Port Elizabeth 26/04/08– For the third national meeting in a row former South African champion Sheridan Morais walked away with the individual honours at round three of the WesBank Super Series event at Aldo Scribante here today.

In winning both heats of the CitiBike SA Superbike event Morais again pulverised the opposition. The 2005 champion, on the Emtek Racing Kawasaki, once again showed the benefits of a season or two of overseas competition by winning as he pleased.

Both heats were a case of who was going to finish second to Morais, and he is now the only unbeaten competitor in the WesBank Super Series. Race one saw Morais come under early pressure from Greg Gildenhuys (Race Nation Honda) who has also raced overseas in recent seasons.

It took Morais two laps to get to the front of the field and he then controlled matters with Gildenhuys holding off Clint Seller on the Nashua Mobile/Lenovo/Daikin Yamaha. Another good ride saw youngster Chris Leeson, on a second Emtek Kawasaki, and veteran 2006 champion Shaun Whyte (Nashua Mobile/Lenovo/Daikin Yamaha) complete the top five.

In race two Gildenhuys crashed on lap two and Morais then disappeared into the distance. Leeson again gave notice of his huge potential with second place ahead of Seller, Whyte and reigning champion Arushen Moodley (Dynamic Express Suzuki) who has had a disappointing start to the season.

Whyte was then docked 30 seconds for passing under a yellow flag and that moved Robert Portman (Sinotech Suzuki) into the top five. But the day belonged to Morais who now has six straight wins under his belt.

On the CitiBike Supersport front two good rides from Dane Hellyer (Kyocera Kawasaki) saw the Walkerville youngster tighten his early hold on the championship. In the opening heat Hellyer, son of former SA champion Kevin, finished second to Graeme Green (Leatt Brace Yamaha) who romped away with proceedings.

There were also good rides from James Egan (Timefreight Yamaha) and veterans Lance Isaacs and Graeme van Breda, both on Suzukis, in a race cut short by two laps. The second race produced a good scrap with Hellyer having to withstand plenty of pressure from Egan and Eddie Alberts (Race Nation Honda) with van Breda and Green fourth and fifth.

Reigning champion Shaun Watson-Smith (Xtreme Team Audi A4), on his home circuit, and Johan Fourie (Indy Oil Audi A4) shared the wins in the Bridgestone Production Car event. Two interesting heats produced some robust racing with Watson-Smith the big winner on a day that saw his closest championship rivals enjoy mixed fortunes.

Fourie muscled his way ahead of Watson-Smith in race one and after that was always in control. Anthony Taylor (Afrox BMW 330i) joined Watson-Smith on the podium with Michael Stephen, in a second Xtreme Team Audi, and Melvill Priest (MiKar Lenovo Audi A4) completing the top five.

Race two started with a partially inverted grid and Watson-Smith had his hands full in working his way through the pack. Fourie and Taylor ran into problems and it took Watson-Smith nine laps to work his way to the front of the field.

Tschops Sipuka (Sasol Nissan 350Z) and Darryn Lobb (Sam Racing/Tubular Tech Nissan 350Z) took advantage of the inverted grid to finish second and third. Former champion Leeroy Poulter (Sasol Nissan 350Z) and Priest, who enjoyed his best day of the season so far, rounded out the top five.

Class T saw Gary Formato give the Ford Racing/Nados Ford Fiesta a maiden win ahead of Graeme Nathan (Seat/Kaye Eddie Cupra) and reigning champion Iain Pepper in the PG Glass VW Golf GTi. Formato looked to have picked up a double when he romped away with heat two.

Race officials had other ideas and Formato was penalised for an infringement during the rolling start. That dropped him down the pecking order with the podium places going to Nathan, Mark Silverwood (OKI Mini Cooper) and Pepper.

Danie van Niekerk (Stanger Auto Ford Fiesta) continued his good start to the season with a double in Class B. In both races van Niekerk came in ahead of veteran reigning champion Ben Morgenrood in the Mazda Motorsport RX8.

A maiden win for Timken team principal Richard Pinard, who was the recipient of a little good fortune, and two more solid performances from reigning champion Hennie Groenewald (Timken Chev Lumina) were the feature of the WesBank V8 Supercar event. Groenewald produced his usual polished performance to win heat one ahead of team-mate Robert Briggs (Timken Jaguar) and veteran Willie Hepburn in the Project Orange Chev Corvette.

Race two produced plenty of drama with the inverted grid system seeing Pinard start in pole position with Briggs and Groenewald 12th and 13th. Briggs fell by the wayside but Groenewald picked off rivals one at a time and was set for another win when a timekeeping error came into play.

