Title hopefuls make their mark at penultimate round of SA’s circuit racing championship

Zwartops Raceway. Pretoria – Both the Global Touring Cars (GTC) SupaCup and Volkswagen Polo Cup championship fights will go down to the wire after the penultimate round was contested at Pretoria’s Zwartkops Raceway. Capetonian Jurie Swart drove himself back into contention by claiming two race victories in as many events, while Volkswagen Motorsport’s Jonathan Mogotsi recorded his first-ever pole position in the increasingly popular SupaCup series.

The country’s best racing drivers in the popular Volkswagen Polo Cup as well as the SupaCup category of the Global Touring Cars (GTC) series will have one more opportunity to fight for championship glory following this past weekend’s penultimate round at the Zwartkops Raceway. Jurie Swart walked away as the big winner on the weekend and now finds himself in contention for the coveted Polo Cup title with just one round to go, while Volkswagen Motorsport’s Jonathan Mogotsi endured a tough weekend racing after putting his Polo on pole in the SupaCup qualifying.

Championship leader Leyton Fourie had every intention to increase his lead at the top of the points table, but as expected the rest of the Volkswagen Polo Cup field had other ideas. Clinton Bezuidenhout was the first to raise his hand when he set the fastest time in the highly competitive super pole qualifying session on a Friday afternoon, just 0.06 seconds ahead of Fourie with Cape Town’s Jurie Swart in third. When the lights turned green to signal the start of race one on Saturday morning, it was the Polo driven by Swart who rocketed off the start and into the first position by the time the field reached turn two. Swart never looked back and increased his lead bit by bit on each lap and set the fastest lap in the process. Pole sitter Bezuidenhout remained in touch and was the second car across the line, followed by championship leader Fourie, Charl Visser, and Jayden Els. Tasmin Pepper made a welcome return by claiming the sixth spot.

The starting position is critical at Zwartkops, so it was always going to be tough to beat Swart who was lucky enough to draw number one for race two. The Capetonian repeated his performance from the first race and claimed a second victory on the trot and crossing the line almost three seconds ahead of Tasmin Pepper. Fourie took another podium finish ahead of Bezuidenhout, Visser and Els. The two victories propelled Swart right into championship contention as he closed the gap to points leader Fourie. “To win at Zwartkops is unreal,” said an elated Swart shortly after taking his second consecutive victory. “I have always qualified well here, but in my entire racing career, I have never managed to win here, not even in go-karts. It is so difficult to win at this track against the level of competition we have in Polo Cup, and to finally do so is just amazing,” he said.

Volkswagen Motorsport’s Jonathan Mogotsi was equally impressed after setting the fastest time in SupaCup qualifying. It was a career-first pole position for Mogotsi who also claimed his maiden victory in the series earlier this season. He held on to the lead for most of the race but had to surrender his lead to title rival Bradley Liebenberg on lap 7. Mogotsi crossed the line in second place, but a penalty for a racing incident with Keegan Campos relegated his name down to third. The SupaCup series makes use of an inverted starting grid system for race two which put Mogotsi near the back of the field. Fighting your way through a field as competitive as this one was always going to be tough and sixth was high as he could go, finishing hot on the heels of title rival Bradley Liebenberg. “This was a tough weekend’s racing,” he said. “After qualifying on pole, I had high hopes of a good result, but racing is unpredictable and this weekend proved exactly that,” concluded Mogotsi.

Head of Volkswagen Motorsport Mike Rowe summarised the weekend’s racing: “This weekend at Zwartkops was once again proof of the level of driving talent that we have in this country and it is our pleasure as Volkswagen to be able to give all of these youngsters a platform where they can develop and showcase their talents in both the Volkswagen Polo Cup and the SupaCup categories. Both title fights will go down to the wire and we can’t wait to see how it will unfold.”

The season finale is scheduled to take place at the Kyalami circuit in December.