SARL GP Series Champion 2007

Reporter: Marc van Niekerk
9 races, 6 different winners and 7 months in the making saw Dewald Batt take overall championship honours in a highly competitive series. Dewald had to fight hard until the very end to secure the championship and he did just that by winning the last race comfortably. Our worthy champion won 2 and finished 8 of the races, showing his overall skills, consistency and being able to handle the pressure.

Well done!

Runaway Train

Reporter: Marc van Niekerk
The boys were damn lucky to be able to race at Road Atlanta. The track was reopened just days before the race after a chemical spill caused the tarmac to break up and killing all the trees for 10 square miles. Even the pit buildings and stands had to be bulldozed before the officials could declare the track safe. Apparently it was due to a Green Peace experiment gone wrong.

A small number of racers turned up for the event after Sir Richard finally pulled the plug on the sponsorship deal, but the boys were happy to see old timer Chris Browne back in the paddock and also welcomed Pieter Geldenhuys to the brotherhood on loan from LFS. read more...

Another familiar face was Frau Grossenbaum who made the trip to the States courtesy of a stack of complementary Virgin Atlantic First Class tickets she found in a dustbin near her house. Although the boys politely declined to sample any more of her home cooking, she had a rip roaring business going selling to the crowd.

The low rumble of Panoz engines firing up turned everybody's attention to the racing. During qualifying Chris showed he was hungry for some racing and took 3rd spot behind Marc Wright.

The race got away on time and pole sitter Marc van Niekerk kept his advantage off the line with Chris slipping by Wright into 2nd. The race up front was as hot as the summer sun with the top 3 covered by less than a second lap after lap after lap. Further back Dean Rautenbach, Ken Hunter and Louan du Toit were swapping places regularly.

Wright managed to slip past Browne in a daring move on lap 10 with both drivers still stuck right behind van Niekerk. The telling blow came at half distance when both Wright and Browne dived into the pits for fresh rubber and gas leaving van Niekerk on a non stopper to face the baking sun alone. Lawrence McKelvin and Craig Hume - both also non stopping - were having a good battle of their own and used the opportunity offered to move into 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Dewald Batt had a good scrap going with Rick Buttle further down the field In the end van Niekerk won comfortably with driver of the day Hume finishing 3rd, sandwiched between McKelvin and a late charging Wright. Hume showed he had the grit to both challenge hard and defending from 2 great competitors.

The lack of facilities made for a somewhat subdued after party, but the boys were happy to learn that Frau 'noem my sommer Hilda' Grossenbaum had just signed a 5 year contract to supply Virgin Atlantic of all their first class meals.

Last Man Standing

Reporter: Marc van Niekerk
Watkins Glen was the last race of a long, competitive and hard season for the GP'79 drivers. To top it off 2 drivers, Marc van Niekerk and Marc Wright, were still in with a chance of catching Dewald Batt in the championship battle.

Being in the good old US of A everyone had to put up with the citizens, fireworks, flyby's, pom-pom girls and what not before the race proper could get underway. Being the final race of the series, most drivers actually enjoyed the distractions, most notably Craig Hume and his Renault. With the Green Piece contingent still stuck at the over-efficient airport security he could show off his ride with pride to all the locals who believes that bigger is always better. read more...

Until the party almost came to an abrupt end when one huge Texan, simply known as Bud wanted to buy Craig's car there and then. Cash. Real Dollars. I kid you not. Even offered an oil well to boot. When it was pointed out to Bud that being yellow does not necessarily mean it's a Chevy and that the 220 fuel tank capacity is measured in litres rather than gallons, he still refused to relent. Only when Ken Hunter illustrated that the rear wing is in fact not a gun rack did Bud back off. Reluctantly.

The pit-lane was eventually cleared and all concerned could start to focus on the business at hand. Zaahir Essa took the customary pole with championship contenders Batt and Wright dishing it out hard for 2nd place on the grid. Van Niekerk opted to take a pass on qualifying after his engineer advised him that his welded together rear suspension would in all probability last 10 laps at the most.

The race turned out to be a typical last race of the season. With the exception of the championship contenders, most guys were focussed on the after party and ended their race prematurely in order to get the best seats at the bar. Essa was leading with Batt staying in touch with Wright for the first part, later overtaking him. Essa showed he was human after all which gave Batt the lead and when Wright suffered connection problems, the championship was all but Dewald's. Except that van Niekerk was still running and in 2nd place. Any slip of concentration by the leader could mean falling at the last hurdle.

Dewald managed to absorb the pressure and kept it all together taking the win and with it a well deserved championship.

And Craig? Well, seems like the mysterious white powder never really got flushed from the system. Intermittent misfiring and 4 pitstops later he managed to bring the Renault home in the final podium spot. Getting the worst spot at the bar and no sale of the century to Bud. But nobody can take away the shiny new trophy in the closet.