The chequered flag came out two laps early with Groenewald right on Pinard’s tail. Third and fourth were Franco di Matteo (Optima Batteries Jaguar) and veteran Larry Wilford (Fuchs Ford Mustang) with Jaco Correia (Liqui Moly Chev Corvette) rounding out the top five.

Two good Engen VW Cup races, with the series now restricted to drivers under the age of 27, produced wins for Bryan Morgan (Timken VW Polo) and rising star Gennaro Bonafede in the Ferodo VW Polo. Morgan took the first race ahead of Divan Wentzel (Barnett’s VW Polo) and Bonafede who is the son of multiple SA rally champion Vito Bonafede.

Young Bonafede brought a smile to dad’s face by winning race two after a good battle with Morgan and Mathew Hodges in the PG Glass VW Polo. Miguel Pasqualli (Xtreme Team VW Polo) and Devin Robertson (Ferodo VW Polo) completed the top five.

Former Rotax max kart world champion Christiano Morgado (Morgando Racing Formula VW) scored a double to end Gavin Cronje’s unbeaten run in the fledgling Formula VW championship. Morgado, after a shaky start to the season, finally came good to finish ahead of Cronje (Capital Finance Formula Vee), who is also a former Rotax Max world champion, in two rather tame races.
David Perel (SAM Racing/Tubular Tech Formula VW) and Wesleigh Orr (Formula VW) shared the other podium places with the series this year running under national challenge status. Orr was taking time off from his duties as the rookie driver in South Africa’s A1GP team.

Results:
Formula VW – Race 1: 1 C Morgado (Formula VW); 2 G Cronje (Formula VW); 3 D Perel (For mula VW); 4 W Orr (Formula VW); 5 M Murray (Formula VW). Race 2: 1 C Morgado (Formula VW); 2 G Cronje (Formula VW); 3 W Orr (Formula VW); 4 M Stephen (Formula VW); 5 D Perel (Formula VW)

Bridgestone Production Cars – Race 1: 1 J Fourie (Audi A4); 2 S Watson-Smith (Audi A4); 3 A Taylor (BMW 330i); 4 M Stephen (Audi A4); 5 M Priest (Audi A4). Class A – J Fourie (Audi A4); Class T – G Formato (Ford Focus); Class B – D van Niekerk (Ford Fiesta) Race 2: 1 S Watson-Smith (Audi A4); 2 T Sipuka (Nissan 350Z); 3 D Lobb (Nissan 350Z); 4 L MPoulter (Nissan 350Z); 5 M Priest Audi A4). Class A – S Watson-Smith (Audi A4); Class T – G Formato (Ford Focus); Class B – D van Niekerk (Ford Fiesta)

WesBank V8 Supercars – Race 1: 1 H Groenewald (Chev Lumina); 2 M Briggs (Jaguar); 3 W Hepburn (Chev Corvette); 4 M Auby (Chev Lumina); 5 D Auby (Jaguar). Race 2: 1 Rinard (Jaguar); 2 H Groenewald (Chev Lumina); 3 F di Matteo (Jaguar); 4 L Wilford (Ford Mustang); 5 J Correia (Chev Corvette).

Engen VW Cup – Race 1: 1 B Morgan (VW Polo); 2 D Wentzel (VW Polo); 3 G Bonafede (VW Polo); B Hodges (VW Polo); 5 M Pasqualli (VW Polo). Race 2: 1 G Bonafede (VW Polo); 2 B Morgan (VW Polo); 3 M Hodges (VW Polo); 4 M Pasqualli (VW Polo); 5 D Robertson (VW Polo).

CitiBike Supersport – Race 1: 1 G Green (Yamaha); 2 D Hellyer (Kawasaki); 3 J Egan (Yamaha); 4 L Isaacs (Suzuki); 5 G van Breda (Suzuki). Race 2: 1 D Hellyer (Kawasaki); 2 J Egan (Yamaha); 3 E Alberts (Honda); 4 G van Breda (Suzuki); 5 G Green (Yamaha).

CitiBike Superbikes – Race 1: 1 S Morais (Kawasaki); 2 G Gildenhuys (Honda); 3 C Seller (Yamaha); 4 C Leeson (Kawasaki); 5 S Whyte (Yamaha). Race 2: 1 S Morais (Kawasaki); 2 C Leeson (Kawasaki); 3 C Seller (Yamaha); 4 S Whyte (Yamaha); A Moodley (Suzuki).