BPCC: Audi racers amongst top finishers at Killarney‏

Audi South Africa Press Release

A DEMANDING national race day at Killarney in Cape Town saw the Audi S4 quattro competitors amongst the top finishers on the day – with the defending champion the leading Audi S4 quattro racer.

With one round left in the season, Michael Stephen (A1 – Engen Xtreme) emerged in second place overall for the day at Killarney, with Gennaro Bonafede (A32 – Ferodo Racing) hot on his heels in third place.

“First priority this weekend was to finish all three races. Winning race two and finishing in third and second in the other two went a long way to achieving our championship goals,” says Stephen. “It would have been nice to take the championship here at Killarney, that would have taken the pressure off for the final round. We've won at the final round before though and I'm confident we can do that again.”

Bonafede's second place came after a tough day at the track. His pace for the weekend not quite reflecting accurately in the results.

“We were consistent this weekend,” says Bonafede. “Everything on the car is good after this event, so we'll do some testing and then be ready for Kyalami. This race day promised to deliver a lot more and it was a bit frustrating, but the consistency was good and we can build on that for the final.”

Another consistent performance for the weekend was that of Tschops Sipuka (A2 – Engen Xtreme). Sipuka claimed fifth place in every race – and also fifth overall for the day.

“The team has accomplished what it wanted to achieve at Killarney this weekend,” says Sipuka. “As for the remaining round of the season, we'll just take it in our stride.”

For Melvill Priest (A7 – Mueller Sports Medicine) it was the final race of the day that made the weekend worthwhile. An engine which broke during qualifying saw him miss the first race completely and only join the second race after it had already started. Priest made up for this with a good qualifying time for race three – which is determined by the laptimes of race two, and he took up pole position on the grid.

“The car was superb in that final race,” says Priest. “I could drive it at the absolute limit and it would simply do whatever I asked. At one stage we had a lead of 7.5 seconds on the rest of the field.”

The Audi S4 quattros will go into race action for the final time this season at Kyalami on Saturday, 2 November, when they contest the last round of the Bridgestone Production Cars Championship.

 Michael Stephen A1 - Audi S4 - Terry Moss Racing

Tschops Sipuka A2 - Audi S4 - Terry Moss Racing

Melvill Priest A7 - Audi S4 - VMP Motorsport 

 Gennaro Bonafede A32 - Audi S4 - Ferodo Racing Team / VMP

Photo credit: MotorPress.co.za

BPCC: Audi leading field into penultimate championship round

Audi South Africa Press Release

AUDI is the leading manufacturer in the Bridgestone Production Cars as the field heads to Killarney on Saturday, 5 October, for the penultimate round of the 2013 season. Commanding performances on-track by the four Audi S4 competitors sees Audi enjoy a 25 point lead over their rivals.

Leading the charge for the Audi S4 quattro racers is defending champion, Michael Stephen (A1 – Engen Xtreme). Stephen is leading the championship and is well on course to achieve a third consecutive national title in this series.

The Cape Town event provides Stephen an opportunity to cement his leading position in as the year draws to a close. While it is late in the season, there is no slowing down as he fights for his third title. Every point matters and Stephen will have to exert maximum effort to keep his challengers at bay.

In fourth place on the championship scoreboard, Gennaro Bonafede (A32 – Ferodo Racing) will be using the final two rounds of the year to launch a fight for a season podium finish. Bonafede needs just 11 points to equal the score of the current third-place man. Points for fastest lap and pole position will be just as important as scoring well in the race results, so racers will be looking for every bit of pace they can get.

Just behind Bonafede is Tschops Sipuka (A2 – Engen Xtreme) who might have to do a bit more work than Bonafede but also stands a chance at a claiming a podium finish this season. Six points separate Sipuka and Bonafede which is a gap that Sipuka can aim to close with a blistering performance in the penultimate round.

Melvill Priest (A7 – Mueller Sports Medicine) trails Sipuka by just two points which will set up an interesting three-way battle as they attempt to get their Audi S4 quattros to the finish as quickly as possible – while keeping the racing as precise as possible as an incident this late in the season will immediately take them out of the championship fight.

