EAST LONDON TOURING CARS

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EAST LONDON: Grant McCleery (Opel Vectra) and Deon Joubert 
(Envirocar BMW 318i) shared the spoils in rounds 13 and 14 of the AA 
Fleetcare Super Touring   Championship at East London's famous old 
Grand Prix circuit on Saturday.

However, the well-oiled Opel machine stumbled when championship log 
leader and pole-sitter Mike Briggs failed to finish the first race, 
fluffing the start and then going off backwards into the barriers 
halfway through the first lap - the result of his own over-zealous 
attempts to make up the ground lost at the start.

This left the way clear for his team mate Grant McCleery to notch up 
his first win for the season, the Opel driver initially pulling away 
from Shaun van der Linde (Envirocar BMW 318i) and his team mate Deon 
Joubert. In the final two laps Joubert went past Van der Linde and 
closed right up on McCleery but too late to make any serious passing 
attempt.

Behind the leading three cars Anthony Taylor (Castrol Toyota Camry) 
held off a race-long challenge from Sarel van der Merwe's Sasol Ford 
Mondeo with Steve Wyndham in the second Sasol Ford Mondeo hovering 
in the background.

>From seventh place Nic de Waal (BP Nissan Sentra) led the two 
Rothmans Audi quattros of Chris Aberdein and Terry Moss, both 
drivers putting De Waal under heavy pressure. The three closed up on 
Wyndham three laps from the end but trying to pass De Waal, 
Aberdein's Audi and the Sentra touched, dropping the Audi a place 
and earning De Waal a fine from the authorities.

Damage to Briggs' car was minimal and he started the second race 
from the back of the grid blasting his way through the field to be 
third on lap three and second on lap five.

Deon Joubert and Shaun van der Linde made demon starts to put the 
two BMWs into the lead. By the time Briggs had worked his way 
through the pack Joubert had a slight gap on the field which he 
capitalised on to lead Briggs across the line some four seconds to 
the good at the finish.

Briggs, however, incurred the wrath of the authorities when he 
appeared to punt Nic de Waal off on the opening lap and later in the 
race bump Anthony Taylor. A hearing relating to the incident still 
has to be held and could, if he is adjudged responsible for the 
incidents, face a hefty fine or even suspension from the next round 
of the series.

For those on the track though, all this was still to come, and 
Briggs drove hard trying to narrow the gap between himself and 
Joubert accepting second across the line only at
the flag.

Shaun van der Linde also managed to get past McCleery to finish 
third while Anthony Taylor again staved off a challenge from Sarel 
van der Merwe with Steve Wyndham running in seventh place ahead of 
the Rothmans Audi of Terry Moss, Nic de Waal's Sentra and Mike 
White's Minolta Toyota Camry.

White, who had a gearbox problem in the first race and didn't get 
off the line, originally led the Moss Audi but was nudged off the 
track when Moss accidentally locked up his brakes early in the race - 
earning Moss a fine from the authorities.

AA FLEETCARE SUPER TOURING CHAMPIONSHIP, ROUNDS 13 & 14,
GRAND PRIX CIRCUIT, EAST LONDON (ZA), 2X12 LAPS - 94,09 Km, June 10

Race 1

1. Grant McCleery (Opel Vectra), 17m13,79s; 2. Deon Joubert (BMW 
318i), 17m14,21s; 3. Shaun van der Linde (BMW 318i), 17m16,37s; 4. 
Anthony Taylor (Toyota Camry), 17m19,75s; 5. Sarel van der Merwe 
(Ford Mondeo), 17m21,99s; 6. Steve Wyndham (Ford Mondeo), 17m26,93s; 
7. Nic de Waal (Nissan Sentra), 17m27,94s; 8. Terry Moss (Audi), 
17m28,34s; 9. Chris Aberdein (Audi), 17m29,76s; 10. Giniel de 
Villiers (Nissan Sentra), 17m39,40s

Race 2

1. Deon Joubert (BMW 318i), 17m08,91s; 2. Mike Briggs (Opel Vectra), 
17m12,27s; 3. Shaun van der Linde (BMW 318i), 17m13,23s; 4.Grant 
McCleery (Opel Vectra), 17m17,29s; 5. Anthony Taylor (Toyota Camry), 
17m20,08s; 6. Sarel van der Merwe (Ford Mondeo), 17m20,78s; 7. Steve 
Wyndham (Ford Mondeo), 17m30,46s; 8. Terry Moss (Audi), 17m47,14s; 
9. Nic de Waal (Nissan Sentra), 17m47,52s; 10. Mike White (Toyota 
Camry), 17m50,42s

Fastest lap: Mike Briggs (Race 2) 1m24,50 (new lap record).

CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

Briggs 94; McCleery 50; Joubert 42; Van der Linde 31; Moss 28;
White 20; Taylor 20; Wyndham 17; Van der Merwe 12; Aberdein 11;
De Waal 10; Radisich 9; De Villiers 7.

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