PoloDriver

Reigning 2013 Engen Volkswagen Cup leader Kosie Weyers once again delivered a winning drive at the second round of the one-make championship on Saturday. Weyers took victory in both races at Killarney in Cape Town, boosting his championship lead by 27 points. Race one saw Weyers take the lead from Shaun La Reservée, who then fought back valiantly until the finish of the eight-lap race. It was almost a photo finish, with Weyers’ Engen Primax-sponsored car crossing the line 0.095 seconds ahead of La Reserveé’s Alpine Motors/Compendium Insurance-liveried racer. Third place was taken by Tasmin Pepper, claiming her first podium result of the season.

Weyers dashed for the lead again in race two, from a third place start. Mathew Hodges kept up the pace behind him, but Weyers steadfastly refused to budge. Pepper wasn’t quite so lucky, as an incident with Simon Moss forced her into the path of three more drivers, eliminating her, Juan Gerber and Ryan Rhode. Fourth-placed Trevor Bland then moved into third, which is where he finished, ahead of pole-sitter La Reservée and Mark Silverwood, who started the race down the grid in ninth place.

Guest racer Denis Droppa, who competed in the first two seasons of the Engen Volkswagen Cup championship in 1997 and 1998, found that the series is just as tough today as it was back then. While the younger and more experienced racers outpaced him, Droppa made good progress during the weekend improving his lap times by three seconds and within 2.3 seconds of the race winner. Droppa competed as a Masters racer, the category for Engen Volkswagen Cup competitors over the age of 27. In this category it was Eddie Rodrigues who put in the best performance of the day, winning both race one and race two – with his second race result in eighth place overall.

The 2013 Engen Volkswagen Cup series is similar to the other racing Volkswagen Polo Cup single-series championships run in China, Europe and India. Just as in those official Volkswagen series, the South African one-make format highlights new driving talent. In the Engen series, as many as 35 drivers regularly race in technically identical, 2.0-litre 234bhp Volkswagen Polo Vivo racing cars. For 2013, the Engen Volkswagen Cup cars are powered by the new Engen Primax fuel. The field will head to Port Elizabeth for round three of the 2013 series at Aldo Scribante Raceway on 6 April.

RACE RESULTS


Race 1

1 Kosie Weyers (5: Engen Primax)
2 Shaun La Reservée (14: Alpine Motors/Compendium Insurance)

3 Tasmin Pepper (31: PG Glass/Plastomark)

Race 2

1 Kosie Weyers (5: Engen Primax)

2 Mathew Hodges (12: ITR Africa/959 Panelbeaters)
3 Trevor Bland (15: PG Glass/Suburban Panelbeaters)

Overall standings

1 Kosie Weyers (5: Engen Primax)

2 Shaun La Reservée (14: Alpine Motors/Compendium Insurance)

3 Trevor Bland (15: PG Glass/Suburban Panelbeaters)

Masters

1 Eddie Rodrigues (M7: SEW Eurodrive)

2 Ettiene du Toit (M4: Zenith Product Design)
3 Gerhard Henning (M5: Goldwagen Roodepoort)