When the Audi S4 quattros take to the start line at Killarney on Saturday, 5 October, each racer will have a specific goal in mind – and will be working hard to achieve it to ensure they enter the final round of the season in a strong position.

Audi South Africa

Photos by MotorPics

More information:

Audi South Africa

Audi Motorsport in South Africa FB page

Unofficial Audi Sport FB page

Bridgestone Production Cars Website

Bridgestone Production Cars on Facebook
Bridgestone Production Cars on twitter

Michael Stephen A1 - Audi S4 - Terry Moss Racing

Tschops Sipuka A2 - Audi S4 - Terry Moss Racing

Melvill Priest A7 - Audi S4 - VMP Motorsport

Gennaro Bonafede A32 - Audi S4 - Ferodo Racing Team / VMP Motorsport 

BPCC: Engen Racing Team set for showdown at penultimate round

Engen Racing Team Press Release

The 2013 national motorsport season is fast coming to a close. There are just two rounds left and the fight for various national championships is becoming tense.

The Engen Racing Team will tackle the Killarney circuit in Cape Town for the penultimate event of the season in both the Bridgestone Production Cars and Engen Volkswagen Cup championships. This event takes place on Saturday, 5 October, and the team contests two of the five categories that form the Super Series.

With the championships reaching their closing stages, every available point is now of primary concern. For those drivers building up to a potential title every little bit of breathing space in the points standing counts. For the drivers who are still chasing a podium finish, the best possible results in the final rounds is of critical importance.

In Bridgestone Production Cars the championship leader, Engen Xtreme's Michael Stephen (A1), has built up a commanding lead and is the clear favourite to claim the title this season. Stephen is optimistic about his chances – which will see him reach a third consecutive national championship title if he maintains his performance through the final two rounds.

With back-to-back victories in 2011 and 2012, Stephen has again produced another extreme performance capable of placing him on the No1 platform of the podium for the year.

For Tschops Sipuka (A2) the final two rounds will see him in a strong campaign to be among the top finishers for the season. With six races remaining in the final two events, good race day finishes could possibly provide him with sufficient points to join Stephen on the podium when the final points are tallied.

Sipuka has proved time and again that he has the talent and pace to compete at the sharp end of the competition. The reverse grid system in place to promote exciting racing could play into Sipuka’s strategy and provide him with the break he needs to gain the points for a strong season finish.

The single-make Engen Volkswagen Cup series sees the Engen Primax entry of Kosie Weyers (5) at the top of the leaderboard. Weyers has put in a disciplined performance this season to rack up point after point. After the first seven rounds of the nine round championship he has a 62 point lead on the field.

Killarney will see Weyers on his home turf in another battle for overall race day victory. The young Capetonian’s pedigree is evident with a rookie of the year in 2011 and a third placed championship finish in 2012, this year he is guaranteed to improve on an already steep performance trend. Weyers has won eight races so far this year, with a trio of double-victories to his credit. Another strong performance could render any attempt to catch him futile and he might well enter the final event as the 2013 championship winner.

Mandla Mdakane (18) will continue his fight for position at the final two rounds of his first year in this popular saloon car formula. A return to Killarney for the penultimate round can count in his favour as he can make use of his setup earlier this year to challenge for position.

Mdakane's first outing at Killarney this season, round two of the championship, saw him produce his second-best result of the season so far. Returning there for a second event could be the boost he needs to a season which has had its fair share of challenges.

The Engen Racing Team will provide motorsport fans with five races of non-stop action as they fight for every point in their respective championships. Look out for an action-packed race day as these drivers heat up the track in Cape Town’s closing event of the national championship.

Photo credit: TrackSidePics.co.za

BPCC: Audi S4 quattros in Tough Zwartkops Battles

Audi South Africa Press Release

From the outset of the Zwartkops race weekend the Audi S4 quattros were a model of consistency, with all four entries qualifying in sequence. This set the stage for a race weekend where the Audi S4 quattros were never far apart.

The fastest of the Audi S4 quattro qualifiers was defending champion Michael Stephen (A1 – Engen Xtreme) who put in a best time of 1:05.482 for fourth fastest while his teammate, Tschops Sipuka (A2 – Engen Xtreme), posted a fastest qualifying time of 1:05.613 for seventh. That meant a difference of 0:00.131 of a second – and there were the two Audi S4 quattros of Gennaro Bonafede (A32 – Ferodo Racing) and Melvill Priest (A7 – Mueller Sports Medicine) between them.

