Sharonlea racer impresses at Zwartkops Top of the Hill Challenge

Michael Kernick from Sharonlea raced in the Zwartkops Top of the Hill Challenge for Shelby South Africa in the 1968 Ford Escort MK1 Mustang.

The event was over two days, Friday and Saturday, with four practices in the morning on Friday and three qualifiers. Then Saturday was three qualifiers and then the final shootout, which was only for the top 10 fastest cars in the historic class, the fastest top 10 in the road car class, and the 10 fastest in the fancy modified modern race cars.

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Kernick was invited by Shelby South Africa boss Peter Lindenburg, who is also a legend in motor racing and F1 power boat racing. He was teammates with Paige Lindenburg, in her 1968 Ford Fairlane, and James Temple, in the 1965 Cobra Daytona. They were all in class H6, as well as the historic class.

Kernick explained that the mechanic helped get fitted and walked him through the car. He went out for the first session and had a good idea of what the car was about.

“Now, we only got one run per session, so track time was super limited. In the second session, I went faster by 8 seconds, straight to being on the pace and was immediately way more comfortable in the car. The car was mega, and I was happy in the last two practice sessions. I just tried a bit too hard and went slower, frustratingly.”

He added that the class H6 was full of V8 engine cars, so a podium wasn’t on the cards. But that’s okay, since it was all about enjoying the car, the weekend, and just doing the best he could.

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“I really was impressed with the car. It was such a little gem. It does everything you ask it to and more.”

Kernick spent Friday night studying the car and onboard footage to see where he can improve and be better for the next day.

On Saturday, he put on a good lap which put him sixth out of eight cars in the class, ahead of some of the V8s.

“First session, we just took it easy and got set for the second qualifying session. In the second one, Paige unfortunately had troubles and dropped out. The green light came on and off I went, and I put in a good lap which turned out to be faster than I thought. I was over the moon. I didn’t think it was that fast. I was so happy.”

The third qualifier he went a little faster and got into the top 10 shootout for all historic classes.

“The plan for the finals run was to just enjoy the car, and my last time in it for the weekend. I pulled off, really just relaxed, and tried to put together a clean run to end on a high. Everything was just flowing and working out.” With everything working out, Kernick managed to get first four-cylinder saloon car in the historic top ten, and seventh overall with only V8 cars in front of him.

He added that it was a mega achievement and top result. He is over the moon with the result and so grateful to Shelby South Africa and Lindenburg Racing for providing the opportunity to race their car and be a part of their top-quality team.

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