ZWARTKOPS: With the signs of battle visible on nearly all the cars, 
Mike Briggs' Opel Vectra twice came from behind to win and notch up 
maximum points to claim an almost unassailable lead in the AA 
Fleetcare Super Touring Championships.

Rain, unusual for the time of year, saw official practice run in the 
wet and it was Mike White (Minolta Toyota Camry) who claimed pole 
position from Terry Moss (Rothmans Audi quattro), Mike Briggs (Opel 
Vectra) and Chris Aberdein (Rothmans Audi quattro).

White got away from the line quickly in the first race, leading 
Briggs, Grant McCleery (Opel Vectra), Anthony Taylor (Castrol Toyota 
Camry) and Chris Aberdein. Although under pressure from the Opel, 
White looked to have the measure of Briggs, staying out in front for 
the first nine of the 25 lap race.

However, the Opel's superior cornering in the tighter sections of 
the track finally gave Briggs his chance to move into the lead he 
was to hold through to the finish. White then slotted comfortably 
into second place with McCleery and Taylor doing battle for third 
spot. Taylor took the position on lap 5 and was demoted only on the 
penultimate lap when he and McCleery touched, the Camry sliding wide 
and rejoining in fourth place.

Chris Aberdein looked set to give Audi a fifth place, but was forced 
out with a broken front left driveshaft on lap 3, allowing Steve 
Wyndham in the Sasol Ford Mondeo into the position, ahead of Shaun 
van der Linde in the Envirocar BMW 318i - the reigning champion 
setting a new lap record of 51,980 seconds for the two kilometre 
track.

Sarel van der Merwe, again the victim of a bad start, finished 
seventh in the second Mondeo. A lap 1 coming together with Sabine 
Reck in the Motorplan BMW 318i ended with the German driver forced 
out for the day with suspension damage.

Terry Moss in the second Rothmans Audi quattro finished eighth 
having been plagued throughout by understeer problems, the result of 
running the car on the same setup that took him to victory at 
Kyalami in the wet.

The second race was red-flagged with just one lap completed when Nic 
de Waal (BP Nissan Sentra and Shaun van der Linde touched on the 
final corner. Van der Linde's BMW launched into a horrifying endo 
that turned the car into a sub-compact - fortunately without injury 
to the driver.

At the restart White again made the running, this time for just 
three laps before Briggs dived through. There was contact between 
the two, enough to slow the Camry so Anthony Taylor could take 
advantage and slip into second place behind Briggs.

Taylor produced a spectacular effort for the next five laps as he 
tried everything in the book to pass Briggs, finally deciding to 
conserve his tyres and protect second place from Grant McCleery.

Briggs then set a new lap record of 50,70 seconds in his efforts to 
stay ahead of the flying Camry.

The two Rothmans Audis, now set up with much stiffer suspension, 
moved into fourth and fifth position with Moss leading Aberdein and 
Deon Joubert (Envirocar BMW 318i) giving chase in sixth place ahead 
of Sarel van der Merwe's Ford Mondeo.

"Because of the threat of rain we decided to keep the wet weather 
setup for the cars," said Andre van der Watt, manager of Audi Sport. 
"As it turned out the rain stayed away and Terry Moss battled 
through the first race with the suspension far too soft. This caused 
understeering problems and made the car difficult to drive.

"Unfortunately Chris Aberdein had to retire when the driveshaft 
broke.

"For the second race the suspension settings were changed to those 
used in the test session on the Wednesday before the race and we are 
really excited about the way in which both cars performed. The 
Dunlop tyres worked perfectly and both drivers were lapping at the 
end at the same times they were running at the start of the race."

SOUTH AFRICAN SUPER TOURING CAR CHAMPIONSHIP, ROUNDS 9&10, ZWARTKOPS 
(ZA), 50 LAPS - 100 Km, APRIL 29.

Round 9

1. Mike Briggs (Opel Vectra); 21m34,51s; 2. Mike White (Toyota 
Camry), 21m35,98s; 3. Grant McCleery (Opel Vectra), 21m39,27s; 4. 
Anthony Taylor (Toyota Camry), 21m46,67s; 5. Steve Wyndham (Ford 
Mondeo), 21m48,34s; 6. Shaun van der Linde (BMW 318i), 21m52,84s; 7. 
Sarel van der Merwe (Ford Mondeo), 21m56,81s; 8. Terry Moss (Audi 
Quattro), 22m00,49s; 9. Deon Joubert (BMW 318i), 22m00,84s; 10. 
Chris Aberdein (Audi Quattro), -1 lap.

Round 10

1. Mike Briggs (Opel Vectra); 21m26,38s; 2. Anthony Taylor (Toyota 
Camry), 21m29,03s; 3. Grant McCleery (Opel Vectra), 21m33,68s; 4. 
Terry Moss (Audi Quattro), 21m35,26s; 5. Chris Aberdein (Audi 
Quattro), 21m37,35s 6. Deon Joubert (BMW 318i), 21m39,55s; 7. Sarel 
van der Merwe (Ford Mondeo), 21m43,48s; 8. Giniel de Villiers 
(Nissan Sentra) 21m44,39s 9. Hilton Cowie (Alfa Romeo), 21m51,71s; 
10. Kosie Swanepoel (Class B BMW 325iS) 21m50,96.

Fastest lap: Mike Briggs 0m50,70s

Points (after 10 rounds)

1. Briggs 76; 2. McCleery 38; 3. Joubert 25; 4. Van der Linde/Moss  
22; 6. De Villiers 15; 7. Taylor 10; 8. Radisich 9; 9. De Waal 7; 
10. White/Wyndham/Van der Merwe  6.

Class B

1. Swanepoel 72; 2. Vos 45; 3. Lategan 25; 4. Van Rensburg  24; 5. 
Bruins 13; 6. Huggett 8; 7. Joubert D 7; 9. Mare 6; 10. Lanz  2.

ends

***********************************************************
Colin Windell  
CyberRace Inc  (c) 1995. All rights reserved
************************************************************
     
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