Race one saw the Audi S4 quattro racers mirror the qualifying results, with one change, Priest finished ahead of Bonafede. Here the championship leader, Stephen, crossed the line for fourth place followed by Priest, Bonafede and Sipuka. With a reverse grid for the second race, this put the Audi S4 quattro racers right up front – where they made the most of the opportunity.

Here Priest led the charge to bring home a race victory, followed in short order by Bonafede and Sipuka. Stephen crossed the finish line for fifth place, with just one of the Audi rivals managing to squeeze in between the Audi S4 quattros.

The final race of the day saw the racers in an intense battle for position, pushing hard from the moment the lights went out right to the chequered flag. Bonafede and Stephen led the Audi S4 quattro racers, holding second and third position while Sipuka was in a battle for fifth.

Priest opted to pull out of the third race before completing as a loss of power saw him decide that retirement was a better option than risking serious damage to his race engine. While he did not finish the final race, he had done enough to ensure a seventh place overall for the day, just behind Sipuka. Bonafede and Stephen claimed third and fourth respectively.

The field heads to Killarney on Saturday, 5 October, for the penultimate round of the championship and Stephen now enjoys a 37 point lead on the field with Bonafede in fourth, Sipuka in fifth and Priest in sixth place. The remaining two rounds of the season are certain to produce some of the most intense and exciting moments yet.

Audi South Africa

Photos by MotorPics

More information:

Audi South Africa

Audi Motorsport in South Africa FB page

Unofficial Audi Sport FB page

Bridgestone Production Cars Website

Bridgestone Production Cars on Facebook
Bridgestone Production Cars on twitter

Michael Stephen A1 - Audi S4 - Terry Moss Racing

Tschops Sipuka A2 - Audi S4 - Terry Moss Racing

Melvill Priest A7 - Audi S4 - VMP Motorsport

Gennaro Bonafede A32 - Audi S4 - Ferodo Racing Team / VMP Motorsport 

Gallery: Audi S4s at Zwartkops - SA Production Cars Round 7

By Johan Laubscher 

Round seven of the South African Bridgestone Production Cars Championship took place at Zwartkops this weekend. All four of the regular Audi S4s competed, with a terrific 1-2-3 finish in race two. 

A selection of photos have been included below, featuring the four Audi S4s at Zwartkops in Pretoria, South Africa. Two Audis each from Terry Moss Racing and VMP Motorsport.

Terry Moss Racing:
#1 Audi S4 - Michael Stephen
#2 Audi S4 - Tschops Sipuka

VMP Motorsport:
#7 Audi S4 - Melvill Priest
#32 Audi S4 - Gennaro Bonafede

Photo credit: Audi Motorsport in South Africa on Facebook

BPCC: Return to Zwartkops for Audi S4 quattros‏

Audi South Africa Press Release

FOR the second time this year the Audi S4 quattro racers will tackle Zwartkops Raceway as they compete in the Bridgestone Production Car championship. Round six of the series will take place on Saturday, August 31, and with just three rounds left in the 2013 series, all four Audi S4 quattros are in the top six.

The championship lead is held by Michael Stephen (A1 – Engen Xtreme) and he is on track for a consecutive championship title. Stephen's lead is currently 35 points over his rivals and he has scored consistently at every race meeting this season.

Two Audi S4 quattros currently hold fourth place in the championship. The Engen Xtreme entry of Tschops Sipuka (A2) and Melvill Priest's Mueller Sports Medicine (A7) entry. Sipuka drew level with Priest at the Phakisa event thanks to scoring points in each of the three races.

Priest was forced to sit on the sidelines and watch after posting the best qualifying time of all of the Audi S4 quattro entries. Mechanical problems brought his race day to a halt before he could even finish race one. Having the quickest qualifying pace at Phakisa does, however, show his pace which will be a telling factor on the narrow Zwartkops circuit where overtaking can be very difficult.

