The Engen Volkswagen Cup season got off to a cracking start at Kyalami on Saturday 20 February. Certainly the happiest driver on the day was Mathew Hodges (1) and his PG Glass Polo – who was also the most successful for this event.
Hodges is the defending champion and showed at the first round of the series just why he claimed the 2009 Engen Volkswagen Cup title. For race one Hodges drew third place in the top six grid draw and for race two he had to start in sixth.
In both races it did not take long for him to move up to the sharp end of the field and then stay there, fending off the challenges mounted by second-placed Miguel Pasqualli (5) in his Engen Xtreme car.
Hodges claimed the race win for both events with Pasqualli second each time. In this single-make series there are now two categories of racing and competitors take part in either the national Engen Volkswagen Cup championship or the Masters category, a challenge recognised by Volkswagen but that does not form part of a national title.
This makes for an interesting dynamic in the series this season as Kosie Weyers (6) and his Engen Xtreme entry finished in third overall at Kyalami after the two races – but receives the points for finishing second as his teammate (Pasqualli) falls into the Masters category.
This also means that Robyn Kruger (19) who finished in fourth overall on the day will receive the points for third.
Weyers found himself involved in an incident on track with Kyle Barnes (22) in the Phoenix Motors / Conti Partner / CFP Tyres car. The pair met while charging into the final corner of the first race and Barnes suffered damage to the right front fender and tyre of his Polo, as well as causing sufficient damage to the steering on his race car to send him off into the kitty litter, leaving him with a DNF (did not finish) for race one.
The second Masters competitor across the line overall was Leon Odendaal (34) in his G&H Transport car with the third being Graham Donker (24) finishing off the top three Masters drivers overall for the day.
Just because the defending champion won both races on the day, it doesn’t mean things were easy. Hodges himself commented on the event after the second race.
“I had to drive the wheels off my car to stay ahead,” says Hodges. “I had to use every trick in the book to stay ahead of Miguel, it was a great race and I had to work hard to win.”
For one newcomer to the series, Jacques Joubert (20) in the Momo / Big Boss Auto / Car King entry, the event fulfilled all the requirements to be a trial-by-fire. Joubert qualified amongst the fastest six drivers and then promptly drew pole position for both races.
In race one Joubert found just how stressful it can be to start from the front – especially for a rookie. A hairy moment in the opening stages of race one saw Joubert grabbing handfuls of steering wheel to stay on the track, the more experienced drivers quickly capitalised on his difficulties and he was relegated to 10th place by the finish.
Determined to change his fortunes in race two, he played his cards right and held on to the lead for a while. Again though, he was unable to fight off the attentions of the more experienced. This time though, he was not to be pushed around so easily and crossed the line in fifth place.
When it comes to learning lessons the hard way, this is what happened to series newcomer Shaun Neill (24) and the CKAS Aerial Surveys car who was found to be one kilogramme under-weight at the end of race two. This discrepancy was enough to see Neill disqualified for this event and he will have to rely on the second round to try put a few points on the board for 2010.
The second round of the championship is now the focus for these racing drivers as they head towards Killarney in Cape Town in just three weeks (Saturday, 13 March).
Top three results for the day:
Race 1:
- Mathew Hodges (1) – PG Glass
- Miguel Pasqualli (5) – Master – Engen Xtreme
- Devin Robertson (3) – Ferodo / Big Boss Auto
- Trevor Bland (25)
Race 2:
- Mathew Hodges (1) – PG Glass
- Miguel Pasqualli (5) – Master – Engen Xtreme
- Kosie Weyers (6) – Engen Xtreme
- Bryan Morgan (4) – Timken
Overall:
- Mathew Hodges (1) – PG Glass
- Miguel Pasqualli (5) – Master – Engen Xtreme
- Kosie Weyers (6) – Engen Xtreme
- Robyn Kruger (19)