It was a great bunch of guys running in a great series. Thanks to all who competed and did their contribution to make it fun. Till next time.

The Ring

Reporter: Marc van Niekerk
We all make mistakes sometimes. We all stuff up from time to time. And then some of us get lost.

After a highly successful GP race at Monza the rFactor boys had the world at their feet Hotel corridors were clammered up with big shots wanting to sign exclusive advertising deals, promotions and even free gifts. Unfortunately the boys had earned themselves a well earned rest and with no racing due the following week everyone went about their own way. And of course missed the deal of a lifetime when Sir Richard signed a deal promising to book the Nordschleife Tourist venue for exclusive use on the following race Monday, provided the boys make exclusive use of Virgin Atlantic for all their travels. read more...

Out of sight and out of mind some of the guys mistook the Lord of the Rings movie deal for The Ring racing promotion and ended flying off Down Under

Come race Monday it was chaos. Entrance to the Tourist parking lot was already closed to the public by sunrise while an angry crowd demonstrated outside the gates because they were not allowed to drive daddy's AMG or Porsche around the track. And only a handful of SARL drivers standing around in the parking lot sheepishly kicking their tires.

With the Virgin deal stating that more than 12 drivers should compete in the racing and the rest of the gang halfway around the world, some frantic phone calls obtained the services of regular GTR drivers Charl Smit and Pedre Havenga. The day was saved when the defending champion, Phil crawled out of the Woodhouse to join in the fun at the last moment.

Sir Richard grudgingly inserted a handful of coins into the toll gates and stormed off mumbling something about Quantas and Bin Laden. The track was open!

With the 90 minute practice session doubling as qualifying too due to the sheer length of the track most guys opted to first sample the bratwurst and sauerkraut, dished up by Hilda Grossenbaum, one of the locals, and the only spectator. Some say she only visited due to the South Africans' rugged good looks, some say it was out of pity. Washed down with some of the local beer it turned out to be not that great an idea.

One by one - with their tummies filled to the brim - the drivers lazily started to exit the parking lot in order to set a lap-time, maybe even two. The Panoz, being renowned for its unweilding suspension and the bumpiness of the track coupled with the tight turns ensured a real roller coaster ride. Of course the ample lunch did little to improve things and pretty soon one could see Panoz' parked next to the ARMCO as drivers had to quickly abandon ship and take a stroll, or rather a trot to the nearest tree. Luckily there were lots of trees.

As the clock ticked closer towards the race Marc Wright set a pretty decent lap-time of 7:16 to push Marc van Niekerk's early banker lap of 7:18 down to 2nd. The gloves were off! The #21 Panoz was tilted on its side to get rid of all excess fuel and some brand new soft tyres fitted. The bratwurst concoction was momentarily forgotten and the race for pole was on. Van Niekerk started his last qualifying run first and posted a 7:11 and could then only sit back and watch as Wright still had half a lap to go. From the sector splits it was clear that it's too close to call. The stopwatch eventually stopped on 7:12. Only a second difference on a 20 mile circuit. Even Frau Grossenbaum was thrilled.

Phil qualified in 3rd, showing that he has not lost any of the skills which made him champion the previous season. The battle for 4th-7th was just as hot with only 4 seconds separating the 4 drivers.

The regular track marshals were still stuck at the protest, so Frau Grossenbaum had snuck off in the mean time to fetch her 2 rather large daughters to assist with the start lights. Of course they could only speak German and any instruction was met by a big smile and "ja ja"

All too soon it was race time. This 90 minute race was never going to be about driver against driver, but man vs machine vs the Green Monster. Each one had to deal with the track in his own private hell of sheer bliss. And the Bratwurst n Sauerkraut.

As expected the green light never got turned on at the race start, but all the drivers got away in an orderly fashion Phil unfortunately could not make the start due to a connection failure, but it was business as usual for the rest.

The German cuisine took its toll, with most of the drivers having to stop from time to time. The race was eventually won by Marc van Niekerk, who was challenged hard by 2nd place man Marc Wright until lap 9 when he had to stop suddenly for a quick dash to the tree line, upon which he broke his rear wing when jumping back over the barrier. Charl Smith made it to the podium followed by Craig Hume and Ken Hunter rounding out the top 5.

Story of the day was not about winning, but rather that 8 of the 12 starters made it to the finish after a full 90 minutes on arguably the most difficult of tracks. Testimony to the growing skills of the SARL drivers. Prost!

Even Frau Grossenbaum was impressed. As the drivers staggered home in the early hours of the next morning after having the mother of all parties they were invited to come back again someday.

Ja ja.