For Gennaro Bonafede (A32 – Ferodo Racing) and his Audi S4 quattro, sixth place in the championship could very quickly become a top-five position if his success at the last round is any indication. Bonafede claimed the most points of the Audi S4 quattro racers at that event and he currently has a five point deficit to his fourth-placed rivals.

Each of the Audi S4 quattro racers will have their own particular motivation to urge them to success at Zwartkops on Saturday. The recipe for action-packed racing is clear and the third-last round of the 2013 season will deliver an exciting result.

Audi South Africa

Photos by MotorPics

More information:

Audi South Africa

Audi Motorsport in South Africa FB page

Unofficial Audi Sport FB page

Bridgestone Production Cars Website

Bridgestone Production Cars on Facebook
Bridgestone Production Cars on twitter

Michael Stephen A1 - Audi S4 - Terry Moss Racing

Tschops Sipuka A2 - Audi S4 - Terry Moss Racing

Melvill Priest A7 - Audi S4 - VMP Motorsport

Gennaro Bonafede A32 - Audi S4 - Ferodo Racing Team / VMP Motorsport 

Audi 200 Trans-Am & Audi S4 GTO at 2013 Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion

By Johan Laubscher

The 2013 Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion was held at Laguna Seca this past weekend. Two very potent Audis made an appearance at the event, both owned by Eurospec Sport.

Speedhunters were at the event and provided beautiful photos of both Audis, those can be seen HERE.

Eurospec Sport is a long-established Audi/Volkswagen racing component manufacture in North America. The company is also well known amongst Audi enthusiasts for their exceptional Audi race car collection, which features many sought-after Audi classics, including DTM / Trans-Am and IMSA related Audis.

At the 2013 Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion they entered their 1988 Audi 200 Trans-Am (chassis #TA4) in Group 6B of the historic racing. Steve Zlotkin, the car's owner, was behind the wheel of the Audi. This Audi 200 Trans-Am has been seen at a number of North American historic events at Sonoma and Leguna Seca in recent years. This Audi was used in the 1988 SCCA Trans-Am Series, driven by both Walter Röhrl and Hans-Joachim Stuck during the season. The same car also competed and won in the South African Wesbank Modifieds Championship from 1989 until 1994, being driven by Sarel van der Merwe (89-90), Terry Moss (91-92) and Larry Wilford (93-94).

The second Audi present was an ex-Audi Sport South Africa Rothmans Audi S4 GTO, also owned by Zlotkin at Eurospec. It was on display alongside the Audi 200 Trans-Am. This Audi S4 GTO is the ex-Stuck/Aberdein car which raced in the South African Wesbank Modifieds Championship from 1992-1994.

Speedhunters were at the event and provided beautiful photos of both Audis, those can be seen HERE.

It is great to see these older legendary Audi race cars still making appearances at historic racing events, which is a testament to passionate individuals such as Eurospec Sport. 

Photo credit: Eurospec Sport

Latest RacerLink Magazine issue - including SA GTC V8 insight

By Johan Laubscher

The latest issue of the RacerLink Magazine has just been released. It features a diverse spectrum of motorsport coverage, including this month: Asian Le Mans Series, Pikes Peak, Spa 24 Hours, Super GT and much more.

This issue of X15 contains a number of Audi related features including news from the DTM, Australian GT and a feature on the upcoming South African GTC cars, which will include Audi A4 V8 race cars (as pictured above).

As has been the case in recent months, the Audi Motorsport Blog has once again contributed to a small amount of content in the latest Racerlink Magazine issue.  

We thank the Racerlink editorial staff for publishing this content and providing another excellent online magazine issue.

The magazine is well worth the read as it is filled with great content, from cover to cover. 

See the Racerlink Magazine HERE.

More information:
RacerLink website
RacerLink FB page

X15 Mag website
X15 Mag FB page

Photo credit: Motorsport South Africa

BPCC: Audi S4 quattros bank valuable points at Phakisa‏

Audi South Africa Press Release

Action and hard racing were the order of the day at Phakisa Freeway for the Audi S4 quattro racers. The qualifying session saw the four Audi S4 quattros qualifying in consecutive position, from fourth place. Melvill Priest (A7 – Mueller Sports Medicine) proved the fastest of the qualifiers in the Audi S4 quattros, setting him up for a good weekend of racing.

