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Fourth round of the series had everything thrown at it, from incidents to sudden showers.
Nick Adcock, Michael Jensen and Charl Michael Visser took their Adjust for Sleep/Rico Barlow Racing Nova Proto NP02 to overall victory. Photograph: Dave Ledbitter.
The racing was close, the fight for overall victory was thrilling, and a new overall Kyalami lap record was set.
Those were the main reasons for which spectators will long remember Saturday’s Four Hours of Kyalami, round four of the South African Endurance Championship connected by Vodacom 4U.
Back on top
The event was won overall by Nick Adcock, Michael Jensen and Charl Michael Visser in their Adjust for Sleep/Rico Barlow Racing Nova Proto NP02.
After a race-long fight, they finished 12.6 seconds ahead of Xolile Letlaka, Stuart White and Axcil Jeffries in their Into Africa Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo 2 with penalties, a brief rain shower, the new lap record and punctures all playing a role in the outcome.
Brad Liebenberg and Ryan Naicker rounded out the podium in their Stradale Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo.
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The three teams fought for the top placings from the start at 13h00, with different refuelling strategies and drive-through penalties all playing roles to keep the lead switching hands.
The Stradale team’s challenge faded after 90 minutes when their Audi’s starter motor broke.
They were forced to push start the car after the next three pit stops, suffering a 25-second drive-through penalty every time.
A brief rain shower played a role too, when the Lamborghini team stopped for wet-weather tyres while the Nova gambled by staying out.
The bold strategy paid dividends when the rain stopped and the Lamborghini had to perform an extra pit stop for another tyre change.
Then Adcock spun the Nova, and Jeffries took the lead with an hour and 51 minutes left to run.
Stuart White climbed into the leading Lamborghini for the final stint but suffered a right rear and then a left front puncture.
The two unplanned stops cost the Into Africa team 70 seconds, and no chance of fighting for the win.
Charles Visser took the wheel of the Nova for the final stint and blasted around at a blistering pace that saw him set a new overall Kyalami lap record of 1:40.10 on his second-to-last lap.
He sealed the team’s second win of the year, leading home the Into Africa Lamborghini and Stradale Audi teams.
The father-and-son team of Henk and Hein Lategan crew brought their SAC Porsche 911 GT3 Cup home in fourth, with consistency earning them the Index of Performance and Class B wins.
Fifth overall was the G&H Transport Audi R8 of Ricky and Giani Giannoccaro, and Ant Blunden, followed by the Blue Sands Ford Mustang of Franco di Matteo, Julian Familiaris and Romano Sartori.
Class C honours went to the Korridas Volkswagen Golf GTI of Bruno Campos, Sandro Alves and Mario Da Silva after battling through the final 90 minutes with the car stuck in third gear.
One-Hour
Charl Arangies stormed to victory in his Vaal Fluid Systems Porsche 911 GT3R, followed by the Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Damian Hammond and the Xena Chemicals Ligier JS49 of Andrew Horne.
Mo Mia raced to a strong fourth in his Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, followed home by Antonie Marx in his Shelby CanAm.
Zwartkops next
The next round of the South African Endurance Championship Connect by Vodacom 4U is the Four-Hours of Zwartkops on 10 and 11 October.
The Southern African Endurance Series connected by Vodacom 4U is proudly supported by Vodacom 4U, Foton and Proton, Dunlop, ATS Motorsport and Silverlakes Farm Hotel.
For further information, contact Liyema Letlaka on [email protected].
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