Golf Race Report Inland Championship – 11 March 2023
I am pleased to report that the Shield Golf managed a 1st Overall for the day in Index and Performance which is great start to season:
Saturday – Qualifying
On Track Clubman’s was first out on track and after warming up the tyres and getting into the zone I managed to put in reasonable time of 1.14,01 which was good enough to put me in the top 3 in class for the day and 9th on the grid overall.
Heat 1
The Shield Golf was in for a difficult time from the start as between me, Wayne Pereira in his multivalve Golf, Jonathan Visser in a turbo charged Polo and Rodney Kruis with a new multivalve Honda motor in his ballade there was only 0.5 of second separating the pack. Heading into turn 1 and 2 I managed to get past Rodney and was on the back bumper of both Pereira and Visser for at least 6 laps when the Polo’s Turbo decided to pack in. I could see trouble coming and managed to avoid the Polo who had a sudden loss of power and provided Rodney with a gap to slip past me which unfortunately I could not get the position back before the end of the 10 laps as Rodney drove extremely keeping me at bay until the chequered flag … and giving me a 5th overall as result of George Economides in his BMW and the Polo having a issues …
Heat 2
Sitting in pre-race paddock the temperature was exceeding the 30-degree mark which does not help me much as the 8 valve golfs really enjoy the cooler air running into their system. If I was going to stand any chance of winning class, I was having to pass both Rodney and Wayne early in the race and then try make the golf as wide as possible (something like a bus) to keep them behind me. Wayne and Rodney both seasoned campaigners new to well this was my plan and managed to stay ahead of me at the start and the best I could do was try put pressure on them during the race to make a mistake. In a 10-lap race saving tyres is crucial and I could see that I was gaining ground in the last two laps but just did not have enough pace to make a move on them …. Next time Guys.