It was, however, Gennaro Bonafede (A32 – Ferodo Racing), who produced the best results of the meeting once the chequered flag had dropped on the last of the three races for the day. Hot on the heels of Bonafede was the defending champion, Michael Stephen (A1 – Engen Xtreme) and his teammate, Tschops Sipuka (A2 – Engen Xtreme) in the overall points tally.

“It has been a good ending for a tough day, I'm happy to be the fastest of the Audi S4 quattros,” says Bonafede. “We arrived knowing it would be an uphill battle, we had pace and I'm happy to be third here at Phakisa.”

For Priest the weekend that started so well, turned out rather differently when with just one lap of race one completed he suffered a mechanical problem. This sidelined him for the rest of the race – and the rest of the race day, leaving three of the four Audi S4 quattro entries to compete for the rest of the event.

Race one saw Bonafede claim fourth followed by Stephen and Sipuka. Stephen claimed third in the second race with Bonafede in fifth and Sipuka in sixth. The feature race, which sees the racers score double points, saw Bonafede third, followed by Stephen and Sipuka in fourth and fifth.

This put Bonafede third overall on the podium for the day, with the defending champion claiming fourth and Sipuka in fifth place.

“We arrived here at Phakisa knowing it would be difficult and it was all about consolidating points,” says Stephen. “We got some good results here and maintain a good lead in the championship. Hopefully we can pull back some of the advantage at Zwartkops at the next round.”

The Audi S4 quattro racers will go into action again at Zwartkops Raceway on Saturday, 31 August.

Audi South Africa

Photos by MotorPics

More information:

Audi South Africa

Audi Motorsport in South Africa FB page

Unofficial Audi Sport FB page

Bridgestone Production Cars Website

Bridgestone Production Cars on Facebook
Bridgestone Production Cars on twitter

Michael Stephen A1 - Audi S4 - Terry Moss Racing

Tschops Sipuka A2 - Audi S4 - Terry Moss Racing

Melvill Priest A7 - Audi S4 - VMP Motorsport

Gennaro Bonafede A32 - Audi S4 - Ferodo Racing Team / VMP Motorsport 

BPCC: Audi S4 quattros on pace for Phakisa challenge‏

Audi South Africa Press Release

THE Audi S4 quattros contesting the Bridgestone Production Car Championship head to Phakisa in the Free State for the sixth round of the national championship on Saturday, 3 August. With five rounds already completed, with the top four places in the championship seeing three of those places held by Audi S4 quattros.

The championship leader, Michael Stephen (A1 – Engen Xtreme), is in a strong position with a 46 point lead, scoring points in all but two races so far this season. Stephen is well on track for a successful title defence this season and another strong performance at Phakisa will help his cause.

In third place in the series is Melvill Priest (A7 – Mueller Sports Medicine) who is just one point behind the BMW of Etienne van der Linde. With Priest in full attack mode at Phakisa behind the wheel of his Audi S4 quattro, there is the potential for the top spots in the series to see a re-shuffle come the end of the event.

Tschops Sipuka (A2 – Engen Xtreme) is the fourth place man in the championship. Sipuka has a gap to close of just eight points for third and nine if he aims for second place. In the highly competitive racing world, that gap will take some work to close but Sipuka has proved he has the pace to make it happen.

Sixth place in the championship is not ideal for Audi S4 quattro racer Gennaro Bonafede (A32 – Ferodo Racing). He will want a top five slot at least as he aims for the best possible position in the overall standings by the end of the season. Three points is what he needs to close that gap to fifth place – and a good outing at Phakisa could see exactly the outcome he's looking for.

Audi South Africa

Photos by MotorPics

More information:

Audi South Africa

Audi Motorsport in South Africa FB page

Unofficial Audi Sport FB page

Bridgestone Production Cars Website

Bridgestone Production Cars on Facebook
Bridgestone Production Cars on twitter

Michael Stephen A1 - Audi S4 - Terry Moss Racing

Tschops Sipuka A2 - Audi S4 - Terry Moss Racing

Melvill Priest A7 - Audi S4 - VMP Motorsport

Gennaro Bonafede A32 - Audi S4 - Ferodo Racing Team / VMP Motorsport