Robert Wolk leads the pack into turn 1
The South African Single-Seater (SASS) competitors contested their second-last round at Killarney in Cape Town on Saturday. Going into this round, the fight was between Robert Wolk (41 – Chemical Logistics Mygale), Julian van der Watt (42 – Investchem) and Keagan Masters (44 – Performance Masters) – the top three in the series to this point.
It looks like this rivalry is set to continue through the final round as these three racers were again the headliners at the Cape event.
Van der Watt set the pace early on, posting the quickest qualifying time. By contrast, the weekend did not start well for Wolk who blew an engine early on and had his mechanics working overtime to get it ready to race. Additional handling problems kept Wolk on his toes the whole weekend, ensuring he minimised his points loss.
With Van der Watt in command for race one, that didn’t mean he was going to have it easy. Wolk found his pace to push right to the finish with the pair separated by just 0.124 of a second at the end of the 10 lap race.
That first race saw a four-way battle for the lead with Wolk, Van der Watt, Masters and Dewald Brummer (11 – MAD Racing / Ango Truck) all vying to be the first one across the line. A turn three touch between Van der Watt and Brummer resulted in Brummer’s retirement.
The mid-pack battle in that first race between Ian Schofield (9 – Investchem) and Andrew Schofield (10 – Investchem) saw the father and son fighting it out along with Allen Meyer (15). Overall, it was Schofield senior who used his racing experience to win the day, turning the results in his favour.
For Alex Gillespie (50 – Mboyti River Lodge Mygale SJ08) the Killarney event marked his best finish of the season – fourth in race one. Race two saw him spin out, resulting in a red flag. This then also saw three competitors who were not able to restart due to overheating.
When the second race did get underway, the battle up front was just as intense as the first time around. Van der Watt, who had dropped to second soon after the start of the race, ran wide in the final corner. It was left to Wolk to win followed by Masters and Brummer with Van der Watt crossing for sixth place.
The overall results show Wolk at the top of the log for the weekend, with Masters in second spot – thanks to two third-place race finishes – and Van der Watt in third.
With the Zwartkops final for the series just two weeks away – on Saturday, November 7, these three racers will undoubtedly be mixing it up on the track as they race for the last few points available.
Race One:
- Julian van der Watt (42 – Investchem)
- Robert Wolk (41 – Chemical Logistics Mygale)
- Keagan Masters (44 – Performance Masters)
Race Two:
- Robert Wolk (41 – Chemical Logistics Mygale)
- Keagan Masters (44 – Performance Masters)
- Dewald Brummer (11 – MAD Racing / Ango Truck)
Overall:
- Robert Wolk (41 – Chemical Logistics Mygale)
- Keagan Masters (44 – Performance Masters)
- Julian van der Watt (42 – Investchem)