CLASS A:
Race 1
Pole-sitter Melvill Priest stunned the Production Car race fraternity with a scintillating lap of 1:18.669, well below the 1.20 lap record. He then blasted his Afrox BMW 335i into an unassailable lead, winning at a canter.
Behind him things weren't as cut-and-dried. Johan Fourie, chased hard, his IndyOil Audi being pushed relentlessly. Johan initially tried to stay with Melvill but soon came under attack from Anthony Taylor in the second Afrox BMW. Anthony passed Johan during a fraught second lap, which slowed Johan sufficiently to give Michael Stephen a whiff of the 3rd podium spot. This materialised for Michael, when on lap 5 of 6, he ousted the burly Capetonian from the podium. Michael took his Engen Xtreme Audi to a new lap record in the process. Johan finished fourth, well ahead of team-mates Leeroy Poulter and Marco da Cunha in their Tubular Tech Nissans.
Officialdom then stepped in and after viewing footage and receiving reports, Michael Stephen was found guilty of passing Poulter under yellow flags, relegating him to fifth. The good news for Fourie and Poulter was that they moved up to 3rd and 4th respectively.
So, with da Cunha still sixth, Tschops Sipuka (Engen Xtreme), Hennie Groenewald (Timken Subaru), Lee Thompson (Rough Rider BMW) and Richard Pinard (Midas Lotus) were the final runners.
Race 2
The partially inverted grid led away, Marco da Cunha leading from Leeroy Poulter for half of the first tour, before Poulter passed him. Marco defended his team mate valiantly for three laps, but then Johan Fourie finally muscled past. Fourie and Poulter battled fairly for 2 laps before the inevitable contact was made, Fourie ramming Poulter sideways and damaging the Audi radiator in the process. The Audi overheated, leading to its eventual demise. This dropped Leeroy to third, Michael Stephen pipping him for the runner-up spot. Fourth place went to Taylor, marginally quicker than Priest. Sipuka, Thompson and Groenewald rounded out the class.
Race 3
The overheating engine of local hero Johan Fourie was rapidly replaced and ready within minutes of the start of the 3rd race. He rewarded his hard working team by leading the ten-lap heat from starting lights to chequered flag.
He set the quickest lap of the race, and a new overall Killarney Bridgestone Production Car lap record, in the process. Behind him, Melvill Priest� beat off persistent challenges from a determined Leeroy Poulter, with the Afrox BMW finally crossing the finish line less than a second ahead of the Nissan.
Anthony Taylor took the fourth place, beating Michael Stephen, with Marco da Cunha, Tschops Sipuka and Lee Thompson rounding out the top seven places.