an advantage as well as having throttle bodies fitted. I feel that due to Kyalami's size the Westfield definitely has the edge as I was out braking and out cornering the Cobra's (holding me up) and the Sports prototypes, the TVR was no problem to pass in a corner. I got past them in the corners on just about every lap but they would just pull away on the straight again, very frustrating.
It still amazes me how good a car the Westfield really is and hats off to Brad for building it so well. I think the Locost will still be as good when anti roll bars etc are fitted.
Qualifying for me was a bit of a disappointment as I could only manage a time of 2:10.96 rounded to 2:11, which had me on 14th place on the grid.
Finally the race arrived on the Saturday over an hour behind schedule and I could see from the talk we were given by race control that they did not really want the race to take place.
The start of the race for me was uneventful as I just kept my place for 3 laps. After settling in I managed to start picking off some of the cars and laps 5,6,7, & 8 I was running consistent 2:11's.Rui Campos in the Shelby passed me on the inside in turn 3, which was a bit of a shock as I was already committed to the corner. My dice with Anton was excellent as swapping places a few times under certain conditions makes it very entertaining. I took a chance diving in on the inside of Tony at Wesbank but it paid off. Another highlight for me was getting passed the TVR through Sunset.A few laps later
I was behind Anton going into Sunset when I saw him veer off and almost spin out, I got past and this was where the problems started. I braked for Clubhouse and the car just did not respond and I had to go around Clubhouse sideways almost going off. The oil slick had started explaining why Anton went wide.
I don’t know who had put oil down but going down the mineshaft behind one of the Sports Prototypes my windscreen was splattered with oil and I could not see too well.
The bowl was another place where I almost went off as I was trying to out brake Brian Salzman but more oil had me under steering wide into the right hander, fortunately the back end came out and I managed to drift the car back into line to accelerate into the chicane.
My next lap ,lap 12 I decided to go into the pits for my compulsory stop and fortunately my brother Warren was there to wipe the screen.
Back onto the track for one very slippery lap and that’s when I saw the signboard for the safety car. That's where my race ended as the next 2 laps were under caution and I crossed the finish line and the chequered flag one car behind the safety car.
8th overall was not bad but the race even though I had some good dices was disappointing due to the car dropping oil and not allowing the race to run the full hour.
Apart from the terrible organization, Kyalami as a track is brilliant to drive and I enjoyed the short time we had on the circuit.