Benonians make the podium at Big Foot 700

Benoni’s local racer Clare Vale and her team recently competed in the Big Foot 700, a four-hour endurance race, at the East London GP circuit.

“I drove our number four, Backdraft Cobra, with co-driver Morne Jurgens,” said Vale.

“We had good practice sessions on the Friday and qualified the Cobra sixth in our class, with just over 1.5 seconds covering first to sixth place.”

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East London boasts the fastest circuit in the country so Vale and her team always find it exciting to race there.

“Race day was the Saturday and it was perfect,” she began.

“We had very little wind that was great and the race began at 1.30pm with 25 starters.”

With four safety car sessions in the first half-hour, it was clear to the Benonians that this was going to be a race of attrition.

“But, our car gave us a trouble-free day and never missed a beat!” said Vale.

“With Morne driving and dusk falling, we were in a comfortable fourth position in our class, and then moved up into third place in our class and seventh overall before the flag fell.

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“This is our best result and first podium finish to date (we were fourth in East London last year), and we were delighted particularly as only 16 cars were classified as finishers.

“The Backdraft Cobras have proven their reliability once again, as 10 of the 16 cars that finished and five of the top ten were Cobras.”

Vale and her team will be taking part in the four-hour event at Zwartkops in Pretoria in July.

“Thank you to Jemma Pringle and the City Times for supporting local competitors, we really do appreciate it,” she concluded.