In spite of improving his pace by half a second from the last encounter at Killarney back in early April and Richard Pinard going a full second faster, the pair was left frustrated and disappointed with their performance; Hennie’s best result was 2nd in race 2 while Richard was 6th in race 1, leaving the pair 6th and 7th respectively on the overall results sheet.

“There are a lot of points still available and a good result next month at Zwartkops where double points are awarded for the endurance race will shape the outcome of the championship.  The team is going to put all their energy into that event”, said Hennie after the day’s racing.

Practice and Qualifying:
After just three laps of the opening practice session, Hennie recorded a time of 1 minute 18.5 seconds, just 0.2 second off April’s pole time.  “I thought we were on the pace, but our main rivals were nearly a second faster and I knew we were in trouble.  You don’t find a second in a weekend”, said Hennie.  Struggling to find a workable balance for the Subaru WRX STI, the team went the wrong way on set-up but changed it back for race 1.
Richard had an off in practice that affected a wheel sensor in qualifying.  “The sensor was full of beach sand”, Richard smiled, “That affected the ABS and I am disappointed to be slower in qualifying than in the practice sessions.

Races 1 and 2:
Hennie immediately set off after Tschops Sipuka (Audi), attacking hard in the first corner and got past but couldn’t hold him off and conceded the position, running the remaining laps in 6th position.

On the reverse grid for race 2, Hennie lined up 4th and was into 2nd by the third corner, having passed Nieyaaz Modack Audi and Richard Pinard.  The Sasol Subaru had the legs of championship leader Johan Fourie (Audi) and set off after Stephen but a tyre delaminated towards the end of the race, forcing Hennie to abandon his chase for the lead. 

Richard had an uneventful first race but made up for it in race 2.  “I had a go at Tschops and got past him at the first corner on lap 3, but he returned the favour in turn 2.  I overcooked things and went off across the grass and dropped to last, so I had to play catch=up”, Richard related.

On the final lap, he passed Modack on the outside of Cape Town Corner at the end of the back straight.

Races 3 and 4:
Hennie and Richard were affected by tyre delamination in race 3, ending any thoughts of chasing down the leading pack.  “I ran consistent times between 18.8 and 19.0 but it wasn’t enough”, said Hennie.  “Killarney is largely a circuit of right-hand corners but the left front tyre had problems.   We need to understand why that happened’, Hennie explained.
Richard had a pair of uneventful races, ending 7th in both heats.

“The BMW is deemed a new car and the dispensation given to them is too generous because they are more than marginally quicker.  A bad day for the leaders and a good day for us at Zwartkops can dramatically turn our championship around”, Hennie said.

The penultimate round of the series is the Sasol Race Day at Zwartkops Raceway on 5th November.

Team Sasol Subaru is proudly supported by Permatex and associate sponsors Shatterprufe, Protea Hotels and MIR sports clothing.