Bonafede’s mean machine
DAINFERN - Dainfern's Gennaro Bonafede marked his first year in the Bridgestone Production Car Championship by placing second overall.
Bonafede’s solid performance also saw his Ferodo-backed Audi S4 end the meeting as the top of the Audi quartet.
At the corresponding race meeting last year, the 23-year old made his debut in class A after two and a half seasons in class T, where he scored a number of wins in the Ferodo- backed Volkswagen Golf GTI.
Prior to racing in Production Cars he had a solid apprenticeship in the rough and tumble world of the Engen Volkswagen Cup where he was a consistent championship contender.
Qualifying on a track that suited the BMWs well, Bonafede netted the fifth fastest time.
In the frenetic charge heading into turn two, he lost a place to fellow Audi pilot Melvill Priest, settling for sixth place.
Bonafede said, “The sprint races are short and it really wasn’t worth pushing too hard to try make up one place. I wanted to look after the tyres for race two so I didn’t push too hard. Sixth also meant a better grid position for race two, so it worked out well.”
In race two Bonafede chased the Audi of Tschops Sipuka for most of the race before making a move to pass on the penultimate lap.
Sipuka defended for all he was worth and there was slight contact, which was enough to damage Bonafede’s rear suspension, rendering him powerless to prevent Priest snatching the win on the final lap.
The technical crew, led by Vic Maharaj, replaced a broken suspension arm before the 15-lap feature race and Bonafede netted second place, just over a second behind Hennie Groenewald’s Subaru.
Bonfede said, “It turned out to be a great day. Second in the feature race and third overall for the day was better than I expected after qualifying.”
Bonafede heads to Cape Town for round eight of the series on 3 October.
